…it’s mostly been a good thing that this is my second year doing ali’s one little word class. I’m comfortable with the process and know that the end result will be more than worth the effort. but I wasn’t looking forward to june. june is the “get creative and get messy prompt”. the one I opted out of last year. I’ve actually been dreading it. but a few weeks ago, I saw julie balzer’s watercolor cards and thought those might be very cool for illustrating my word shine. that simmered for a bit and I found myself starting to get excited about watercolor. and my word. and getting messy.

so this morning, I made time to watch the videos. the first ten minutes was a great introduction. ali closed with a parting thought to “take a creative risk and step outside [my] comfort zone”. (well duh, anything that involves paint is outside my comfort zone!)

I finished the second video at 5:15 this evening – parting comment from my journal “I’m going to DO THIS NOW!”

…and I did. I chose yellow as my color, along with white, and cream and a very pretty pearl white (one of several happy surprises in the bins and boxes that comprise my “scrapbook stash”).

I cut nine 2-1/2 by 3-1/2 inch squares.

and painted. and gesso’d. with stamps. just like ali showed. and about 30 minutes later I had nine little canvasses ready to dry.

while they dried, I practiced watercolor on the pages of my journal. and realized I had no idea how to make those cool drips. or really anything that remotely resembled those cool julie balzer cards. I embarked on plan B. do like ali.

I added ink. and white rub-ons. and words. and embellishments. all stuff I’d been hoarding (it was very fun to use it!).

and then I had a happy accident. I boo-boo’d one of the cards. what the heck, it was ruined already, so I scribbled on it with my watercolor marker. and then stepped over to the sink to spray it with water. oh my. I had drips. and lovely soft colors. I then scribbled with intent – as in layering colors.

using stampin up watercolor markers in the bold brights  – yellow, orange and hot pink

spray. drip. dry.

love how the texture from the paint shows through

the cards are still propped up to dry completely and I plan to stamp them tomorrow when they’re dry. simple words to add another plane of dimension. grace, giving, peace, sharing.

…to my one little word. shine.