Altered photo and a mandala

Ok. So it had to be expected. We're supposed to get yet another snow storm starting tonight and going well into the weekend. I'm trying not to complain. Really, I'm trying.

So on to something else then. The image you see to the left (I feel like a tour guide or something) was done using some of the techniques from the book I bought this week. I chose a blurry photograph from my trip to the UK back in 2001 (which wasn't all that hard since more than half the pics came out blurry... the joys of pre-digital photography!) I sanded the edges and liked the colour that came out of that so I continued sanding the building in the foreground. Then I used a piercing tool to scratch lines all around the clouds. And then I sanded and scratched some more and finally added a bit of watercolour in the sky and on the horizon. Voilà! I really like the final result. Really!

Next, my very first mandala made with Outlines stamps. My mom has been doing mandalas for a while now. I love the way they come out but until last night, I wasn't tempted to try my hand at them. You can't see it much in this picture but parts of it are 3D, raised with dimensional foam squares. Now, I haven't decided what I'll do with my mandala meaning, will I do a second one and attach them back to back so it can hang from the ceiling? Or do I want to frame it as is? I'm not sure. But I do love the way it came out. The image was heat embossed and coloured with various markers and Glaze pens.



And finally, here is the OWOH prize I received from Vallen over at Queenly Things. This is beautiful! And I might just have to find the perfect hat to attach that beautiful "S" pin she sent me too!

An update on my 21 days challenge. So far, I've taken the time to meditate every night even if it's just 5 minutes. The first 3 days were hard: I kept fidgeting, trying to find the perfect position, my cat coming in to get some attention, etc. But now, it's already a bit easier. I'm keeping a journal for this but it's mostly journaling and the quotes provided by Rhonna so not much to see visually.

My spiral bound journal is full. I finished it today. I already had another one started which is smaller and I kept it for more messy pages but now I'll just fill it with whatever I feel like putting in there. And when that one is full, we'll see which of my many blank journals I'll pick.

Well, that's it for tonight. I have some more ATCs to make for a swap.