Clearing A Creative Block

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Last night as I returned home I was welcomed by a surprise in my garden. The moon flowers that I had planted months ago and that never germinated (or so I thought) had not only sprouted but had climbed up my trellis and were in full bloom. Apparently they were hiding among the other vines climbing the trellis and went undetected. If you are not familiar with moon flowers, they are glorious. Their blossoms are creamy white and are the same shape as those of a morning glory (the two are related) but they measure anywhere from four to five inches across, only opening at night. Because of their creamy color, they look like miniature moons floating over the garden. I can't tell you what a smile it brought to my face to see the return of one of my favorite nocturnal flowers. HERE is a link to a one minute video I found online of a moon flower opening in real time - FAST!

The feel-good emotions I got from viewing my gorgeous flowers helped me to crack through a creative block I was experiencing with a Halloween decoration I was working on. This scene was created using several free digital cutting files, most of which came from birdscards.com. You can find many of the files used in this scene HERE. Choosing which files to use and where to place them was easy. My block came at the very end of construction when I didn't know what to do with the top border and the space between the words at the bottom border. I let the project sit and stew for a day, then returned to it the morning after my moon flower surprise. The creative cobwebs were gone and the project was finished in no time.

Moral of the story: A walk in the garden can clear your mind.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Getting Into a Small Creative Groove

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I've been pretty busy lately doing a whole lot of creative things that have nothing to do with my crafting. This is the time of year that consumes me with preparing my vegetable and flower gardens...gardens that are not confined by the limited plot of dirt I have to cultivate but that spill over into every conceivable pot and receptacle I have. Then there is the business of spring cleaning which, when you have a dog that constantly sheds, never ends. And then there is my baking, something my family and I have been enjoying immensely for the past several months. There is never a lack of bread or cookies in this house. As satisfying as these endeavors may be, they can not substitute for the singular enjoyment I experience when I sit at my crafts table with paper, rubber stamps, ink and imagination. This week I carved out a few slivers of time and played for the first time in many months.

The pieces you see here are smaller than my usual creations. The card top left is only 3.5' x 5", smaller than my preferred A2 size of 4.25" x 5.5". The central motif was created on a 1.75" x 2.75" card by masking out the moon and brayering different colors of ink to create the background. The mask is removed, the bonsai branches are stamped in black and the edges are sponged with black ink. This layer is adhered to black cardstock just a scant 1/16" larger all around, creating a thin black frame. The turquoise layer is stamped with an Asian text rubber stamp using a glue pad. Ultrafine black glitter is sprinkled over the glue and set with an artist's fixative. This is also layered onto a thin black frame which is  gilded along the edges with a paint pen. Gold bamboo motif outline stickers and tiny hot glue rhinestones asymmetrically frame the central motif which is centered on a black card.

To the right you will see the results of a random moment of inspiration. This is an ATC tri-shutter card. Although I have made tri-shutters before (see here and here for my previous examples), they were always in the standard A2 size. This tri-shutter, when closed (as in the top photo), is no bigger than an ATC, measuring 2.5" x 3.5". I placed a quarter next to the closed card to show the scale of the completed work. It took a little imagination and a good measure of fractional math in order to adapt the full size template of this layout down to this size but I think the result is quite pleasing. No extraordinary efforts here...just basic black stamping on card stock with a little die cut butterfly, some white gel pen accents and some tiny rhinestones.

It feels good to manipulate the paper again. Now to find the time to do so on a more regular basis.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Bella Luna

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The moon has been a recurring theme for me this summer and  I wanted to share two beautiful moon images I shot in my own backyard...literally. The first is that of the beautiful blue moon that appeared in the sky on August 31 this year. This photograph was shot with my old Canon PowerShot and its awesome zoom lens. As far as I'm concerned it may as well be an official NASA image. I LOVE the details in this picture.

My second "moon" image is one that I had been waiting for all summer. I came across a set of seedlings at my local nursery called Moon Flower Vine during a shopping trip for garden supplies so I picked it up because the picture on the tag looked like a petunia and I love petunias. I planted it around an old tree stump in the garden and trained the vines to wrap around the tree. After months of patiently waiting it finally bloomed...just in time for the blue moon at the end of August. As you can see by the size of my daughter's hand in proportion to the flower, this is no petunia-sized blossom. The creamy white flowers were as large as saucers. They open only at night and last only for one night, closing forever before dawn. The size and color of the blooms gives them the appearance of little moons floating above their leaves. I have been treated to an endless show of pearly white moon blossoms every night since the end of August and I hope it continues for a few weeks more. I'm in no hurry for summer to say farewell.

ADDENDUM 09-16-12:

Last night the new moon occurred. Tonight my moon flowers were in a blooming riot. Take a look at the photo to the right. The vines are wound around the trunk of a dead tree that is about five to five and a half feet tall. That should give you an idea of the scale. These flowers are big.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva