Forward Steps and Redesigns

The Supreme Court voted yesterday against hearing the petitions of lower courts in several same sex marriage cases, paving the way for six more states in the US to have legal same-sex marriage. This adds Colorado, Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin to the rolls of states where same-sex marriage is now legal and paves the way for several other states who were waiting on final word from the Supreme Court, including Kansas, North and South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.

More states approving same-sex marriage will make me very happy today. 

Of course I'm delighted in the ruling and the expansion of states where equality of love will now be legally acknowledged, but I'm also concerned because this ruling is far from the end of this controversy. But it's a great step forward and so today I'll allow myself to celebrate before returning to the work of getting same-sex marriage approved throughout all of the United States. Gay rights are civil rights and I cannot, and will not, turn my back on civil rights - a battle I've fought for throughout my life.

Dreamscapes always have an underlying sense of unreality to them. When
they don't, they are sometimes a 'true dream' or what used to be called prophecy. 

Thanks to all of those who commented on my "Dreams" post yesterday. I was fascinated by some of your responses and the ways that you dream. It has been said that dreams are the windows to the soul, and it seems that some of you have a wonderful time exploring that aspect of yourself in your sleeping hours. Generally, I love my dreams and rarely have nightmares. Perhaps, closer to Halloween, I'll put in a post about nightmares and things that go "bump" in the night. That should have some fun interchange as well.

If these trees had green leaves and the sun was shining, it would be a
fun place to explore. Strip the leaves and give it a grey, murky sky and it
becomes the stuff of nightmares. 

I used my new toy - my Xyron sticker maker - yesterday morning on my Solstice cards and it works a trick! I'm absolutely delighted with it. I was hoping that I would get each card complete with four inches of paper, but they were running closer to six inches. So, rather than run short at the last minute, I ordered some adhesive refills yesterday which will be delivered on Friday. I should have this part of my cards complete by Saturday morning and be ready to move to the next step.

Careful planning can avoid mistakes like this one - where
is the door onto the second balcony? 

Making my cards is always a multi-step process and I usually start the basic planning almost as soon as I have the cards in the mail. I still have work to do on this year's planning and really did a few things out of order. That's causing me to have to pull out some inventive procedures to make sure that everything is done properly. In fact, just writing this paragraph is making me rethink one aspect of the cards and revise it in my mind. This, actually, is very good, so I'm not objecting. Just writing this down may have saved me some frustration, some wasted expensive paper that I can use for next year's efforts instead, and allowed me to rethink one design decision. Hmmm.....

The bridge is a total fail - OOPS! Once again - planning and double-checking
could have solved this before it ever got to this point. But what would
we have to laugh at if it had worked properly? 

It's just Tuesday and it feels much later in the week. I hope things are going well for all of you. I'm signing off now to redesign some parts and refine my schedule so that I won't have a horrible crunch time as I get closer to Solstice. Of course, having NaNoWriMo take my November away does affect my "free time" ... just sayin'. Have a great day!