A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

"a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

                                                                                                                               ~Lao Tzu

I love this wise saying.

It's so deep.

But I'm going to customize it based on something that happened to me yesterday:

"the long Texas summer begins with a single bug bite on your eye."
                                                                                ~Lydia

Yeah.

Welcome to summer, fellow Texans!

A bug bit me not ONCE, but TWICE on my eyelid while I was innocently watercoloring on the back porch the other night.

It was a glorious spring night - that perfect temperature where you don't feel hot or cold, the birds are singing, the daylight hours are long. And then, just before you get too comfortable in the state that is always trying to kill you - BAM - a mysterious bug bites you twice on the eyelid to keep you humble and wary.

Now I look like a freak and my eye hurts.

Welcome, summer.

One of the things I love about stamping is that I can abstractify nature and turn it into a symbolic, idyllic thing that IS NOT always trying to kill you, like it is in the Great Republic.

I did exactly that today - inside, safe from the stinging insects and rattlesnakes.

I thought about trying reflections with the MISTI last night as I was falling asleep, and thankfully, unlike most of the ideas I get before I fall asleep - I didn't forget it! Yay me! So I prepped a big batch of tortilla soup (for which I will thank myself all this week at lunch time, and sat down to try it out with the camera rolling, and here's what I got.

Cool, eh? Love this tree.

If you want to see how I made it, along with some tips for hiding some of the branches behind the leaves, check out my video. (Without a Maddie cameo this time - now that the days are longer, she lies in a beam of sunlight rather than hogging the camera.)

This video is now part of my Master Class on Shadows & Reflections.

Now don't forget - registration for my June retreat is open - and it's first come, first served - I will run out of space fast, so click below or on the retreat tab above to register! You will get to play with a MISTI if you don't have one, learn stenciling and background techniques, and have meals from a celebrity stamping chef, all in the wonderland of a retreat in the Texas Hill Country!

Loveyameanitmyeyehurtsbye.