We're Not Playing Games Here

What do you do when things don't work out the way you planned? 

You play tiddlywinks!

Just kidding!

Here's the real story.  

I've been making stencils on my sister's Cricut.  I have found that copier transparencies work pretty well but are prone to tearing at weak spots.  So, I was trying out different materials. I had a piece of thicker plastic for which I had high hopes.  I set it all up, using a fairly intricate tree pattern. Fingers crossed, I pushed the go button and watched the cutting arm maneuver back and forth, up and down.  About 5-10 minutes later it was done.

Fail.

What I had at the end was a piece of plastic with a lovely design of groves which didn't go all the way through.  

Of course, if I had tried it out on a sample piece first, adjusting the settings, It might have worked.  

Oh well.

I set it aside and went back to using the transparencies. 

This one left me with a whole pile of little plastic dots which I just couldn't throw away.

 

I tossed a handful on a 12" gel plate, covered it all with pink and yellow paint, and pulled a print.

It's amazing the texture you can get from smooth plastic.

I loved it, but of course, one thing leads to another.  Especially in gel printing.  I thought some larger circles could be fun.  And then I saw that failed stencil laying there.  

I cut that loser into a bunch of circles!

Here you can see the etched lines.  I had a hunch they might show up in the prints.

And boy, did they ever!  So cool!

And the playing of "tiddlywinks" ensued.

A big advantage to putting the stencils down before the paint is not having to hurry; you can think and rearrange to your heart's content without fear of drying paint.

The one down side to this is having to remove all the circles at the end but I think it might be worth it.

'

A Walk in the Park

The last few years have been just that: a walk in the park.  Well, really, my whole life has been.  (warning: philosophizing ahead)

The problem is, the last few years, the weather has been, shall we say, less than ideal.

There's been blazing heat of anger; icy, frigid winds of judgment; the clouds often releasing tears, sometimes in a torrent, other times a steady drizzle; and a fog of indecision.

That's not to say there hasn't been any pleasant weather.  There most definitely has been. 

But in spite of the weather, I must remind myself that I'm still in the park. And it's a beautiful park, full of wonderful and amazing things. While I can't predict the weather, I can keep walking in this park, trusting that my Creator is walking every step with me, always.

Which brings me to the point of this post: my "park" now has a new "bench".

About a year ago, my daughter and her husband began turning their garage into a studio apartment. For me!

I didn't take any before pictures but I'm sure you can imagine the dark and dirty insides of an old garage. This picture offers a hint. 

But look at that view.  I'll have a garden right outside my door!

What a difference some windows and paint can make!

Once the cabinets were in it really started to look like a living space.

During the year long process, the grand and I had many talks about our future adventures: painting, baking, sewing, gardening.

And then, a year to the day, we moved my stuff out of storage and the challenge of finding a place for everything began.

It would be a couple weeks before I could start living here, but when I moved in, the first thing I did was to stock the kitchen with... 

essentials.

And it didn't take long before I received the first floral offering from the munchkin next door.

As I finish up my third week here, I'm finally ready to start working on the studio part. As in art studio. Now, I have no ambition to become a serious professional artist. I just want to have a space dedicated to creating.

And I need a place to store all of these.

So, up on the wall they go.

     

I know it's a hodgepodge. 

But it's my hodgepodge.

In my park.

On my new bench.

It's a lovely day for a walk.

Greetings and Salutations

And thank-yous and thinking-of-yous.

I made cards!

My supplies:
Plain notecards, gel medium, sharpies and gel pen.

My pallet:
Little snippets of paint skins.

My process:

 I started by selecting coordinating pieces in varied sizes and adhered them to the card stock with gel medium.

Next came the doodling:

 sometimes penciling in ideas first, 

sometimes getting a little help from Autodesk Sketchbook.

e-sketch

Finally, it was time to commit and pick up the permanent markers.

Most were flowers.  Some had borders.

And then some mushrooms sprouted!

Reboot, Revamp, Revise

I haven't blogged since last year.  I really haven't even thought much about blogging in the last year.  And the last couple of years have seen a lot of changes for me.  So when I started feeling like blogging again, I realized that my blog didn't quite fit anymore.  The blog needed a change also. Just a small adjustment, really.  In fact, a single word was all I needed to change.  Unfortunately, that word was in the blog title.  I figured the easiest solution was to start fresh.

Hence, The Queen Crafts!

At first, I was hesitant to use the word craft.  To be honest, it carries a bit of baggage:  handmade crafts; something the kids do; it's not art, just a craft.

It's a shame we don't always think of its definition first and formost:  to make or produce with care, skill, or ingenuity.

Sounds downright noble. Befitting a queen!