Love Thy Brain

Yesterday morning, I loaded 4 large boxes into my car and took them to the post office and away went 3 months work and product for the Craft Boutique.  When I walked out the door of the post office, I walked out a changed woman, it was as if all the air in my body was propelled out and I was exhausted, I had a grocery list with me and could not imagine how I was going to negotiate the isles and checkout, but I went anyway. Our grocery serves a rather small community so it is rare that I don't see someone I know, a neighbor, a friend and sure enough a very good friend was standing at the deli counter, we engaged in a conversation and I realized after a couple of minutes that I had not heard a word she said, so I apologized, explained that I was not at the top of my game and I just needed to get done and home.  So I got the essentials, got home, put them away and flopped on my bed, a power nap mid day is not out of the norm for me, I am up at 3AM most mornings so by noon, I am ready for a wee nap, but yesterday it was 3 hours, I woke up groggy and disoriented and it took me an hour to really wake up.  I fixed dinner and was again asleep by 7PM.

So what does this have to do with my brain?  If our brain gets tired, then we had better listen, because if we don't then it will just shut down the body, I know this and try to treat it right, but some times I push and push and push.  Right before I go to sleep, I do some stretching exercises and breathing exercises, to let my brain know that I am getting ready to let it sleep and then right before I doze off I implore it to wake me with inspiration and color.  For 3months, I have been trying to get a line drawing of a holly sprig that I was happy with, I bet I have done a good 50 attempts, but nothing, nothing, nothing.  This morning when I woke, I was refreshed, renewed and all my stress was gone, no deadlines looming over my head, nothing on the calendar for today, wow!  First thing in the morning when I get to my studio table with wonderful coffee in hand is my morning exercise, I draw, play with color, nothing set, just go with flow so to speak, and lo and behold, a holly sprig, one that I liked, oh yah, the brain doesn't like stress or deadlines, well at least mine doesn't.  So love thy brain and it will love you back, hugs

White and red card stock embossed with Sizzix Holly Folder, Holly Sprigs from my table this morning, hand drawing and colors by Copic Markers, PS6 and Silhouette Cameo and some misc. ribbon and red raffia.  Hugs

The Last of my Projects

These are the last of my projects for the Craft Boutique, everything hopefully gets shipped out tomorrow and then it will be almost time to fly out to Sunny Southern California, oh boy.  These are my "gift bag hang outs", minature chalkboards that clip onto a gift bag with a small clothes pin attached to the back.  I used chalk markers "Bistro" on the chalkboards, so they would not rub off.  Have a happy Tuesday, hugs

She was proud to live outside the box

I am almost on track so took a little play time today, yesterday had lunch with my son and ran some errands, I had to run into Hobby Lobby and picked up the latest edition of "Cloth Paper Scissors" and saw a Mixed Media Face Challenge and went hmmmm.  So this afternoon watching Tim Burton's "The Corpse Bride", one of my all time favs, I was drawing and then I had an idea for the challenge, she was sketched with a 005 Micron Pen, colored with Copic Markers, one of my butterflies and 3 roses, the background is one of my gelli pulls printed on a magizine sheet and then cut into 1" squares and mounted to a 4X4" square.  Happy Sunday, again, lol, hugs

You are One of a Kind

When I print out my gelli pull backgrounds I normally do it with my Silhouette and I print out 2 to a page, so had one left over from my print out yesterday.  I also had on my table a Spellbinder's Oval I cut from one of my favorite coffee beans, I love love the packaging, they were sitting side by side and I loved how they looked together, so put this card together, the little stand for the coffee kick is a piece of the packaging and oval with a rub-on added.  Just a generic card that could be used a few different way, hugs

The Moon Sees You!

I know for a fact that some of my best ideas come when I am the busiest, when I don't have the time to sit and play with it, expand it.  I really did not have the time this morning, BUT, I needed a Halloween card for son and daughter in law, I am having lunch with son today and probably will not see him again until after Halloween.  When an idea hits me and I don't have time for it, I write it down, some times it comes to fruition and some times loses its momentum during the time span I had it and the time I actually worked it.  This has been on my list for a while and comes popping in and out at the weirdest times, the other day I found an old Making Memories Scrapbook Idea Book from 2006, I flipped through it and loved the texture of the paper and the size, it is about 8"X11" and I thought oh I bet this paper would work to print out some of my gelli pulls, which has been on my "what if" list, to print out the gelli pulls on book and/or heavy magazine pages, so I put the book on top of my stack for later.  So this morning under the wire and desperate for an original card for my two lovelies, I printed out one of my favorite gelli pulls on one of the pages.  This will most certainly be one of my favorite things in 2014, it really doesn't matter if you can read the background or even if it makes sense, just having that additional depth pops the gelli pull like crazy.  Happy Saturday, Hugs

A Tip from my Studio

A little tip from my studio this morning, I am getting ready to seal and give my little double butterflies some gloss, they are too small to hold, it would take forever, so I mount them to an old Cricut Cutting Sheet, if it has lost most of its stickieness just give it a spray with some stencil adhesive or Elmer's repositional glue sticks work also.  Then lay your items down and get busy.  I also use them to paint items I don't want to move around with my airbrush or spray can.  I never throw my cutting mats out, they are great for so many things, I love making embossing folders with them also, but that is another day. Have a great Friday and happy weekend, hugs

Charged

Do you ever get visuals when you have a thought?  I have been documenting and photographing all of my stuff that is shipping down south and my phone has been on the charger more than not.  So this morning when it told me my battery was exhausted, I was a little miffed, lol, so this is what I did while it was on the charger, hopefully I scared it into keeping the charge a little longer, yah think?  Bolts and Charge man were done with Sketchbook Pro and Copic colors, the background is a gelli pull.  Happy Hump Day!  Hugs

Today Shines

Creating text or journaling blocks with Sketchbook is easy, quick and you are able to color coordinate them to your Copics.  Background is a gelli pull, the sun was done for this card and the butterfly is a pre-existing element hand colored with Copics, the text box same copic colors except colored in Sketchbook, I am a happy camper.  Happy Tuesday, hugs

Snowman face with Scarf

A fun snowman face with a scarf and this about does it for my Christmas cards, as I play with the Sketchbook Software and becoming familiar with all of its features, I am amazed at its simplicity and power. I am blessed to have found this amazing tool.  I love so much that it supports my Copic colors, wow!  The next two weeks for me will be packaging and getting all of this shipped out to Southern CA, hard to believe that the Craft Boutique is looming so close on the horizon.  I am looking forward to some great walks on the beach and being with some dear friends.  Hope everyone has a great week.  Hugs

Flower Bouquet

Happy Happy Weekend, remember I said I had made my decision to upgrade the Sketchbook Software but not til later in the year?  WELL, once I had made the decision, my imagination would not let me rest, "what if, what if, what if?" lol, so I did it. If I love my Wacom Tablet before (which I do) then I am adoring it now. The ease of interaction between the Wacom, PS6, Sketchbook and my Cameo is like magic.  They just sink together and make it all work flawlessly.
This is a generic card, it could be used for a birthday, thinking of you, get well or thank you card, the flowers were sketched and colored with the Copic Colors all in Sketchbook, then my Cameo graciously accepted the drawing and created perfect cut marks.  I am getting a lot of mileage from the "Sheet Music Sketch" from the Silhouette Library it is so versitile.  The background is one of my gelli pulls and my little butterfly with some raffia finish it off.  Be creative my friends, Hugs