Sketched out my girl with charcoal on charcoal paper. Blended a little with a stump. Then I decided I wanted color. So I went over it with chalk pastels, blending with either the stump or my finger.

Awhile back I bought an embossing kit on clearance. It came with 6 powders and inks in different colors, a heat gun, and a little tray all in a pretty and fairly sturdy box. After playing with the kit for a little while it occurred to me that the plastic box it came in would make a good gelli plate substitute. When I got around to experimenting I only had about 15 min so I just grabbed some printer paper and a couple of bottles of craft paint and got to playing.

Nothing special, but I had fun and discovered that yes in fact a smooth plastic surface does make for good monoprinting. I totally need to pull it out and have another go, but in the meantime I think I'm going to make copies of my prints and see how many ways I can use them and how many different looks I can get out of the same sheet. Maybe I'll make stickers  with my new sticker maker.

   I started my afternoon prepping my planner. A little late I know, but I figure better late then never. First, I searched online for a free calendar template. I downloaded and printed the first one I saw. If I spent too much time searching for the perfect one I would never have gotten it done at all. After, I printed the pages I marked my holes and punched them with adjustable three hole punch. I decided rather than make half sheets for my little binder I would make full sized sheets and simply fold them in half. This way I have a whole sheet to make extra notes on the back if I need to. So far I just have the monthly calender pages. But, I plan to add weekly and daily to do lists and a section for blog ideas and planning, I haven't decided what else to add yet, but as you can see in the photo below I have plenty of sections to fill out. I figure I will fill in the planner as I go. Better to create what I need then guess.

 

My 2015 New Year's Resolutions

In no particular  order

1. Create everyday.

2. Finish what I start.

3. Write, anything, everyday.

4. Post to my blog at least once a week.

5. Organize my closet. Even if it takes all year. Which it probably will.
6. Create a studio/office space .
7. Move more.
8. Finish that book my brother and I started.
9. Enjoy my own company more.
10. Explore more if my surroundings.

  Just been playing around with some water media; Caran D'Ache Neo Colors 2, an inexpensive set of watercolors by Artist Loft, and my new Portfolio pastels.

  I did these last night. My dad pointed out that they could be the sun and the moon. I didn't think about that while doodling, but it's true. Light vs. dark, warm vs. cool, flaming hair vs. tight blue locks.  It occurs to me now they could be water and fire as well.

   A couple of days ago, before I did the pic I posted yesterday, I picked up a pack of Crayola Portfolio water soluble pastels.  Before I did anything serious, I thought I would experiment with them. Some I colored with then went over with a wet brush, some I colored with directly onto wet paper, and a few i tried wetting the tip of the pastel before coloring. Course, I didn't mark which way I did each section... But, least I got to play.

   They were fun to play with. The pastels were super creamy, blended easily. With water anyway. It occurs to me I didn't try blending them dry like regular oil pastels. Maybe that will be my next play date. But so far, I am glad I picked them up.