a sunrise and some scrapbooking

Summer is drifting right along here.  

We returned from our annual vacation to Maine: sun, sea, sand, shops, and seafood (and lots of photos to edit and print). 

 I watched my first sunrise on the horizon.

These unedited photos don't come close to capturing the color and beauty.  It was a very moving experience.  A reminder of how blessed we are each day, how each day is a beautiful, new beginning.  It made me feel infinitely small, yet large and powerful.  

And since I came home to a nice clean house, I decided to sit down in my stUdio for a bit and create.

I picked up a rainbow of Faber Castell Gel Sticks on our trip.

From what I can tell, these are very much the same as the FC Gelatos: smooth, rich, blendable color and for a cheaper price (I paid $12 for the set of 12 colors in a toy shop in Portland, but you can get them online for even less.)

To wake up my creative mind (which may have still been lounging at the beach), I tuned into one of the Two Peas in a Bucket videos {this one}.  Lately, I've been loving watching the Garden Girls' videos to spark some creativity, even if I just have one playing in the background while I make a page, or clean up my space.

Techniques used:

1) using spray mist wand to draw heart (shown in video) and splatter ink

2) spraying mist on bubble wrap and stamping onto page

3) coloring gelatos on paper and blending with wet finger

4) lots of layers from leftover scraps

5) creating cut files in Silhouette Designer Edition software using arrows, a font and the weld feature

Thanks for stopping by!