Journal #5

Planning and preparing for, hosting, and then cleaning up after a Super Bowl Party for almost 50 people took far more time than I anticipated. It was lots of fun, but it kept me out of the studio and off the computer.

But here I am now, better late than never. This is my fifth weekly journal and I'm calling it "Orange Peel". I painted the bubble wrap that had protected my son's new dictionary and used it as a stamp. I pulled out a few of my lingering embroidery threads from past projects to practice my stitching. (You can see it still needs a bit of work.) Finally, I retrieved my machine from the repair man just in time to stitch around the outside edge.

In my mind's eye I had hoped to make an abstract waterfall with my threads, but I think I fell short on that. In my opinion, the blues and the metallic gold threads don't show up well enough and the French knots got lost. But I discovered that I had fun working with the bubble wrap "stamp" and I may end up using it as the background for more pieces. It was far more liberating to create something abstract than I expected and I may try that again, too. I think stitching with greater contrast thread will probably lead to a stronger piece next time.