Finding Joy in Little Things
Some people escape into their hobbies during difficult times, finding distraction or maybe even a little relief or moments of peace in them. I think I more often feel like I need to take a break from them when I’m worried or sad—at least for a while. Like I shouldn’t do them until some time has passed. Maybe it’s some sort of mourning period, even when who or what I’m mourning has nothing to do with my hobbies. When I do get back into them, it can take some easing into, rather than jumping right back in with both feet. I might only feel able to do something very simple.
I don’t think there’s a right or a wrong way to do it, and maybe it’s different from one time to the next. I do believe we should take comfort from our hobbies, as and when we can.
The past few weeks (and more) have had some hard times. It’s been one thing after another, with sadness and some pretty big worries in the mix. I’m hopeful that we’re coming out of the worst of it, now, though. Maybe better times are on their way. (I hope!) I’ve already been testing the waters of my hobbies again, looking for joy in little things—and I think I feel like dipping a toe back into this blog, too.
PSA: Gel Printing Is Fun. Try It!
I’m currently leaving my gel plate out in my craft room, with the idea being that it should be easy to do a little now and then when the mood strikes. The kitchen countertop is really a better place for it, but it’s such a mess to set up and put away that it feels like I need to commit to a longer “session” each time to make it worth the effort.
With this more compact and contained set-up, I can (in theory) just sit down and play for ten or twenty minutes without the wasted time at the start and end. I don’t know if it will actually work out that way, but at least I can lazily leave things out and not have them in the way when it’s time to make a meal!
It had been a while since the last time I did any gel printing, but it sounded like fun, so I found some paper (mostly old book pages and the backs of some mail, i.e. free paper) and went at it. I wanted to try some new “found textures”, as well as return to a few old favorites (like bubble wrap).
These are probably destined for collage of some sort, so I kept most of them very simple and abstract. It was fun! Gel printing usually is. It’s very low-pressure. If you don’t like something, you can always add another layer!
I have a long list of things I want to try on the gel plate, but somehow it always seems to get pushed back until another time. I need to use it more often, because it’s so enjoyable to just play around and see what happens.
Glue Sticks & Mixed Media Collage
A couple of blog posts back, I wrote about making mini booklets from a selection of random papers. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with them. They’re not (in my opinion) ideal for sketching in, because I used such bold papers… and some very thin papers, too. I’m sure you could make it work, but I didn’t want to try.
Instead, I decided to do some very simple collage. I guess you could call this a gluebook, though it’s not something I know a lot about. I imagine a gluebook can be whatever you want it to be, so long as you’re gluing things into a book of some sort. Some are probably very elaborate, with heavy, intricate layers of collage and mixed media, but I don’t see any reason why they can’t also be more minimalist. I didn’t want to put too much time and effort into this, so my efforts are on the lighter side.
You may remember that I’d painted and cut out some leaf and feather shapes from painted cardstock? I doodled over them with paint pen and wasn’t sure what I’d do with them. They gave me the idea for my first gluebook. I decided to take one of my booklets and fill it with the leaf elements. The theme for the whole thing would be “leaves”.
As I went I found I needed more leaves, so I cut down the feathers into leaves, instead. Then I cut up more paper scraps to create even more leaves. I also added in some stamps and scraps of envelopes, because I was doing this during July and noticed all the patriotic American flag stamps and special Semiquincentennial postmarks on the mail we were receiving. It’s a bit random—there’s no cohesive color palette—and the whole thing looks like a mess, to be honest. But I did a lot of it when I was worrying about other things and didn’t feel up to doing much else during my “creative time”. Your arts and crafts don’t have to be beautiful. They don’t need to convey a message. Sometimes it’s just something to do while you wait.
I used a lot of tempera paint stick, crayon, some acrylic markers and regular markers, ink, watercolor… Whatever was on hand and felt right for the paper. (Thin paper can be tricky unless you don’t mind bleed-through to the other side of the page.) Oh yeah, and I also used a lot of glue stick! Perfect for little things like this.
After that, I probably waited a while, then decided that I needed another low-stakes “thing” to do. I had made a couple more booklets at the same time as the first, including another tiny one. Because of the cover I’d used (featuring clouds and lightning), I decided that the theme this time would be “clouds”.
I enjoyed not worrying particularly much about how everything would look at the end… Digging through a small container of collage paper (gel prints, watercolor scraps, book pages, doodles, etc.), just seeing what came to mind… Using scissors and a glue stick like I was back in elementary school (though to be honest, I don’t know if we used glue sticks much back then… I remember liquid glue and paste more vividly)… Adding extra touches with color pencils, crayon, tempera sticks, paint, and acrylic marker…
I listened to an audiobook and just played for a while, most evenings. I think it’s worth trying.
Witch's Veranda Doodles
This is something I did a while back, in early-to-mid July. The idea was a witch’s garden around Halloween, but I decided to keep all the plants in pots, and then I ended up adding some things that wouldn’t really belong in a garden. Maybe it’s actually a witch’s conservatory or sunroom… or covered porch or veranda. (I guess I’ll call it a veranda for now.)
I had fun doodling the page, though one of the spiders turned out a bit blobby.
(The ink is Platinum Pigment Ink in “Sepia”. Waterproof ink.)
I colored it in with watercolor, as usual. Also fun!
I really enjoyed making this, and I’m happy with the limited palette of soft colors.
Comfort Zone Doodles
When I finally decided I felt like doodling again in August, I went with a subject well within my comfort zone—plants and jars/bottles. These are terrariums (or terraria, if you prefer).
I doodled in “Amazonia” Forever Ink, which is waterproof, because I wanted to paint over it with watercolor.
I wanted another limited palette, and because of the subject matter, I stuck mostly with greens and browns. For the glass, I wanted just a whisper of green, aqua, and beige. I think I might’ve whispered a little too softly this time, because you can barely see the color at all on some of them. It’s fine! It was fun to do, and that was the point.
It’s Friday: Let’s hope this will be a good weekend, with plenty of opportunities to relax and enjoy some simple pleasures, like doodling or playing with glue sticks and paper!
