INKY FINGERS

Today's page is another stencil clean off from a few days ago, when I was using Oxide reinkers. I scraped some embossing paste through a stencil on the day I made it and left it. So today, I decided to work with what was there and since one of the larger circles looked like a moon to me, that's what it became... and the white lines became a snowy effect. That's possibly because I'm REALLY cold today, so it's on my mind.

I knew I wanted an image slightly over the 'moon' so I had a rummage through my stamped images, found what I thought was the perfect one and (seriously - laboriously) fussy cut it, coloured it, then decided it wasn't what I wanted 😒
So...when looking through my stamps some birdies caught my eye, but they weren't quite right - then I remembered these whimsical owls! So I stamped them on the page and again on some card, knowing that the texture would stop me getting a clear image. After colouring them (with Promarkers) I cut out the larger bits and stuck them over the stamped image on the page, edging it with Hickory Smoke Oxide. 

I like the idea of these two huddling together in the cold moonlight, so I chose friends as my focus for today. I'm thankful for friends and for all the richness they bring to my life. Some friends are only close for a season, but bring enormous joy and blessing to that season - while other friendships last for most of our lives and are all the more precious because of that, made so much deeper by of all you go through together - a shared history. 

Today I'm thankful for the freedom to choose...even though whichever choice you make will upset someone important to you... and for my family.

I started with a stencil clean off page in my small journal, then just added a few stamps and a bit more of the same inks - Oxides. Sorry, but I can't remember where the little girl stamp is from...it's from a time when I ordered a bunch of photographic images from various non-UK companies. 

I'm joining Moo Mania & More with Circles
and
Art Every Day Month with Leah and friends.

It's Bonfire Night - yay!
But no, I'm not celebrating Guy Fawkes night - oh how we used to love this time of year, walking around with our 'swede' (turnip) lanterns in the dark and sharing goodies like treacle toffee, jacket potatoes cooked in the bonfire and black eyed peas...not to mention the fireworks in everyone's gardens...it was so exciting. It's all organised events now, with very few actual bonfires...no competitively created 'guys'... nothing at all like it was. But it IS much safer and that's a good thing. I'm celebrating the beauty and wonder of the everyday.
Today's page is a continuation of yesterday's in some ways ...I'm thankful for the beauty in the things we take for granted and don't even notice most of the time. 
I chose to use a flower again, using a Studio Light image over another Oxide reinker background. This time I used Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick and Toasted Marmalade and did a bit of simple stencilling, colouring the flowers with acrylic paint, Copics (leaves and stems) and white gel pen, and  part stamping some random words. I found the words in my treasured stamped words box (I try to remember to stamp words more than once, so that I can pick out individual words to use in journalling) and they fitted what was in my head...
May we never lose the wonder of the ordinary things in life, things like the comfort of being able to kick back, relax and unwind in our own home. 

I'm linking to Art Every Day Month again...lovely to see you again if you're popping in. It's wonderful to see the diversity in the other participants' creativity and to learn new things...

Happy November!
Wow! Where has the year gone? I can't believe it's November again and so little time to go before Christmas!

I've decided to take a risk and try to take part in Art Every Day Month again this year... sadly, I'm unable to promise to create every day but I'll do my best to create on some days and will try to get to a few of the participating blogs each day...  I'll also try again to make it a month of Thanksgiving! Focusing on our blessings is always and only good for all of us.

So, I'm starting November with a Circles page, just for Moo Mania &More's current challenge. I love circles, so had a quick play on an acrylic (Liquitex) smooshed background I made yesterday, just using circle stamps. I spotted the words as I was hunting for the circles and so they became flowers...again! It's not a brilliant page - the larger criss crossed circle looks so out of place - but I like the idea and will do something similar again...this one may or may not make it to my journal, though I did resize it to fit, just in case. Love the way the circle background stamp looks around the edges...and I love squiggled stems!