interesting OOPS (Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly)

I got an order from Stencil Girl, sometimes I'm crazy and order more stencils as if I need them, and there was a feather that looked cool to me, and I ordered it. Last night just before bed I grabbed a card front and some ink and thought, that would make a great card. However, I didn't really like what happened, since the ink blending tool I grabbed was not Royal Treatment as I thought, it was Black. So what ended up was kind of an ugly purply black. At that point I dropped the blending tool and voila an ugly purple blob on the card, so I angrily ink blended purply black all over the card. It looked like rain clouds, except worse. So there was a mister sitting there, so I thought, maybe it would look better with some drops on it. Except the mister didn't exactly mist, it put out a LOT of water. Maybe because of my angry squeeze. It was so much it was drippy, and I thought, why don't I just throw it away. But I grabbed a rag and mopped up the water and guess what, it was a pinkish purply instead of a blackish purply. It looked like rock to me, and recently I got a card kit from Club Scrap, and there's a cool rock background stamp. The background was suddenly something I liked. Still didn't like the feather. So got out the stencil and did a solid black feather, and the card was warping at this point so after it was almost dry I put it under an acrylic block and weighed it down and left the room, kind of disgusted, even though I ought to know better by now.

This morning I went in to see the damage, and thought, what could I do with that feather?? So I took white pigment ink and a feather stamp and put it on top. 

It may change again, and I sure don't know what I will do with it, make a card, put it in an art journal, or use it to tear up for collage.  But it's growing on me. And some of that anger has dissipated. All good. Whether I keep it or not. 

When I remember to look for something in the OOPS it always helps.

Trying to save my sanity

 

I just felt like stamping little squares with a piece of sponge. So I did. I was going to do it plain checkered but that green snuck in there.

Now I don't know what to do with it. I think the squares look really cool, but it's just plain, but I don't know what to do.

A few hours later. I thought, wow that would be really great with a cover stamp on it. But I knew the chances were pretty slim of actually getting a good impression on this surface. 

So I stamped it on tissue paper, and glued it in place. I decided to leave some on the left side, for some contrast, and a spot to remember how it started. Besides, I didn't stamp a big enough piece to actually cover both, and am too lazy to get out the stamp and the tissue again, since I put it away already. 

And who knows where this "fall in love with the process" came from, it was in my head, and there it is on the page. Dollar Tree sticker. 

And yes, trying to save my sanity. Someone has the television on for the election news, and it is driving me batty. I just want to not watch and find out when it's over with, instead of the ups and downs of all the he won this state and they won this one, but this one is too close to call, and this one is too soon to tell. And this one hasn't even put up any numbers yet, and well we knew that state would be whatever color it is. 

So I paint and paint almost frantically, because I can't seem to keep my mind on anything else, so I'm thankful for the distraction and that I have stuff to create with. I did order some Rolodex cards and a thingy to keep them in, and some tiny stickers and such. 

So this won't be published until Tomorrow, but when (if) someone reads it, it will be today and I will have done it yesterday. And I may or may not have something else to add by then.

Maybe my sanity is not all the way saved.

*** And yes I added more. Why it is embarrassing that I am painting and gluing so much these days, I don't know. I do know there's a lot of other things I ought to be doing, cleaning the refrigerator out, scrubbing the bathroom floor, shrinking some quilts (in those shrinky storage bags. I'm excited to get them done. I don't use them, but I won't get rid of Grandma Mills' quilt, or Great grandma's quilt, or my mom's quilt, or the Needlers quilt, but right now they need to be stored.) I've done part but still have a couple to go.

 

But I needed to create something or other. It keeps me calm.

I decided to dip into the gelli print collection and do a background with it. I just grabbed and said THIS IS IT. However... this apparently had slipped into the gelli print pile, and it is what I grabbed, and I had agreed with myself that I would use whatever I grabbed.. THIS IS IT so here it is.

I just have a collection of all sorts of stuff that caught my eye at one time or another. Someone was selling collections of paper, and some was really great and there was some of this printed stuff in there. I used a lot, but never used this.

So I tore it up. And decoupaged it right on to the page.

So here's the plain page. It was kind of creepy, because I kept seeing words like "death" and "conqueror" and "irreverent" so I read more, and it was about some battle in Athens in 474 or something. 

But oh well, it will be somewhat covered with something, at this point I had no idea what. I walked away for awhile, and when I came back, I had the idea to ink blend this with oranges and yellows, and when I got done, I had an idea.

Of course, when I had the idea, then I wished I had done blues and greens. I stenciled some "leaves" and "grass" on it, and just put the circles on.

Now it looks kind of like a really warm day. And so I though about all that is hanging around these days and I thought....

                      Just Keep Singing

 

election day: don't worry, be happy

I spent some time this morning looking for positive quotes and printing them on the computer, thinking I would choose one for today's page. They are all "happy" and "laughter" quotes and good ones. But after I got them all printed and went to put them away (I have a pile of quote stuff) I saw this one that I printed a long time ago and it begged to be put on today's page. I only did a one sided page, the opposite page has room for some journaling, which I am feeling the need for today. 

So it's election day. I figure we will take the outcome in stride, but not everyone will. There's a good chunk of the country ready for war. In some places, they mark the street blue where Democrats live, with the intention of harassing and intimidating them. In our little city, there are a lot of gun toting people, the same ones who refused to wear masks for so long. Funny thing, last time we went to the store, everybody had masks on. Something to do with almost 500 deaths in our county, and more than 22,000 cases of COVID. And rising.

We went over to my son's last night to take a gift for their 12 year old birthday boy. SO hard to be that close and not cuddling. I did cuddle with the dog. So much that my kitty avoided me for awhile. 

So positives. Don't worry, be happy. Laughter is the best medicine and all that. The background is a snippet of a piece of paper I cleaned my brayer on while I was doing something else (painting peanut printing) I don't throw those snippets away, I either add more to them, cut them up for these teensy projects, or use them to die cut butterflies or such. Sometimes they get torn up in a collage. On the left side I will comment about how I'm feeling about this day. So it's a very tiny journal. 

When I did a little quote and scripture verse notebook this size for my mom, she flipped through it so much the pages started falling out. I had my daughter and my cousin do pages, and asked my sister in law about her favorite verses and did it for her. That was not exactly my idea but a wonderful one. And now I am doing another one for myself. This time with color and butterflies.

 

pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks

Sometimes when I am challenged to give thanks, I start with I have a roof over my head, the birds are singing, the sky is not smoky, Some days it is hard to look for thankfulness. Especially these days when the pandemic deaths are going up up up and the president is saying it's just about over, we are rounding the corner. It adds a sense of unreality to everything, because part of me really really wants to believe him, but the fact is, a friend is in the hospital right now with this virus, and she is not expected to live. 

I wish this was the first time this was happening, but it is not.

BUT.... we can still pray, we can give thanks. And ask the Lord for peace and mercy.

This is a paper napkin decoupaged to these pages. (in my little 3x5 notebook) Then I doodled on them with black and white posca pens. This verse has been going through my head the last two days because of S. in the hospital, she is now on hospice, so they are not treating the disease any more, but just keeping her comfortable. And so the family waits, and waits. And wonders. And agonizes.

We have not turned the corner. 

But we still hang in there, one day at a time. 

I did some cards with packing peanuts before, but I think it was ink. It's fun to print with them, just smudges really, but something different to print with than you might have thought of before. Using my imagination is thanks to Traci Bunkers. She was my introduction to the style that really resonated with me, instead of deciding what to paint and trying to paint it--I am not good at that-- but just grabbing the paint and letting your painting or whatever you want to call it just do itself. Lots of times I wish I would have taken more classes, but oh well. Maybe after this you know what has run its course. This was inspired by that "Let your imagination wander" which was in a magazine, and then I saw the word "smidgen" and it came together from there. I couldn't find "what" so I made it myself, with a stamp set. I didn't get the t straight, but oh well. Still the teensy 3x5 notebook.

Cards when you want to write a long letter

These cards are for when you want to write a long letter. I don't often write long letters, but there are times when I started on a regular card and couldn't fit in all I wanted to say. So I made some cards for those times when I feel like I have a lot to say. They are 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. A whole sheet of card stock folded in half. So there's a bunch more writing space.

The prints are gelli plate prints. The first has printing with leaves on top of it, and some have stencils, or stamps added. Voila, multi media. Some are printed with ink, some with acrylic paint, some with both, some with Posca pen addition, one with die cuts added. It's whatever I feel like doing at the time. 

And so the pile of prints goes down. These are the ones I was satisfied with and didn't want to add another layer or anything. Quite a few more in that pile that needs a little something more. I'll work on those another day. I also have a  bunch of rocks I want to paint, mandelas to make with the dotting stencils, stamps to carve, unending cards to finish, pop up card ideas, a wall hanging to quilt, a big quilt to finish piecing, a bunch of pillowcases to make.... oh I am sure The Idea Lady with Less Follow Through. 

Trying to follow through these days, clear out the cobwebs in my corners and my brain.

The first try with a Gelli plate

I got my Gelli plate awhile ago, but hadn't gotten around to trying it out. Today I ran across the

Biocolor paints, and decided that would work. What I discovered is Yes and No.

The first one I tried looked like mud. I was disappointed, for sure, but hey you can't be perfect on the first try. The only thing I have done so far is watch several videos. I love the abstracts you can do-- I already have stencils from my art journaling with inks so it just seemed like a natural progression. Then I remembered the thermofax screens that just came in the mail, and thought maybe it would work to spark it up.











Yes it did! I love it, and will make it into a card.


Then I got bold with purple and teal. I used the comb tool that came with the biocolor. Lovely.













Then I tried some masks. Apparently Biocolor is too flowing to use with masks, they just stuck on the paper and tore when I tried to get them off. Also, there were no distinct edges.

I think Biocolor is great, I love its plasticity. I think it will be good for backgrounds on the Gelli plate, and doing other biocolor-ish things... but not good for stencils and masks.

So off to the store for some paint. What I have is pretty dried out. The Artsy Adventure continues.

Eraser carving again

My first tries at eraser carving were inspired by Traci Bunkers. I like how she takes ordinary things and uses them for stamping. I got her book, Print and Stamp Lab and have used many of her ideas for cards and journal pages.

Lately my creating self has been spinning her wheels. I've done some knitting, made teensy Barbie doll hats, started another washcloth. Today I was reminded about carving erasers, and decided to write down what I've done, since first inspired to do that.

After a visit to the Dollar Tree, I did a tiny bit of carving on some erasers and liked the way they turned out.

just a little bit of carving made a cute stamp. I carved this with the cuticle cutter from a manicure set I got from the Dollar Tree as well as the pack of erasers.

just some variations on the airplane eraser. The kids like to stamp with it.

I started seeing a fish in this so carved it away. 

Good to be practicing on little things that didn't cost a whole lot. I got a bag of these shaped erasers for $1. 

This one is my favorite so far. It was inspired by a stamp but doesn't look like it at all. 

This one has turned out to be the most versatile and well used. The stamp is just the single swirly at the top and the bottom two are examples of what I have used them for. 

I want to get back into Creative Mode; there are some things stopping me at the moment. But one day at a time, right? Meantime, getting all my crafty stuff into one blog instead of scattered is an accomplishment too.

just a thought.

I am caring for my mother in law and don't have a lot of craft time at the moment. Suddenly, I had a thought. Why not include her in what I want to do? That way we get two things, something for her to do, and time with her. She was an artist but has mainly lost her sight. So today we spent painting and practicing being satisfied with the PROCESS and not the end PRODUCT. It was good for both of us. Not bad for a novice and a blind person. ;)



And THIS is one of the pictures that my mother in law did before she started losing her sight...

It's raining...

Wow we had a monstrosity of a rain storm come through here Thursday.

I stamped the "waves" with acrylic paint and a piece of that purple crown thingy that I showed in the last post. The pictures I just printed on paper and glued in. The silver drops are done with a Sharpie poster paint marker. And of course distress inks on gesso background.

And did I mention that my son and brother were DRIVING through this storm?? He came in to Sacramento on a plane; fortunately they got to land and it wasn't raining too hard because they let them out right out there on the tarmac; tiny plane. By the time they got to Placerville it was SNOWING!! Wild stuff. This is MARCH.... snow in Placerville in March is rare.

There's a space on the left page for an ark. I put my new stamps in a SAFE PLACE..... the dreaded safe place. If I don't find them soon I am going to print a picture for there. Ah the joys of being creatively ADHD.

the sun is shining for a minute...

Today's journal page... a tribute to spring, even though the rain forecast and low snow levels are teasing us. This is from a page of butterfly stencils I got at WalMart. I painted the whole page blue first with acrylic paint, then stenciled the butterflies. The purple one I didn't like the way it turned out the first time so filled it in, then re-stenciled with darker purple.

The stamped letters are Cheapskate again. Gotta get another alphabet.

NOT the wrong color

Started slapping on golden yellow paint on a page, had no idea what I was going to do. Then the green jumped out and demanded equal time. The slapping turned into mountains. Then brown pleaded to be included. When it was all dry it just looked sad. Oh my, I said, this is a strange landscape. At first I thought it was Pluto or something but then it started snowing. It occurred to me that I am the creator of this ummm... painting. So I can do what I want. It can be anywhere... maybe it isn't snow?

And it doesn't seem to matter how it turns out. The process is calming and lovely. So do i like it?? wellllll... yes. It was what my fingers did today.

Now to find my sewing machine cord.... and do something a bit more... traditional?