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Lonely as a cloud

Shameless plug! No I'm just kidding. The title refers to what I have done this week, not my post apocalyptic novel. Before I get onto that, first the crafting.


I started off with a photo frame from my stash. No idea where this came from.

I made multiple items out of paper clay and glued them on, then waited a couple of days for them to dry. Once dry I primed it with black gesso.

 I then used a pale chalk paint as a background.

I used black gesso again in the paper clay, wiping it away when it was tacky to give the clay pieces some depth, before using silver and gold waxes. I then coloured a piece of card using distress pads, and some stencils, as well as a little embossing powder and crackle stamp. Then I stamped the Stampendous Nevermore stamp.




The card was made with thinlit dies. I coloured the birds with promarkers, used Glossy Accents on the balloons and stickles on the hats. The background was inked with two stencils, then a sentiment stamped on. Finally I backed it onto a paper I had in my stash.

This is a bracelet from a kit by Beads Direct (now only £4 and it makes two bracelets so get in quick!). The kit comes with everything you need, apart from the tools which you can get pretty cheaply. The instructions are clear, and it doesn't take too long to do.

lie back and look up
as the cumulonimbus
takes unusual forms


I realised something trying to do this; there are certain parts of childhood, perhaps the simplest parts, that are forever trapped in childhood. Daisy chains, jumping in puddles, seeing things in clouds, there is something that we lose in adulthood that leaves us either unable or subconsciously unwilling to act like a child. Speaking as someone who loves Walt Disney World, this was a surprising and almost unsettling notion. Don't get me wrong, of course we should leave some childhood things behind as we age, but we should also strive to keep the child at heart in order to keep us young, and mine seems to be disappearing. I did take some nice pictures this week though.

 The cloud in the background kinda looks like a turtle head.


The one nearest the house reminded me of an anchor, but by the time I got my camera working (still getting used to the new phone) it had changed slightly.

No idea why, but when I was walking along and spotted this one it reminded me of Bob Kelso from Scrubs saying 'who has two thumbs and doesn't give a crap'. Could be because we have been quoting it recently. Just realised the one to the left looks like a crescent moon.

This one reminded me of Shrek's head in profile.

So, I saw some things, but it wasn't like it was when I was a child. Still, I find a sky with clouds much more beautiful than a clear one, especially when the clouds are saturated with the colours of sunset. As for the favourite picture of clouds I have ever taken?



This was way back in 2009, when I braved my fear of heights and went hot air ballooning. It was first thing in the morning in Orlando, and the day was grey and dull. Until we rose up, through what I thought was mist, and ended up above the clouds. They looked so fluffy you could step out of the basket and bounce on them (not that anyone tried) and all we could see was the sun in front of us, the other balloons (you can just see one rising from the clouds in the first picture) and the blanket of clouds below us. The most serene I have ever felt.

Ems


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