Nature is partying!

hey y'all!

FIRST - no kittens.  {cries}  No itty fuzzy faces to kiss on.  They all have kitty colds and we did not want to add to the stress by taking them on a long journey so we wait.  I NEED KITTENS! hahhaha!

So my super awesome three muskateer buddies Catherine (Silly Skittles for those who have been reading my blog from day 1) and Ann Shuman are coming to visit in a few weeks! I am beyond excited to see them and so is Pezza! They are both bringing their significant others too! That way Kev doesn't have to wrangle the three of us on his own because we can be a bit much :P Cat has been on a super healthy lose weight get in shape mission since fall and is doing an incredible job. However, she is threatening to take me running with her when she gets here. (hide me) I don't run. In fact if I had to run for my life I would not run I would hide instead because I am pretty sure my heart would explode :P So I am a bit scared of her now. Though she did push Kevin for an allowance to buy me fun tekgear workout clothes - which perked my interest briefly....

In anticipation {and partly because I am ever so slightly competitive} I decided I better get back on the treadmill starting today.  I even ran a on a bit of it.  Well jogged sort of - it was not a speed that would have gotten me away from a knife wielding madman that's for sure.  But it was faster than a walk.  And my heart did not explode.  I MAY have pulled a muscle in my arm holding my boobs still though....yes I was wearing a sports bra.  Or something that resembles one - the opposite of a push bra anyway that's for sure.  We'll see if I can make myself get on that treadmill any more times this week...

So today I will be fitting in another attempt at running while also cleaning my disaster of a house and reading to Pezza's class (I am PETRIFIED that I am going to forget to go so I have been repeating it in my head for two days now...)

I DID make some time to play in the studio too!  One of the reasons my house is such a mess :P

I love how this two page spread turned out!  It started with black gesso'ed edges and a little gel medium and stenciling for a bit of texture.  Then I sponged on some bright (dark) green and orange acrylic paint and next some Mallard Green Luminarte Silks for a touch of sparkle.  it was a little too bright/dark so I toned it down with some swipes of cream colored paint.

I added more layers of paint - pale pink acrylic using bubble wrap, then smaller bubble wrap with Sunflower Luminarte Silks.  I wanted to bring out the stenciled designs a bit more so I went over them lightly with some Green Viva Inka Gold using my fingertip.  Before adhering my computer generated quote I misted it with Luminarte Radiant Rain - Sour Lemon and Sweet Whisper.  After adhering it I decided I needed one more textural element to the pages and mixed up a little Luminarte Primary Elements Powder in Sunburst into some plain gel medium and spread it on through some sequin waste.  I sprinkled on a bit of microbeads before lifting the stencil.

This page was done in the same way at the same time and then I wanted to add some flowers.  Remember the Paint Skins I made?  I decided they would be perfect along with a page from a french book to make the flower layers.  Then I added that same gel medium and Primary Elements mixture to the flower centers and embedded more microbeads along with larger seed beads into the gel centers.

I must say I had SO much fun with this.  As y'all know I have had a bit of trouble getting into my studio and feeling creative.  I decided to just get in there and have fun the way I used to and to STOP over thinking it and second guessing myself and comparing my work to other people's.  Instead of dragging me down it lifted my spirits!  I hope I am back on track!  Now if I can just get this house cleaned up...