Empty Questions and "the blues..."

Suzanne, the owner and creative calligrapher at Quietfire Design, sent me this wooden "Q" recently. Hmmm, what to do, what to do.

I KNOW!!

"Empty Questions..." existential meanderings...

I chuckled when I created the title for this post. In times of change and challenge in my life, my muse becomes reflective (lol).

This week, over at Dreamweaver, and Papertake Weekly, everyone's playing with a "free theme..." my favourite! Here's a plain wooden box I painted, stamped and embossed (instructions below photos). Please play along with us right here! Dust off your stencils and have some fun! This week we have a designer's choice theme, so you can create with no limits.

Instructions:

Paint a plain wooden box, inside and outside, with Golden White Gesso. Let dry. Paint inside with two coats of Metallic Gold Lumiere. Let dry. Paint outside with two coats of Metallic Copper Lumiere. Let dry. Stamp Quietfire Flourishes on top and bottom of box lid with Versafine Black Pigment and thermal emboss with Tsukineko Gold Embossing Powder. Using Dreamweaver Heart with Ribbon stencil, paste emboss design on all four sides of bottom of box with Dreamweaver Gold Embossing Paste which has been mixed with some clear ultrafine glitter. Let dry. Paint wooden "Q" with white gesso. Let dry. Overcoat with Design a Metal Leaf Adhesive. Let dry till tacky. Apply Variegated Red Leaf, press into adhesive, let sit for a few minutes, then brush excess off with a stiff bristled stencil brush. Overspray with Krylon Matte Finish Spray as sealant. Glue "Q" to top of box for use as a handle with PVA Glue. While "Q" is drying onto lid, turn lid upside down and place several weights inside (I used books) to ensure a good bond.

I really like how the flourishes of the Dreamweaver stencil match so well with the flourishes of the Quietfire Design stamp.

This week's Theme Thursday challenge is "flourish!

Please take a few minutes to look at the other beautiful things created by the Dreamweaver designers. Direct links to their blogs are on my sidebar.

Over at Impression Obsession, the designers are playing with a "blue"theme. I used one of my favourite older IO stamps, a design by Leigh Hannan called "Flower Background," and paired that with this new release sentiment."


To create this, I used a resist technique with clear embossing powder on white cardstock, then sprayed several colours of Ecoline Watercolour Inks over the embossed design. I used the challenge over at a new challenge blog I found, called Less is More, which is to use a minimalist design incorporating three squares. Designing simply is a huge challenge for me, so I think I'll play over there more often. Over at Fab and Funky, the challenge is "spring into action;"hope my flowers background works for that!

Don't forget! If you'd like a chance to win $25.00 in free Impression Obsession stamps, send off your "Blue"creation by 9 p.m., EST, Friday night. The instructions are on the Impression Obsession blog. Don't forget to browse through the delightful creations by other Impression Obsession designers too...their links are on my sidebar.

Thank you for visiting. I wish you a creative day, doing whatever fills your artsy heart!