Ambrosia's Polaroid Magnets

I saw a photo on Pinterest of these homemade Polaroid magnets and thought they were super cute! So I tried it out. Could make a nice little hostess gift for any holiday parties coming up...



It's actually more challenging than it looks (they look a bit better in the photos than in my hand). Trying to get good edges with bookboard and combining glue and printer paper are some tricky things to do.



I haven't decided yet if I'm going to glaze all of them (the glaze only seems to exacerbate imperfections in the paper/glue step) but the magnets were so super easy to attach. I used the Elmer's magnet strips and they're actually not too bad. The adhesive actually sticks! A bit stronger than the thin magnet cards you get from businesses, which is good. 

Goddess Leonie's Business Workbook 2013

After some pondering, I downloaded Leonie's 2013 Business Workbook. She has a "Life" version as well which is probably lots of good fun.



It's an e-book that you print yourself, but my elderly home printer isn't useful for colour printing.  I had an unused cartridge full of colour ink so I printed some pages anyway! I imagine these pages would look quite lovely if printed professionally.



I'm excited to answer the tough questions! The website boasts 80 pages, but I think that must include the calendar. There were about 20 pages that I printed out which contained the workable questions. These are questions about goals, visions, income, profit, accomplishments and light problem solving. They look good!



I love how she encourages us to really OWN our minor accomplishments. I would be very interested to fill out these booklets every year to really see how each year improves in small ways!

Mini Painting - 12/9/12

I haven't done a mini painting in a while and I was inspired by some sketchy-style watercolours.



I have old high school sketchbooks full of drawings like this, ha! This basic use of light layers on a plain background sort of emphasizes what I love about watercolour: it is fearless and forgiveable and effortlessly beautiful.



Available here. 

Free to Be

"Trapped in a small cage with our creativity, we all wish we could benefit more from our passions. Some succeed while others dont. But all want the same thing - to be free just to be ourselves."

Halfway through I decided to switch to pencil crayon. I don't really use them but I love the look of the metallic copper pencil on the cage, so I'm glad I did!

There are a few more pictures here.

The Birth of an Idea

I spend too much time on the internet. But of course I do. There is an endless supply of colours, images, tutorials, opportunities, conversations, videos and ideas. 

Inspiration usually comes from the outside. You know that saying: "Nothing can be created in a vacuum," or some variation of the same. A clever photo on Pinterest pulls at my heartstrings, while drama is unfolding on an Etsy forum thread.

Just as I am about to put the laptop aside and tidy up, an image pops into my mind. The nearest item is a cheap notebook that was left behind in a school locker. I scribble the image (called a "thumbnail") with messy, black lines under some old driving directions. It's usually the scribbled thumbnails I appreciate the most.



There is usually some procrastination between the two-second sketch and the actual painting. There is just so much potential in the scribbles that I am too afraid to start painting. Sometimes it turns into a good idea, and sometimes it doesn't. 

I paint in flat blocks of colour, obscurring details to create an ugly, blurry image at first. And then... who knows what will happen?

White Rose Journal Flip

Journal flip!

Journal Page 12/2/12

That's it, that's all for the White Rose journal. Here's the last page where I cleaned off my stencil a few times. It's like having a pre-made background!

The next journal I'm using is going to be the Green Clovers one unless something else takes my fancy :3