I can only do so much housework before I get the urge to play. After cleaning the kitchen and taking out the trash I knew I needed to head for the studio. I had no idea what I was going to make and really, it didn’t matter. I just needed to spend some creative time.

I usually don’t have much of a plan when I sit down to play (maybe this is why so much of my play things end up in the trash, do you think?) Sometimes I just play around without making anything and other times I surprise myself by coming up with something nice. Yesterday I decided to kill two birds with one stone by combining my need to play with my need to come up with a blog post for today. For your enjoyment I present a little trip inside my head for a glimpse at how my thoughts flow. You are getting it as it really happened so I make no promises about what the outcome will be.

I sat down at the table and saw my stack of pre-cut ATC blanks so my decision of what to make was now set. I pulled a grey card from the stack and decided it was too drab and needed a little color.

I decided to sponge on some Distress Ink so I grabbed the purple pad. What’s that? Did someone ask why I chose purple? That is a very good question! I have no answer for it though. Purple just popped into my head so I went with it.

It was still looking pretty drab so I decided that more color was called for. I didn’t want a color that would compete with what was already happening so I picked blue, hoping that it would pop just a little. What I forgot to factor in was that the sponge still had a little green on it from a previous project. This is where I would say that things don’t always go as planned, except for the fact that I have no plan for this.

I still wasn’t feeling it so I decided to lighten the mood a bit by stippling on some white ink.

The white helped but it still felt really flat. I needed a little contrast… but not too much contrast. I used some more of the purple ink and one of my favorite stamps. It’s a little splatter stamp from Stampin’ Up! I just stamped around the edges.

Now I was happy with the background and it was time to start building some layers of interest. I used another Stampin’ Up! image and white ink. This gives my background a little more depth. It’s kind of sweet and peaceful looking at this time. Very calm. Very subtle. I know what it needs!

The perfect image popped into my head. It’s the screaming lady from Ken Brown Stamps (Rubber Stamps of America) When is it not a perfect time to use one of Ken Brown’s images? Hmm… something about this is giving me an idea… Didn’t Judy just post a comment on my scorpion post?

I stamped the lady and colored her in with a waterbrush and watercolor pencils. Then I resized a photo of a scorpion and printed it, then cut it out. Now I know where I am going with this card.

This is the finished card. I sponged some black ink around the edges and added words that I printed out. It may not be a great card but it is better than I expected. It’s easy to be happy when you have no expectations.