Bugs be gone

May I introduce you to the newest member of our family? That would be "Buttons," the Chicklet's new bunny she made at Brownies.

Didn't turn on the computer for a minute yesterday. Was busy though. Took the Chicklet to school and then got the car washed. My car is bug and (bird) bomb free. It was getting quite pitiful but I'll be parking under the shade of the tree again tomorrow. It beats getting into an oven at the end of the day. "Spring" is coming to an end with blooms wilting as the temperatures hit the high 80's going into the 90's.

I made a trip to IKEA yesterday as well. I needed to get an extension for a "baby" gate for the hallway. My four legged babies have gotten into some mischief in the bedrooms so they've been banished beyond the studio until I get the gate up. Last night they were finally able to enjoy accosting me on the couch and hanging out looking out the front door.

Found these napkins. Rarely do I make it out of IKEA without a new set of napkins to be used for backgrounds on collages.Got my hands dirty on Friday playing at Frenzy Stamper in Kelly Kilmer's class. The day went by way too fast! Here's my book-

I work fast but I felt like I barely got a thing done on the pages. Might be because I started playing with some of the paper towels I had used for blotting while I was painting. I set a bunch of them off to the side to dry and started to glue them into my book as backgrounds. I stamped paint onto this double page layout that's a combination of a napkin, left and paper towel, right.Another paper towel/paint combo. In this case I brayered over the paper towel while it lay on the painted page multiple times. Sometimes the paper pulls off the paint but in those instances, I add another wash of paint and enjoy the distressed effect. Taking classes with Kelly have really helped me feel comfortable with paint.
Had to do some shopping of course. Part of the anticipation of the class was knowing that the new Coffee Break stencils had arrived. Picked up a couple of Tim Holtz's unmounted stamps and the new engraved keys. Debby highly recommends the new rub-on tools, she says it works wonders. The Happy Voo Doo Gris Gris book was highly recommended by Kelly and Jeane. I wasn't convinced by the images but loved it when I started to read it.
I stopped by the nursery to pick up some potting soil for some agave cuttings I was given last week. I'm told it's hard to get those types of agaves because they sell out fast. The main reason to go to IKEA was to pick up some pots I've had my eye on since last summer. They ran out last summer and I picked up the only one left.

I repotted mom's plumeria's. Definitely not desert plants but they were mom's so I'll do what I can to keep them going. They had a tough time during the last freeze this winter and I lost one but the other two are still going. A cutting survived from the 3rd plant so I planted it and we'll see if it comes back. Haven't gotten into so much dirt in a long time. I miss it.

Marissa