Birthday Celebrations

Birthday a la Cheesecake Factory

I had a fun weekend - celebrated a birthday, with lunches on Friday, Saturday AND Sunday, a fancy dinner on Saturday night, and along with wonderful meals collectively over those three days I test drove some nice wine, a little champagne, an excellent margarita, and a new discovery - pomegranate martini. I'm a year older and almost certainly larger than I was at the end of last week! As lovely as all of this was, I hope things settle right back down to what passes for normal around here, as it is I'll have to hit the walking trail to atone for my indulgences.

Stewart Gill paints, Stampin' Up! Text stamp
Delta leaf stencil and acrylic paints

I didn't make a single piece of art this weekend, not one inky project, so here instead are some photos of a recent swap. We had to use modeling (aka molding) paste, something I'd never tried. I sponged 140lb cold press watercolor paper with metallic paints, then stamped the text; I mixed some acrylic paints into the modeling paste, then spread it over the leaf stencil, lifted off the stencil, and practiced patience while the paste dried (not my forte, the whole patience thing). After it was all dry (overnight) I sponged on some more metallic paints hoping for an autumn leaf look. It was fun playing with a new material, and when I saw what the other swap members made - lots of very cool textured and painted backgrounds - I was inspired to think a little more 'out of the box' next time I break out the modeling paste. The paste is very lightweight once dry, so it's mail friendly.

Thanks for checking in, hope you have a great week!