Mind Mapping

There is something great about beginning the week with a creative project among friends. This afternoon at Creative Playtime, we did a little mind mapping. Now if you're not familiar with this activity, give it a try after you read through today's blog post. First we prepared the background. Using a partially wet (spritzed with water) sheet of sketch paper. Onto that was layered color with Derwent's Inktense Color blocks. These wonderful sticks of pure color go on like watercolor pencils, but the colors are richer, brighter. And once the ink has been wet and dried, the color becomes permanent. Great for layering more color or glue or any wet media. No running or smearing. These may be my new favorite tool.

Look at these backgrounds. We set them aside to dry while we rummaged through the collage items to fill our pre-cut heads.
  The heads were covered with the collage materials and then attached to the dried backgrounds.

Next week we're planning to do aprons to protect our clothes from paint splashes. Stay tuned!

Choosing Color BHG Style

My sister, the Fashionista, was here this past weekend. We wandered the Farmer's Market, bought fiber art at a garage sale. We ate at the local Co-Op, went home and planted the pink and white Cosmos she bought me there.

We stopped and smelled the flowers everywhere we went. We stayed up late cocooned in blankets on the fire-lit  patio. We shared inspiration and encouraged each other to live fully awake and alive. It was grand.
The last night we were together, I pulled out a sketchbook of sample color studies from my school days as we considered the possibility of designing a room inspired by the peony blossoms she had carried home from the Farmer's Market.

 

The bright pink set off by the yellow center pierced by pale green on a stem adorned with dark green leaves. We imagined pale green walls, a neutral couch in white loaded with pillows of bright pink or a pale yellow couch with pink and white and pale green pillows and dark green carpet... The choices went on and on. Great fun exploring the options.

After she left, I got my weekly BHG.com email which had some interesting information about using color in decorating. Thought it might be helpful to share it with you, too. Check out the link.  Tips and Tricks for Using Color I'd love to hear what you think.

And by the way, she loved the skirt!