If it looks like Christmas - Merry Christmas.
If it's a time of year that's hard for you - I get it. I wish you a day of peace and quiet, or a movie, or a few hours with a good book, or a nap, a crafty day or just a day with your DND on on your phone and some Candy Crush.
Whatever it looks like - do it. And do it with no guilt. Life is short. Make every day what you want it to be, even if it's Christmas, and you feel like something is expected of you. I just expect you to have a day of happiness and peace, however that looks.
I've had a very busy few weeks, work-wise, and I might just sleep all day. I might find out what my phone actually does - as I just recently discovered it has a right or left-handed keyboard option that squinches the keyboard so you can type with one hand!
I might launch a project or two I've been wanting to launch for a while.
I might finalize the details of a very fun teaching event in Florida in the spring.
Or I might sleep. Maybe a coin toss is in order.
I am so thrilled to have tried out the new Atelier pigment fusion inks. They are so much fun and so unique!
Here are some of the things they do:
- Use with Copics when dry.
- Water reactive.
- Watercolor with the inks - great blending.
- BUTTERY ink blending.
- When used with water, the ink is just as vibrant when dry, so this is different from traditional watercolor.
- High pigment content.
- They layer beautifully, since they are pigment, not dye.
- Crisp details when used to stamp because of the pigment content.
- Full line has reinkers.
So I was intrigued.
Whenever I try out a new medium, I like to film it so that I can document my results and reactions in real time, so I did that for a few minutes this week.
Water reactivity is pretty much my favorite, so I started with that.
First, I stamped the ornament from my friend Karen's beautiful first stamp set from WOW in Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink. Then I applied gloss medium to the ornament to protect that from the color.
I used my craft mat and directly applied the ink to the mat and spritzed with water, before picking up the wet ink with my hot press watercolor paper with the image stamped on it.
While the ink was still wet, I flicked water onto it to test the reactivity - you'll see it develop in the video!
I cleaned off the ornament with water to make the details pop, and added these rainbow rhinestones at the end. The sentiment is from the same set.
I don't think I've ever watercolored with a pigment ink before. If so, I don't remember it! But one of the things that intrigued me about these Fusion inks is that you can also watercolor with them! So I wanted to see what the transparency and layering was like, so I used an ornament from the same set, and just used the reinker (shake well) and a fine water brush with them to layer the red and purple inks with water and I was amazed - not only does the ink watercolor and layer beautifully, but just in the red alone - there seems to be a big range in the color. So the red ink appears to be a warm red when applied very intensely with little water - but in the middle of the ornament where I added a ton more water, you can see that it appears as a cool pink! Magic! I added some of the purple in a few spots at the edges for interest. The sentiment is from the same set.
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Aren't those fun? I can't wait to experiment a bit more.
Speaking of experimenting, I thought I'd share one more recipe before year end. After a failed chicken soup experiment in which I ended up calling my friend Mel for tips, I learned that Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat solves all the things. She told me to add lemon juice - and that made my bland soup perfect! So here you go!
Rotisserie Chicken Soup
1 Rotisserie Chicken, meat removed, bones reserved
2 long stalks fresh rosemary
Handful fresh thyme
Two long stalks fresh oregano
1 tsp. Cavender’s
⅛ tsp. cayenne
½ tsp. Sweet paprika
Juice of 2 lemons
3 carrots, sliced paper thin
4 ribs celery sliced thin
1 large sweet onion, diced.
1 large sweet onion rough chopped
1 TBS chicken base (Mel uses this one)
Salt to taste
Dried sweet basil ¼ tsp ish.
Chop the herbs and divide. Put half into a stockpot with the bones of a rotisserie chicken, the
Cavender’s, chopped onion and a teaspoon salt. Boil for a while, then add basil and chicken base.
I boiled it for an hour or so. While that’s boiling for a few hours, saute veggies in olive oil with rest of
fresh herbs until soft - carrots al dente. Turn veggies off if needed to reduce chicken stock.
When reduced and delicious - adjust as needed - put strainer over pot with veggies and strain broth
into it. Bring to a boil and add matzoh balls or dumplings if desired.
Cavender’s, chopped onion and a teaspoon salt. Boil for a while, then add basil and chicken base.
I boiled it for an hour or so. While that’s boiling for a few hours, saute veggies in olive oil with rest of
fresh herbs until soft - carrots al dente. Turn veggies off if needed to reduce chicken stock.
When reduced and delicious - adjust as needed - put strainer over pot with veggies and strain broth
into it. Bring to a boil and add matzoh balls or dumplings if desired.
Who doesn't love a bowl of delicious chicken soup??
Hope you have a lovely, uniquely you day today. Merry Christmas!
Loveyameanitbye.
Merry Christmas
ReplyDeleteHope the New Year treats
you wonderfully.
Mary Lou
Thank you so much for the lovely and comforting Christmas message. It's just what I need right now. Martha
ReplyDeleteWhat cool new inks! Beautiful cards!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that video, always inspiring. Wishing you peace and joy today and always!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing these wonderful cards Lydia! I love what you did with your background, looks simply amazing 😉
ReplyDeleteThe first card is absolutely stunning. Great video! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
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