1. Smearing a bit of gesso over stick-on letters makes them look "aged" or "grunged." This is an improvement, since their stark blackness made me not want to use them in my artwork. Now, I can finally use the sheets and sheets I have hanging around the studio!

2. It is July! What does July mean to you? I think of hot summer days, water wars as a child, juicy watermellon, smelling like chlorine from swimming too much, hanging out with friends, road trips, old commutes with no air conditioning, the opressive heat of a Chicago summer, the Taste!, fireworks, sparklers, and the 4th. I think I'll journal all about that on this journal page.

3. Endings are sad. A piece I've been working on is nearly finished, and I'm sad to see the end. When I started, I used my standard "write 1000 words a day!" ploy to keep me going even when I was dead tired. But now, it's less about getting the standard day's words out and more about writing the final list of scenes down. Three remain. The entire thing's topping off at 30,000 words; and no, it's not art related. If you've managed to find my LiveJournal, I'm pretty sure you know what it's about. ;) Yay for re-writes, though!

4. I love sewing onto canvas! This is my second painting with buttons sewn on, but now, I'm sewing the thicker pieces to the canvas! I don't know where this came from, but I want to stitch, stitch, stitch! I have to run out and get some more embroidery thread, as my stash has been used up and I need new colors!8"x8" mixed-media on canvas. available.

5. My journal pages kill pens. I have purchased a disposable fountain pen to see if that will work on the pages. If not, I have been writing with pencil lately and it's not all that bad!

6. I meet the best people through blogging and creating videos. An email I recieved a few days ago has lead to a conversation that is helping to boost my confidance about possibly authoring a book. This is a topic I know nothing about; must do some research this week.