On Friday, I honored to be the guest poster on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s blog for Art Journal Every Day.  I’ve had so many requests emailed to me about the other sides of the dice I decided to do another post about them.  How did I decide what to put on the dice?   The crazy thoughts that swirled around in my head when I was feeling uncreative guided me!

If you are interested in making dice like this I recommend you listen to the thoughts in your head to guide you as to what to put on your dice. How many dice do you need? Completely up to you.  Make as many or as few as you feel comfortable using.  If you don’t have dice you can use slips of paper and keep each set in a different envelope.

If you read my last post, I have been stuck in my head, which does not translate to creativity for me. Above is today’s roll. Below is what I made based on that roll.

I had no idea what I was going to make with this roll, so I just grabbed any random background.  This one has Julie Balzer’s Chevron stencil with Luminarte spray inks and acrylic paint.

One die was to push me to use supplies I have enjoyed but for some reason haven’t been using lately.

• Add reinkers/alcohol inks.  Add transparencies.  Add eyelets.  Add ribbon.  Use dresden trim. Use stitching.

I scribbled because I had no plan.  No idea where it was going…as it often happens when I do this, I will wish I hadn’t done this step later but it will also push me to find a way to add another layer to get it to a place I like.

I added white paint which smeared the dye reinker and then blue acrylic paint with the rain stencil from Julie Balzer.  I was trying to hide the earlier scribble.

One die was to deal with my occasional guilt over supply hoarding.

• Use stickers.  Use a bead.  Use rub-ons.  Use a scrap.  Use fabric. Use a charm.

This is fabric from my stack of fabric swatch books.  I have way too many of these and it felt good to use some of the fabric.

I had a lot of hoarding issues, so there was another die or 2 to deal with my supply piles…

• Use a photo slide mount.  Use tape.  Use  a ticket.  Use a magazine.  Use a feather.  Use chipboard.  Use tissue paper.  Use a game piece.  Use bead gel. Use modeling paste.  Use a napkin.  Use vintage ephemera.

One die was to give me an element to add. 

• Draw a pattern.  Draw a person.  Draw a grid.  Draw a building.  Draw a face. Doodle.

On this step I managed to cover 2 dice at once, chipboard and a building!  As an added bonus, I finally used some of my chipboard windows from Maya Road. I have loved them so much I have hoarded them for the “perfect” project.  Guess what, perfect never came along but I really like the windows here.

Journaling and writing gets me out of my head also.  I decided to write quotes from my Pinterest board, Words of Wisdom.  The ink scribbled in the beginning just hadn’t faded far enough into the background so I used an oil pastel to trace around the raindrops.  Now it was pushed back far enough that I was happy.

One die was to limit me from going to my favorite supplies.  This helped to push me out of my usual routine.

• No spray inks.  No text.  No paint.  No ephemera. No stencils.  No stamps.

Rolling the dice got me out of my head and into my happy place.  If you ever find yourself stuck or stumbling, perhaps a roll of the dice can help you!

Want to see more creativity?  Stop on by and  check out all the great posts in the Fall Fearless and Fly challenge, Show Me What You’ve Got Wednesday,  Creative Every Day, and Art Journal Every Day!

There is still time to enter my giveaway!  I am thrilled to be giving this mixed media experimentation kit away! Different brands of spray inks, 2 of my favorite stencils, Twinkling H2O, red tinted liquid pencil,  Glam, and a gelato will go to one randomly selected newsletter subscriber.  Be sure to sign up at the top right of the page by Halloween for your chance to win!

There is something to learn in every piece I create- especially the ones I struggle with.  I debated posting this one but since I was on a deadline – I posted it, fear and all with that knot in my stomach.  When I went to sleep I was in full doubt mode.  Ever been there?  When I woke up I realized that I had created all the stress that interfered with this piece because of my expectations.  I didn’t let the art guide me.  My mind guided me and my mind is not where my creativity comes from.  Below is the post I wrote in the 11th hour…

It’s time for another friendly arting adventure with my good friend, Maria McGuire.  Be sure to stop on by her blog and see what she’s done for this challenge!   You can read all about the Artsy Fartsy Friendly Fun challenges here.

I was utterly and completely stuck for this  challenge.  No exaggeration!  This should have been an easy one for me- but it wasn’t.  My Gelli Plate, any Julie Balzer Stencil, and bling- that’s it.  That was the challenge Maria McGuire and I had planned.  Each time I went to the studio to work on it, I was distracted by other projects.   Before I knew it, it was evening and I had to get something together!

I have 6 other attempts scattered around the studio.  When I had completely given up and thrown in the towel then my muse decided to offer a spark.  I am sure she was having a tub of popcorn and watching the show of my meltdown…

Scraps of a paper I printed using the Gelli Plate.  I had die cut leaves for one of the other attempts.

I used those scraps to build a textured background.  The blue paint was still damp when I used the gel medium – I was on a deadline!

I added pink paint using one of Julie Balzer’s stencils.

Stamping on that texture was going to be tough so I used Dina Wakley’s stamp on tissue paper.  I used gel medium to glue the tissue down.

Stamped the word and drew a black frame around it.  I chose “believe” because I had to believe it was going to be finished in time!

The bling came in the form of black glitter.  I used a fine line glue to trace over all the black.  If it had been a sunny day, you’d see the glitter glinting and shining.  Since it was night time as I finished this, not sparkle shows.  Moonlight just doesn’t have the same effect as sunshine on glitter…

Now that I have finished this I am off to see what Maria made, the inspiration at Creative Every Day and Inspire Me Monday!