Enough

If I didn't know it was there....I would have just walked by this clump of crocus in my neighbor's yard. 

I actually love blooms at this stage....just before they open. There's just something about a tightly closed bud....and all the goodness that you know is packed inside!

And when you look from the top it's like a little burst of fireworks!  And one little clump...or even one bloom at a time is enough to get me excited about spring.

See what I mean?  Looks like just a patch of scruff.

This was the result from a little creative play today.  It may be a little busy...but I'm happy enough with it.

I played around with my eucalyptus stencil and fussy cut one stem and added it to this collage I made a while back.  It needed a focal point....and I think this works well enough.  It's a 6 x 6 collage stitched onto an 8 x 8 piece of watercolor paper.

The grass and leaf prints are from last fall.  

I will confess that the three lines of stitching are to correct the fact that my first row got a little wonky.  So now....it's wonky on purpose!  

My goal was to make a few more papers where I could fussy cut the shapes...but also ones that had soft backgrounds and colors that could be incorporated into other collage pieces.  

I was bit rusty with my gelli plate...but it felt good to have paint on my hands again. 

 

And what do I do when I have a little extra acrylic paint!

I color wash swatches of my metallic commercial papers.  I spritz my pallette with water....and sop up the paint with a makeup sponge.  It doesn't take much to cover a little piece of paper...and these little gems are so useful.  

I did a little more fussy cutting this evening....and it might surprise you that this is my favorite pair of scissors.  When I open it wide....I can maneuver the paper for a long time before I need to reopen the blades.  This particular singer style cuts paper really well because the blades are really thin....making them great for trimming off edges.  Unfortunately they don't seem to make them anymore.