Do Postage Stamps Have Calories?

How did I miss this?? 

Belgian chocolate + postage stamps.  What?

They have chocolate in the picture.  They smell like chocolate.  They taste like chocolate when you lick them!  Holy cocoa bean, Batman!!

 If they taste as good as they look, I would probably eat them!

 To see them being made, go to this BBC video here.

Everyday Journal

Playing catch-up in my everyday journal - with bits and scraps from whatever is going on that week. 

I had been playing with my Dylusions sprays that week, and was about to throw away my scraps from spraying.  Instead, I tore the paper into strips and glued them down to make a background. 

I'm still a couple of weeks behind in this journal.  I really like going back through my everyday journals.  Sometimes it seems like I haven't done any art in a long time, then these pages remind me that I did in fact play from time to time!

The dictionary called...

Yep, the dictionary called and wants it word back.  That would be my word for the year (Action), which I liked so much last year that I carried it over to this year.

I have hit some kind of slump for about a month.  Maybe it's the dark winter days, feeling yucky half the time, just general malaise.  I haven't even been journaling much.  And the problem is, I keep so many different journals, now I have this anxious feeling of never "catching up".  Totally self-imposed guilt, but I'll get over it.

Friend Gaye and I went to a stamp convention last weekend in Indianapolis, and my plan was to buy more Dylusions sprays - I particularly wanted all the new colors.  The new colors were mostly sold out, but I did buy some colors I didn't have already.  And I bought replacements of some I had before. I love these sprays so much, they are the first ones I have actually used up completely!

I hate it when I waste time looking for things I have misplaced.  I had started a color chart of my sprays, but couldn't find it to add the new colors.  It was quicker to go back to the internet and print off a new one.  I have no affiliation with Ranger, but I love that they have blank charts of their sprays and stamp pads that you can print off. 

At the stamp convention, I also got these new stencils (Coffee Break).  Can't wait to use them.

Daylight Savings Time was last week, and I am hoping the extra daylight at the end of the day will help infuse more energy to get back to that whole action thing!

(Daylight savings time is an illusion - I once heard it said that moving the clocks ahead an hour is like cutting a foot of fabric off a blanket on one end and sewing it on the other end, and then expecting the blanket to be longer.  It's not, but somehow setting the clock ahead an hour feels like the days are longer!)

Making a Case

On a recent post, I showed some fabric I had painted.  In the meantime, I have experimented with making little zippered bags with the fabric.

 My main goal was to make a cigarette case for a friend (who will remain nameless) because her ratty old cigarette case, so cool and unique a few years ago, desperately needed replacing.

Before I used my painted fabric, I decided I'd better practice on regular fabric.  After all, I was flying by the seat of my pants, making it up as I went along.  I haven't put a zipper in anything in about 30 years!  My first effort turned out okay, but I was pretty sure it was too narrow at the top.

My next bags were too big, but to be sure, I had to actually go and buy some cigarettes and a lighter and see how they fit. 

There was too much excess space, so I thought maybe I could put a divider in the middle and she could put her cellphone in one side.

When all was said and done, she loved the case, but I bought the wrong blend of cigarettes.  Plus, she already has a very cool case for her new iPhone.  But it was fun experimenting anyway!  Makes me want to do more playing with painting fabric and sewing little bags.

 

 

Scores of Drawers

What I saw at the antique mall on Saturday.  If only...!

The first one is huge - about six feet high and at least as wide.  I did not spend $1295 and buy it.

I did not buy the second one (didn't see a price either).

I did not buy the two sets of drawers at $195 each.

I did drool over them all.

 

I did, however, spend $2 on this little book about Venice, with its fold-out map and its color and black & white pictures.   

 

 

Pages in Stages

I think it started out with me wanting to smush pages together to transfer ink...
I sprayed two colors of spray then closed the pages together to transfer the ink.

I used a stencil, sprayed more ink, then closed the pages again to transfer ink.  

Blotted with paper towel, sprayed some green on the left.

Used green acrylic paint to make leaves on both pages.

Added some torn paper with text.  So far, I'm kind of liking it.  

I used a brush with a little water to make a wash of the sprayed inks, which gave a better background color.  Added acrylic paint through a flower stencil.  This is where it started going bad...

 I sketched a plant on the right to match the illustration on the text page.  Didn't like it at all.  Covered it with some washi tape, then more tape, then more tape.  Didn't like any of it.  Painted another flower on top of it.  Not liking it at all.

Maybe it needs an image there...

Not sure how it will end up, as my play time ran out.  But I am suddenly aware that this is a common problem with me.  I like the way something is going, but then the page needs that last extra "something", but I have a hard time figuring out what that something should be.  At least now I am more aware of that as a constant problem I seem to have, and I can be more aware to try to figure out how to fix it.  After all, the first step to tackle a problem is to identify what the problem is!

 

Happy playing!

 

Fabric Painting Fun

My on-the-go playtime lately has included painting on fabric.  By on-the-go, I mean a project that is spread out in a certain area, and anytime I pass by it, I might add something to it in the space of about five minutes before moving on to wherever I was going.

These were done with cheap acrylics paints, stencils, stamps, and a permanent black marker.  They are mostly still in progress, with some highlights still to be added.

 

I've had a lot of fun with these!

Hearts on Fire

You can find hearts just about anywhere...  fire, smoke, clouds, snow, sand.

Happy Valentines Day !

 

Book Hearts

More fun hearts.  Who doesn't love a good book!

(No copyright infringement intended.)

Hearts

I like my hearts on the quirky side. 

 

 

More fun hearts later...

(I have attempted to find the people responsible for these pictures, but I got lost in the InterWebs.  No copyright infringement intended on my part.)

Leftover Projects

Last year, my word for the year was "Action".  For the most part, I was successful in actually doing some of the things that I was thinking about doing.  But I didn't use up my Action word, so I have rolled it over to this year too.  Lots to do still. 

One thing I didn't get around to doing last year was making a book to hold the envelopes I got in a Lunar New Year envelope swap.  I love looking at these, and want them in a book.  

In the past several years, I have cut back on swaps I used to participate in.  But getting envelopes from fellow calligraphers is quite a treat and worth the effort.  I have signed up again this year, and have my bought the 2013 stamps.  It's the year of the snake - thankfully, the snake is not predominant on this stamp, only fireworks!

Tip of the Day

Happy February !

If you can't seem to get your act together and you didn't finish making a certain birthday gift, then put a ribbon on the birthday card.  Then the card will look like a gift, and maybe you can slide by for a little while!
:-)