Alcohol Ink Baubles

    If you do a search on YouTube for Alcohol Ink Art, you will find I'm sure a good number of tutorials to watch.  I included one of them in a blog post a few days ago.  However, if you have the chance to find someone to teach it, I strongly suggest doing that.  The fun is in the laughter and in the ooohs and aaahhs at each other's creations.

     Above all, safety first.  Work in a well-ventilated room because of the fumes from the alcohol.

   There are a few different techniques, and what I found worked best for me was putting alcohol on the paper (or ornament) first, then the color.  From there, you can wait for it to dry before adding another color with a drop or two of alcohol or put the second color on before the first (and alcohol) dries.  Note:  one drop of ink goes a long way, and if you are heavy-handed with your drips and drops, it can take longer to dry.

    Since I was making four different balls, I practiced with my color schemes on the paper first, finding what I liked most.

    You can buy the alcohol inks, and metallic inks, individually or as sets.  For the purpose of ease, and because I couldn't get Michael's website to cooperate, I'll add links here of examples I found on Amazon.  However, you can ask at your local art supply store also.  The brands I've included links for are simply suggestions of what to look for, not necessarily what we used.

    You may also want to work over disposable puppy piddle pads to absorb any drips and drops that will happen to keep you from getting the inks all over everything that you don't want to be inked (like clothes, furniture, carpet, nosy cats).

1.  [Non-absorbent /non-porous paper] Yupo is a brand name that the instructor suggested, but any paper specifically designed for alcohol inks will work.  You can also use these to make cards, or prints to hang.  We used the paper to practice techniques first.

2.  Ideas for what to decorate:

• We used glazed ceramic ornament balls.  You can also use matte ones.  Be sure to take out the metal topper before starting to paint.
• Plain white coffee mugs, Since they are sealed with a spray varnish (more on that farther down) I would probably tape around the rim while painting and sealing it to keep the inks and varnish off the lip edge. 
• Flat ornament discs (you can put a name or message on the reverse side with a Sharpie pen, which I would do first and bake it to set the pen ink.)
• Square ceramic tiles (think coasters or trivets).  
• You could probably also use clear glass balls.  A cousin asked about plastic ornaments, and they would probably work, just not be as vibrant.  It would be interesting to try to do interior paint on a clear glass ornament, maybe a very thin layer of alcohol on the inside, then put in drops of metallic paint to roll until dry before layering a little more alcohol and colors on top of that.
• I would not use anything that will be used to serve food (such as a plate) unless it is going to be strictly decorative. 
  

3.  91% or higher proof alcohol.  I did ask if vodka could be used, but the jury is still out on that, and if you decide to use vodka, use the cheap stuff.  Drink the good stuff.

4.  Alcohol inks, such as [this set of colors] or [this set of metallics] is just a suggestion.  You can also buy them individually if you like, however, there is more fun in multiple colors.

5.  After they were dried, everything (paper and ornaments) was sprayed with a light coat of [Krylon Kamar Varnish].

   We had set them upside down in florist foam bars to dry and set while being sprayed.  It made it easy to handle them, and one of the women actually used the foam bar to hold them while she decorated them.

   We had the option of wearing disposable gloves, but I think everyone discarded theirs after a while.  The ink can be messy, but it comes off fingers and skin easily with a little bit of alcohol.

    It was a super fun project, and I have a feeling it will be one I do again!

Wednesday ...

One of the local florist shops, Gillespies, still has some HUGE
pumpkins for sale in front of their shop!

   Yesterday I walked (0.6 miles uphill) to the clinic for a CT Scan to check my lymph nodes and see if they had changed since July's scan.  It was a chilly morning in the low 40s which made the slight incline of the walk a little more comfortable.  We still have some fall leaves on the trees, so it was a beautiful walk, there and back, tho I will admit the downhill walk home was at a faster pace and warmer.

  The scan did not show any significant change in size, which I didn't find surprising or disturbing.  I was sick for most of the year.  I doubt that they will change overnight since I am still purging some of the stress that caused all this in the first place.  They will repeat the scan in another six months.

  One positive note is that my A1C count for diabetes has significantly dropped by 4 points, and I'm claiming to be free of it by the beginning of the year.

  I made a stop at the Greenbrier Christmas Depot on the way back, which was my whole reason for wanting to walk in the first place.  They are still unpacking their new 2021 decorations, but there was more than enough to keep my good eye busy.  Imagine four more rooms filled floor to ceiling with decorations, ornaments, and holiday table settings.  It was beautiful.

   I also stopped into the above-mentioned florist whose interior theme has moved on from fall pumpkins to Christmas.  They had some beautiful decorations and ornaments also and this year were selected to do all of the decorations for the Greenbrier Resort.  I'm going to plan on getting in there one weekend before Christmas to take pictures.  I'm sure it will be stunning!

   These snowmen versions of Russian dolls were just adorable, and they had some beautiful blue porcelain ornaments that were stunning.  They would look amazing on a white tree!

Monday ...

   Saturday morning was cold, windy, and cloudy.  Appropriate for a 6-hour women's conference at church with the theme of Loving the Cloudy Days.  It was indeed an amazing day, and I was exhausted but spiritually filled when I got home that afternoon.

  On Sunday, sandwiched between two church services, I attended a baptism for a friend and a young girl on a very chilly 42F early afternoon.  It was a good day, a very good day.

   Wednesday this week is my hopefully last CT Scan to determine the status of my lymph nodes.  If they have returned to "normal" (whatever that is) then I will be declared truly cancer-free.  

  On Saturday, I will be spending some time making [alcohol ink baubles] (<click link to video) for myself and my sisters, and am quite excited about doing them.  I can't wait to share pictures!

   We have also decided to do a Christmas cookie exchange this year with an international flair.  I'm making German cookies ~ Springerle and a twist on Spritz:  cranberry cheesecake Spritz ~ in honor of my mom and her parents.  My sister, Kat, will soon receive my stone shortbread mold so she can make Scottish shortbread in honor of her Dad.  Our other sis, Heather, will be making Italian Christmas cookies in honor of her in-laws.  Yummmm!

Nov-versaries ...

  ... and being okay with not being "okay."

  It's hard to believe that I've been in West Virginia now for almost a full year.  What a year it has been, too.  I thought 2020 was the pits, but 2021 outdid it.  

    I started 2021 thinking that my word of the year was going to be "create."  To create a new life after 2020 and ten years of living with a closet meth-addict-alcoholic-narcissistic-gas-lighting-abuser.  

  I had a dream in the spring of opening an indi-book shop on Main Street to help indi-authors promote their books and encourage wannabe writers.  That dream was shelved by early summer when my health suddenly took a nosedive in the deep end of the whattheheckisgoingonwithme pool.

    Instead, I think my word quickly became "recover."  This year has been all about recovering from those ten years in the deep end of the stress pool, swimming with insanity.  Ten years of acting brave when I was terrified.  Ten years of struggling for jobs, food, places to live, utilities.  Ten years of losing everything again and again and again.  Ten years of losing myself.

  Anyone who thinks that stress (work, home, life, whatever) doesn't take a physical toll on you needs to think again.  The physical act of my body purging all of that ... not something I would wish on anyone.  Ever.

  Less than five months ago, I wasn't even sure I was going to see the end of the year after being told by an oncologist that I had stage four colon cancer that spread to my liver and lymph nodes.  I was planning for my death, making arrangements for my furkids to find new homes.  Planning on sending goodbye letters instead of Christmas cards.

  Anyone who thinks that planning for your own death doesn't take an emotional and mental toll on you needs to think again.

  Every morning that I wake up, I am blessed and amazed.  Every night I climb into bed, I am blessed and amazed.  There is nothing I take for granted now.  Not my health.  Not my family.  Not my friends.

  But I also know that it's okay to say that I'm not "okay."  This year has been so hard for me, and I recognize that a part of me is broken.

  The 18th marks the beginning of my season of rebirth from that recovery.  It will be a year since my divorce.  A year since I left Wisconsin to start life over again somewhere I had never been before, somewhere with no friends or family waiting to greet me.  It will be 56 days since the surgeon confirmed I did not have colon cancer.  Forty-seven days since biopsies confirmed I did not have liver cancer.  Just over a month since my mom died and another fight with my brother severed ties between us forever.  

  I'm still waiting on a CT scan to confirm that my lymph nodes have returned to normal [now scheduled finally for the 17th].  But I am already getting counseling with BetterHealth online [<< click the link to get a free week] to talk to someone about not being "okay."  I have over ten years of unpacking some bottled-up emotions and PTSD.

  I'm not "okay" today.  But I will be.

Monday ...

clicking on the photos
will enlarge them

   It's my first fall here, and I've come down with a sinus issue from new pollens.  I should have been eating local honey since last year when I got here to build up immunities.  I was sick all weekend and took a half-day off work today, promptly falling asleep on the sofa for three hours.

   Tonight I've been watching a frightening new show on Hulu called "The Hot Zone."  Frightening because it is based on a true story about ebola in the Washington DC area.  Reminds me almost of when I was reading Stephen King's "The Stand" when I was working in a bank lending center during flu season.  I worked in a bay with 11 other people, six desks on each side plus the supervisor.  The flu traveled up and down the bays.  In the time of Covid-19, virus movies are the latest horror movies.

   I'm trying to eat new things occasionally, and as I mentioned last Thursday, I was gifted with some very green tomatoes.  Unfortunately, I waited too long to fry them and learned the hard way that fried green tomatoes have to be fried when they are very green and firm.  Otherwise, you get fried kinda red & green mush.

 

 Last weekend I picked up a pomegranate because they were really nice looking and it had been over 40 years since I had one.  Greek mythology used to be my thing back in the day, and I remember the story of Persephone and Hades and wouldn't eat any of the seeds.  I was in Florida at the time, and the last thing I wanted was to jinx us with a long winter.  This time, after a little research, I found out that eating the seeds is safe to do, and has some benefits.  Unfortunately, they are so woody-tasting that I couldn't eat them.  Grape-Nuts taste better and are easier to swallow.  Sawdust probably would be also. There will not be a long winter in West Virginia because of me.  But I will be adding pomegranate juice to my shopping list all the time now.  Just drinking over a cup every day has some amazing health benefits.

 

   I also got a free sample 4-pack of Heinekin's new "near-beer" ~ an alcohol-free version ~ to try this past week.  It was not bad, and I will probably buy it occasionally when I'm in the mood for a beer.   My drinking days are long past now, it's a good thing.

   Early this morning as I was getting ready to start my workday, I got a visit from a male cardinal that I've named Pip.  He usually sits in the trees outside the kitchen window, or when I have the bedroom curtains open he will sit in the trees there. I hear him talking to me and will say hello to him.  This morning he sat right outside the office window where I was able to see him clearly since the leaves have fallen.  They say that when a cardinal visits, it can be a visit from someone who has passed away.  This morning I wondered if it was Mom saying hello.

   Finally today, I'm sharing some artwork I got for free from Wish.com, paying only to ship them, to add to my office space's warped sense of humor since I share it with the cat boxes.   I may have to get some orange Sharpie pens and color the white one to match Gracie.  I once had a tuxedo cat named Oreo who liked to sleep in the bathroom sink and may need to put some white toes and a little white stripe down the forehead of this one before I get both of them put in frames and hung.