(Look! Not even blue sky in Puerto Vallarta!)
Welcome Back!
(at least to me, I've been away from my blog for a couple days).
I see the last blog was November 17, and now, it's the 22. I will briefly say that it is pouring /pooring rain! and no real signs of letting up for a couple days. Today is 80% chance, tomorrow 100% chance, and Thursday/Thanksgiving is down to 70% chance! Woowee! It's gonna be a Thanksgiving MIRACLE, I tell you!
(enough sarcasm)
Let's catch up on the 'Thankfuls':
Today let's all be thankful for a dry spot (hopefully, you have one), to work, and live. I certainly am! my work kitties are banded together into a little shelter I built, and they're not coming out except for canned catfood!
Yesterday, was Monday, and hard to get motivated w/ the rain. I really wanted to write, but felt tired-- Sometimes I just don't sleep well. Oh! I know! I can be thankful for the show, 'Raising Hope.' Have you seen it? Hilarious! Last night trying to unwind, i opened my Hulu IPhone app, and watched a couple episodes. I love to laugh! It feels soooo good.
Saturday, I slept in, and then grabbed my gear, and drove to the 'retreat'--friends Shawna, Lori and Phyllis were there, and going great-guns. Because I was too tired Friday night, and got to the retreat late, I held off on quilting projects, but instead worked on my Affirmation Journal.
That turned out to be a great thing-- I had been kind of stuck on a new book. Had gotten one w/ a spiral binding, thinking the pages and cover could expand, but one problemo--I love to use decorative papers, cut to size, adhere them, and then collage over the top. With the spiral binding...the break between the cut paper, and the spirals left a white space which was really bugging me. (I've spent the last couple months at a standstill w/ this project; trying to make myself go ahead, in spite of the white space-- just wasn't happening.)
(One thing that is an iron-clad rule in my book: if something bugs you when you're looking at it, it will probably continue to bug you later--so, best to remove it!)
This has seemed to work on my quilts--look at them, and if a certain fabric or block draws your attention (in a bad way), then it may be best to remove it.
--However--!! What do 'they' always say?:
rules are made to be broken! haha!
What's an exception? If there's something in a quilt or project that bugs you,
ADD MORE!!
huh?
Adding more 'troublemaker' fabric diverts your attention. Once, a quilt I made needed white. I hate white, and brown...they're non-colors in my book. So, when making the quilt, I left out white. What happened? No 'sparkle'! so- the things you learn from color-study!
Back to the book: as I drove to the beach, contemplating my book, I remembered I could take the pages out of the spiral binding, and 'do something' to them (colored felt markers didn't cut it)...I remembered that i had just purchased a couple containers of Inka Gold; in Copper (why isn't it Inka Copper?!), and Gold, AND it was riding along w/ me in the truck with my art supplies!!
This cool stuff, which I had no definite plan for (other than being cool, and have to have it!..), is like a creamy metallic shoe polish. Get a little bit of water on a sponge, smoosh it around, and start wiping it on. I decided as I drove, that it might be the perfect remedy for the white paper issue!
So, once I got the layout of the retreat-house (very nice, but no ocean view--can't compare to Coccoons, Mom! but there were surfboards! haha) and settled in, I went 'rogue' and took all the pages from the book, got out the Inka Golds, and the stamp-pads I had, and started sponge-painting the spiral part of the pages.
(oh, i SO love the copper!)
after i did a bunch of copper, I did some gold, and some Tim Holtz 'Vintage Photo' colored pad, and black. The stamp pads, I just randomly pressed onto the spine of the papers, to make a 'grunge' look.
Once I got the covers back on, and a couple of the finished pages re-inserted, then things began to happen.
(My first page in the book--love, love, LOVE the dragonflies!)
I had been bugged about the spine, and now it was fixed, and the paper, imagination, quotes and photos begin to emerge in random ways; and as I go, I'll add in some rubber stamps, and/or maybe embellishments.(I love the Inka Gold-Gold! on the spine, too!)
('Imagination is the eye of the soul,' says this PaPaYa art postcard.)
Friday's 'Thankful', looking back now, was flannel Jammies! I was so tired, that when I got home, I knew I was not going directly to the beach, but instead, go my Victoria's Secret Pink polka dot jammies on, snuggled on the couch w/ Maggie, and took a nap for a couple hours. This time of year, you just GOTTA HAVE 'EM!
