Tuesday-9:45am

T Stands For Tuesday is another cloudy day up here. 

We did briefly see a little bit of sun since I saw you last...but not this morning.

So what have I been doing? 

Spending a whole lot of time on those prompt cards.

I blended the colors, one at a time, with a damp brush. 

Then I put a layer of Pledge clear acrylic floor finish on the colored side to seal it.  Had heard about using this, bought some, and then never tried it, right? 

I ruined the first card right off the bat--smeared the colors terribly going the long way down the card.  Down to 38 cards.  Barely room for my coffee mug, as you can see. 

I used a foam brush but had to move very quickly with the stripes... 

...and do the end with the yellows and reds first... 

...and then the other end with the darker colors to prevent color contamination as much as I could.  Trouble is--the watercolor crayons are soluble with liquid.  Duh!  So no matter what I chose to seal them with I had to move fast and clean the brush a lot.  I got on two coats. 

Then I gessoed the other sides with two coats.  Probably should have used white acrylic paint.  Would have covered better and not blended and smeared the little bits of color as much?   

 Well, who knows.  This is why I am doing these workshops.  To learn about the various mediums I haven't used much or, quite often, at all.

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Then I used some matte medium to glue down the prompts and seal the backs at the same time.  

Thought I was so smart. 

Karma found all this repeated art table activity rather boring and slept under the table on a chair.

I left them dry overnight but they were very bowed. 

So, yesterday I stacked some big jars of mediums on top of them to flatten them.  (The ones on the sides are just to help balance the two jars on top.)

Go to remove them and they were all stuck together in one solid mass!!  From the matte medium!  LOL!  I was both annoyed and laughing--forgot to take a picture. 

So I peeled them apart--with all their new little sticking flaws--thinking I should probably have put another layer or two of the Pledge on the white side with the prompts because I don't think that side was sticking very much. 

Anyways, they are done and in the tin.  Time to move on to the next workshop. 

I learned that I should have used acrylic paint for the coloring and not the watercolor crayons and that Pledge clear floor finish actually seals okay and isn't very sticky, but doesn't leave a solid appearance--kind of mottled.  Matte medium stays sticky and makes interesting crackling, smacky noises as it is being pried off that Karma did find very entertaining...but, for me...just a snappy reminder of how very little I know.  ;)

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Caroline comes today.  My new modem is scheduled to arrive via UPS.  I am supposed to get the new internet service hooked up tomorrow.  I didn't stop my other service (or I wouldn't be writing to you now) and Dagan doesn't know if I can have both companies coming through my phone line or not.  So, I may end up without internet altogether for a while if that is an issue.  I am praying not because I don't want to pay a fee to hook back up to the service I have now if this new one doesn't work out, you know?  

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The new service plans to hook me up (remotely) sometime tomorrow before 5pm.  Dagan and Leah are coming over after work and Dagan will hook up the new modem.  I guess we'll find out if a person can have two services at the same time through the phone line, won't we?  Wish me luck!  If I am not here tomorrow morning, you will know why.

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I read Mama's Bank Account and the two diet books over the weekend.  I also signed up for the October pledge (on my sidebar) to not eat processed foods all month and have been trying to figure out my online grocery list for next month.  Challenging.  

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It follows that I need to go through all the different baking flours, etc, that are above my cabinets to check and see if they are still good.  I'm sure I need to toss quite a few of them and clean the jars out.  Big project.  I'll be asking Caroline to take them all down for me this afternoon.

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Oh, and just a note: I wanted to say that it's truly impossible for me to get around to everybody in the groups I try to participate in each week.  I do really appreciate the visits and try to respond to each comment, but I don't do word verification.  So if you haven't heard back from me, that's probably why.  Sorry.

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Anyways, got to get moving.  Caroline needs to come earlier today--noon.  I need to gather up the trash and pick up Karma's toys.  (You are never far from a wastebasket, pen, ruler, scissors, or kleenex at my place--lol! ) 

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Happy Tuesday!!  :)

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I have been thinking of Ruby the past couple days.  :):)  She was such a bright light in my life.  Always makes me smile to think of her.  Miss her.

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"Memories of loved ones are like songs in our souls."

Margaret Wakeley