keeping up with myself...

It is hard to keep up with myself. I can't get enough of painting/stamping/carving lately. Originally I wanted to order gelatos, but the price stopped me, and I kept thinking, why do I keep wanting all this STUFF when what I need to do is figure out how to do it with something else?? So Michael's came up with this video about Slick Stix, which are made for kids. About $4 for a pack of 5 of them. Has kind of the texture of lipstick... I spritzed the stamp lightly with water and colored right on it. With some experimenting I'll come up with what I like.

I also used a couple stamps from GinaK's "botanicals" set and I love the look. So maybe tomorrow I will take some time and make a few cards.

Hard to compare with gelato results because 1) not the same stamp and 2)never used gelatos. LOL

being stretched...

The background is rubber bands on a brayer rolled over a rainbow ink pad. Then I found a quotation that had to do with stretching... and thinking about the tsunami and all the people killed and affected by it... all of us have to expand our hearts and reach out to those in need, whether by donating money to help or actually going there. I admire those willing to pick up and go there...

Don't know how much the zentangle matches the rubber bands, but that's what my fingers did today. I have been enjoying the zentangling... and the stamped/written letters just looked too plain. I really like the way my tears turned out... kind of a hidden meaning here. But it's the first try for the rubber banding. Saw the technique first at Gina K. Designs. The stamped fonts are $1 Michael's or Joann's fonts I don't remember...with the exception of "EXPAND" which is Traci Bunkers' Cheapskate font. I did the zentangle with a Uniball pen.

Not sure what the names of the tangles are, except the center one on the bottom, which is a variation of "Crescent Moon"... I used to do this kind of doodle all the time as a teenager, before it was called a zentangle... I wondered when I saw the site whether "my" doodle was in someone else's head... and there it was. LOL

Here's the card I did, I cropped the scanned image and mounted on paisley cuttlebug embossing folder... hate it when stuff turns out crooked... but oh well. I am human. :) and sometimes to tired to be a perfectionist.

Country swap...

Finally I am caught up on swaps. It seemed like when I signed up all was good. Not counting on the chaos of life and how it tossed me around there for a bit.

This is a really simple card, inspired by Gina K Designs clean and simple cards. I used the Swiss Dots cuttlebug embossing folder, spellbinders' fancy tags and ovals, and the graphics from pccrafter.com's "By the Sea" collection. Clean is simple is good for today.

I watched a video on mixed media backgrounds from Michael's on facebook for paintings. I still have some acrylic paints from a few years ago (hopefully still good!!) and some mod podge from YEARS ago (my spare bottle from decoupage days, never opened, so hopefully good) alcohol inks, and plenty of paper... and if I can figure out a background, I just might do something. I have a large children's board book-- 8 pages-- that I got at the dollar store, so I might use that...

I have the book of children's poems that I loved as a child and am thinking of illustrating something. One of them is this:

Mud

Mud is very nice to feel

All squishing out between the toes.

I'd rather squish around in mud

Than smell a yellow rose.

Nobody else but the rosebush knows

How nice mud feels between the toes.

-Polly Chase Boyden

or maybe this...

I'm Glad

I'm glad the sky is painted blue,

and the earth is painted green,

With such a lot of nice fresh air

All sandwiched in between

-Anonymous

And of course there are all the unfinished projects-- mostly not started but just imagined--

I am the Idea Person. LOL but they do eventually get finished.

Usually. My goal originally a card a day... but I think a finished project a day would be good. Or at least PROGRESS on something every day...Go with the flow, I say. :)

paper addiction

Paper, rubber stamps, clear stamps, embellishments, markers, pencils, ink... they all leave me weak in the knees, LOL. But this set of stamps by Melanie Muenchinger is absolutely breathtaking!! I can imagine all sorts of beautiful cards and layouts. This set is being introduced tonight on Gina K Design's site... Here is a link to Melanie's blog:

http://melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com/

My favorite set out of the ones that Melanie has designed is "Gifts from the Sea". I can just see a set of cards made from her stamps. I often do sets of cards for Christmas presents and this would be perfect for my mother in law. I am also very partial to butterflies, and there's a border with them....