the secret to good luck

The secret to good luck is not waiting for your ship to come in,
the secret is . . .

. . . to work your bloody arse off!  ~ Kel

musical CPR

When you get knocked down enough times, getting back up can seem impossible.
When you can't bridge the distance between where you are and where you could be

between who you are and who you could be
between how it is and how it should be

sometimes you need musical CPR

Exercising creativity off canvas

Sometimes, due to geographical, financial or other challenges, we need to think laterally about studio supplies. So you're doing an online course and it seems everybody is using punchinella. It's a waste product really, the leftover cutouts of sequins, which has been very cleverly marketed as a craft/art supply. But here's the thing; you can't find any where you live, or, you don't have the money to buy it online, or, ___________ (you fill in the blank). But you really like the effect on a page. What to do?  

DIY punchinella

rummage through what you already have,
office hole puncher or ticket puncher
gloss coated card from tourist brochure
gloss coated cardboard calendar image
random piece of flexible plastic

punch holes into flexible plastic, gloss card etc

try small piece of card with sponge to see if it works
happy dance because it does

get larger gloss coated card (this was old calendar page)
punch holes around the edge

use stencil brush and paint to get a straight border

punch patterns into card to form curvy borders
or anything you want at all

look at results of your "exercising creativity off canvas"
decide what worked and what didn't

for example, while punching holes in the plastic sheet
i decided it would make a great cover for a littleDIY book
so i chose not to use it as a stencil and put it away for another day
but very happy with how my gloss coated card DIY punchinella stencils worked

creativity is free

craft stores aren't

:-)