I ran across this old photo and it struck me how amazing my kid is.   When she wants something she makes it happen with whatever she has available.  She wanted to go boating at the lake but there was not a boat for her.  She made one out of a toddler swimming pool.  She actually paddled all the way out to the far end and back in a pool!

A scribble background.

Painted notebook paper with washi tape scrunched around it.  A purple banner from crayon resist & watercolored paper.

More tape added.  But the banner began to give me fits.  I added green paint around the page to see if that made it better.

The banner was a mistake. I tried ripping it up but I glued it down really really well!  A coat of white paint on it and it began to recede a bit.

I had more of the painted notebook paper so I cut it in to strips for journaling.  Of course, I did not have enough to fill the page.

But I did have scraps.  So, the problem of not enough led me to cutting them in to smaller pieces so I could use the scraps I had.  I even like the smaller pieces far more than the original plan of longer strips!

Just as my kid was creatively determined, so was I when I made this. Turns out that obstacles really are opportunities!  Have you had any obstacles you’ve turned into opportunities lately?

With so much orange here I just have to join in Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day,  Inspire Me Monday and Show and Tell Saturday.

I am still feeling the influence of the first Fall Fearless and Fly challenge, as you can see from my color palette! I love challenges because I get to see how different artists interpret the same prompts.  Want to play?  There is still plenty of time for you to join us!

The seed that started this page is from playing around.   I have been using deli paper to wipe off extra paint on my brush.  The deli paper is like a cheap vellum that is very thin and flexible.

When I got my hands on Julie Balzer’s Mayan Calendar stencil from Crafters Workshop I just played around with it.  I had a stack of these on the counter so I put the orange one under a sheet of painty deli paper and had some free motion fun with the sewing machine.

An old background I found in a journal.

Doesn’t seem like much yet, but it felt right.

A shy little girl stencil from Stencil Girl.  Just a bit of dye based ink.  After I did it, I realized that the part of her that went onto the deli paper was visually lost.

Using the same ink pad as I did on the stencil I stamped Dina Wakley’s Create with Abandon text stamp.

The prompt over at Art Journal Cafe of music and it got me thinking about my shyest times- when I had to sing in school.  Whenever I had to sing in school I became super duper crazy shy. As I got older I began to embrace my tone deafness and sing along with anything on my playlist.  I don’t really know the words to most songs but that doesn’t stop me either…drives my kids nuts.  Extra bonus!

To capture the feeling of music I added sheet music spritz with Heidi Swapp’s Color Shine.

The girl needed more so I took a stabilo pencil and traced over her.  Really, really  easy since the lines were there from the stencil and I solved my problem of her arm disappearing on the deli paper!

Stabilo pencils react to water so when a bit of this smudged I decided to use more water and shade her hair.  An accident turned into an opportunity.

The challenge over at Anything But a Card is to use something sparkly and shiny.  I have tinsel glitter that I hadn’t used in a while.  Thanks to this challenge, I got it out and LOVE how it fit this page.  Another reason I love challenges is they get me using my supplies!

My fingers were way too clean.  This needed a “frame” and paint smudged on with my fingers felt so good.  What is it about finger painting that takes me to my happy place?

Hope you’re having a creatively wonderful day!  Want to see more creativity?  Stop on by Art Journal Cafe, Anything but a Card, Fall Fearless and Fly, Creative Every Day, Paint Party Friday, Mandarin Orange Monday and Art Journal Every Day!