Return of the Muse

My muse returned the other day. It felt good to finally crank something out. This was just a simple card with a classic design and sentiment. The flower is a Prima hydrangea. The ribbon is actually a find from the bargain bin at Michael's. The papers were scraps from my scrap drawer. I thought it came together nicely. It was also fun because I got to send it to my best friend.

On a different note, I'd signed up for an ATC swap that I'd thought was going to be interesting, but easy. It ended up being far from easy. I found out that I was scribbling-challenged! It had sounded simple enough--take a black marker, scribble on some white cardstock, cut it into ATC-size pieces and turn whatever shapes that you see on that piece into your design. I think I have a good imagination. This was going to be fun! Several sheets of cardstock later, I was beginning to panic. It wasn't nearly as easy as I thought it'd be. I set it aside, at times for days. I'd look at the images again and see NO potential! I won't even admit how many sheets of cardstock were sacrificed in this endeavor. I'd come up with maybe 2 or 3 usable ideas. I needed at least that many more. As the deadline closed in, I sat at my table again and decided to try scribbling one more time. This time, however, I just put the sheet on the tabletop, took marker in hand, closed my eyes, and scribbled. Interesting! I cut it up. NOW I had something to work with! I'd figured out the problem. I was being too careful with my scribbling. I'd been taking care to cover the page evenly, or I'd been making too many perfect loops, or adding lines or circles or zigzags. When I closed my eyes and just scribbled, I wound up with unique shapes and designs. Here are a couple of examples.

This first one came from my pile of initial tries. I like it, but you can see that there was a lot of symmetry and looping to it. I think I'd been trying too hard.

Night Spirit

These are from the last piece of cardstock that I finally scribbled in freeform fashion. Once I got the "designs" on paper, the rest of the creating was fun!

Party Dress

Sock Puppet Theater

What a learning experience that was! It was great fun though.