My Fave Monday...Thinking outside the box

Sometimes I sit here and think, "what the H E double hockey sticks am I going to write about this week" while saying the real word, out loud, and wracking my brain for an answer.  Am I the only one who finds it difficult to not curse in their blog?  I don't believe that way of thinking is a testament to my knowledge but more the fact that creativity just doesn't work that way.

The ebb and flow of a creative mind has all kinds of varieties, like say a sex drive. Then again, there I go with inappropriateness.  Some factors have to fall into place, time and space, for one thing.  Then there are days when all you can do is create and the making becomes effortless so to speak.  I think buying art supplies helps the creative process along exponentially.  You should see all the new colors of acrylic paint I just got!

Here they are all in one place and one project!  I'm starting to really love color.  Before, I'd say I was more about complimenting and being a match maker when it came to the colors I was using.  Ever since I started this journey into multimedia art, I've thrown out all those rules. It's freeing in a way, to just go with your gut and not even use a paintbrush!  In fact, you should see my hands at the end of a project like this.  They're like a ten digit rainbow with peeling glue, y'know the kind of thing you used to do on purpose in grade school?  Maybe you didn't do that and it's just me...

Buying supplies is a great way to motivate the mojo but realistically not everyone can buy something when they need and or want it.  I know I can't and do even when I shouldn't.  This week I stifled my artistic retail therapy and tried to look outside of the box for some alternative motivation.  I was in need of some stencils.  Stencils create this cool kind of texture I see in all of Christy Tomlison's work, but I don't have many.  Honestly, I have just one and I've used it enough now to know I need to look for something new.  So in this weeks project I found an old piece of Ki Memories Lace paper and decided to improvise.

I used clear gesso on my canvas.  It dries faster than modeling paste and worked for the effect I was going for.

then I just laid the lace paper right on top of my canvas and applied the gesso in a thick layer and lifted my pseudo stencil up to create this really cool back round.

After the Gesso dried I painted white acrylic paint over the entire canvas.

Then I applied paint, ephemera, trim and black archival ink for all the stamping to finish the back round of the canvas.

I printed the words "Even when the leaves are dying spread your wings and keep on flying" on some sticky back canvas and sprayed it with Lindy stamp gang sprays and adhered it to my project along with old book pages that I sprayed and made into a flower with falling leaves.

I love the randomness of this canvas.  It's my Fave this Monday!

I hope you look outside of the box for inspiration and alternatives to creating.  Sometimes that is just what you need when you don't know what the H E double hockey sticks you're doing this week!