Thursday, June 11, 2009

Thursday-8:30am

I knew my Dick Blick order was coming soon, so a couple of days ago I got out this tin (thank you, Ruby!)...
...and prepared it for the ten small tubes of Winsor Newton watercolor paints. These are half pans and the Fisherman's Friend tin is the same size as an Altoids tin.
The order came yesterday! tada!

I have been curious about ATC cards for a long time. Not for the reason other people buy them (to make little pieces of art to trade and sell)--but I thought they would go well attached to the front of a card. Could paint on them or decoupage them--whatever. Dick Blick had a wide variety of them for me to play with--$1.21 each. And I couldn't resist buying tiny envelopes--hehe!
Between these and the thin coasters I bought I will have something really different to do with card fronts, eh?

Speaking of decoupage--I got a jar of this matte varnish, too. I read that this can be used kind of like decoupage and isn't shiny. Said could help attach dried flowers to handmade paper. ?? What the heck--worth a try, eh?
Got some more brush cleaner, too. I use this cake cleaner and conditioner with my watercolor brushes.

And here's the big purchase!
Most expensive brand of paints I have ever had. Very tiny tubes--hehe!
I checked and the plastic container would hold full pans nicely if it weren't for the plastic dividers. I decided to ask Leah, our clever tool girl, if she had a way of removing them. (Yup!)
Leah did call in the afternoon. We jumped the car. It started--tada!!
Leah drove it around, over to her place, and then over to a place where you can buy batteries. They tested the battery and the alternator and they were both fine. ???? They sold her this little do-dad that cleans the posts and clamps up. Which it needed, as you can see. Leah cleaned them all up, too.
BTW--here's Leah--with her straight hair! She's learned how to straighten it and loves it. The first time I saw her I was shocked to see her without her very curly hair--hehe! She only has to do it every 4-5 days--what freedom!
When she stopped at home she picked up her dremel/dremol (?). She carved out as much as she could with an exacto knife and then smoothed the remaining parts of the dividers away altogether! Now I can use this container to make a palette--or for something else altogether--who knows?

I set up the tiny Winsor Newton palette.
It's still drying--up high away from Miss Snoopy Pants.
Was a busy day. :):)
This morning I have to go out and check to see if the car still starts. If the battery drains again then there's a short someplace and we'd have to bring the car in again. But turns out it wasn't the battery. ??? Not sure how rapidly or slowly the battery had drained because it had just been parked in my garage for like a month. Wish me luck!
I have that appointment with my rheumatologist later this afternoon (3:50pm). So--more tomorrow--got to get going here. Another beautiful sunny 70 degree day today!!
Awesome! :):)

4 comments:

Michelle Eaton said...

Hi Rita! Thanks for visiting my blog and entering my giveaway.
I am also keen to look at doing ATC cards in the future. They look like fun.

Michelle :)

Serena Lewis said...

Cute little palette container. I would never have thought of using the Dremel to grind and smooth away the partitions...smart idea!

What a nice variety of ATC cards you have there....I'll look forward to seeing what you do with them.

Re. the matte varnish...I've used matte brush-on varnish in different makes before and, while it's a very low sheen, you can still notice it so you may want to be careful attaching dried flowers. Unless you plan on covering the whole card, you may still notice the sheen against the card. Please let me know what you think of this particular brand.

Leah suits her hair both ways.

Hopefully, Pita will behave herself from now on.

I hope all goes well at your Rheumatologist appointment.

Rita said...

Michelle,
I have no doubt you could do some wonderful things with ATC cards! Could probably sell them, too. I can just picture a small version of one of your big-eyed girls on an ATC. :):)

Rita said...

Serena,
Yah--that Leah is really good at coming up with things like that. :)

I didn't realize they had ATCs for acrylics and oils and watercolors and all the rest! I was thinking just flat posterboard type paper. Wow! Goes to show you how popular they have become to sell and trade.

When I use the varnish I'll take pictures and try to show what the sheen is like. I know the Modge Podge is really pretty shiney and hard. Leah had tried that on cards to add dried leaves and didn't care for it much. I'll certainly let you know. Could also be that we don't really know how to use it properly--hehe!

It's funny how girls with curly hair want straight hair and girls with straight hair want curly hair--ROFL!! I've always envied her curly hair--hehe! She always looks nice to me. :)

Yes--prayers for Pita--hehe!! :):)