Saturday 25th January 2014

Today I received my order from The Stamp Attic in Wantage - thank you Wendy (The Stamp Attic.  I've ordered some kraft resist, archival ink (jet black), alcohol blending solution, Distress Stain (Picket Fence), shrink plastic and the latest edition of Somerset Studio which I've not seen in the flesh before.

I've enjoyed reading Somerset Studio and found the articles and the adverts interesting and compelling.   I felt that the final article by Ronni Ann Hall struck a nerve - entitled The Wrong Puzzle Piece it is her short tale about entering her artwork into a juried gallery exhibit when first moving to a new town but the reaction from the viewers was just a passing "oooh" before quickly moving on - her puzzle hadn't found the right community.  I've concluded that I'm not too bothered about finding the right community, hey, there might not be such a thing out there - it's that light-bulb moment when the realisation hits you that you're not seeking recognition but merely perhaps just permission to carry on doing your own thing, in your own way and in your own time.  This has aided me to think a little differently about what I do in my little studio (there you go a quick change without me even realising - before it was my craft room!).  I'm on my own journey and I'd like the opportunity to record the twists and turns of the road and where it takes me.  Hopefully this will give some structure to what I do and how I do it so that I can finish projects, assess them and most importantly see where it leads me. 

I've also found that these thoughts are permeating into the rest of my life.  My job is difficult and frustrating most of the times with only some elements being rewarding - have I as the puzzle piece been thrust upon the wrong community?  Should I be in this job and if not what do I do?  Is there a way I can adapt to be able to survive and reach retirement age (a few years away yet)?  My hope is that my artful journey and the blogging of it (not sure I can use that word in that way!) helps me get through the darker days so that I may eventually retire.

Somerset Studio also includes some free papers and some bird pics to cut out and use.  This is what I've done with one of the bird and rose pictures.  I've also added some elements using the shrink plastic from The Stamp Attic.

I love the blue background on this tag  which I've stamped over with a map stamp from The Artistic Stamper.