'WHAT IF'

                                               What If? 

  What if? 

   That little two word 'phrase' runs through my head like a run away train. All the time, but most often it rears its had every time I make something. Be it a recipe, a floral arrangement, a painting, or jewelry. What if?

  What if I tried this? What IF stretches my creative energy, it calls me by name, it makes me expand and expirement...fail or not, I can never stop the 'What if?'. It's part of me. 

   What if I did THAT?

  What if what if what if. WHAT IF?????

  It almost haunts me. It's always there. It never leaves. "What If" has take up permanent residency in my brain. (stop laughing, I really do have a brain, yes functionality is somewhat questionable..but it's there. (I had an MRI....PROOF!) 

 I can't get things completed, a lot of the time, as 'What if' creeps in and I take a 90 degree turn...it's crazy. (I'd like to use THAT as a laundry excuse but, no, it doesn't apply there. Rats.  

  Okay, back to the point of the 'laying down of words'. What if. Lampwork: What if I did this? So I try it. The list is so long I'd bore anyone reading this to tears so I'll skip the list and get straight to the point..but what if I wrote about .....no no no. Stay on track, no train derailments here ...(my brain is LIKE a train ...as sometimes it totally de-rails and I lose my 'train of thought' instantly). Enough about trains, we'll talk about that later, after my trip, on a train. Alone. 

  So, I have this other 'thing' that goes along with 'what if'. It's called, 'LSNAOAP'. That is not real catchy is it? No. However it stand for 'Learn something new as often as possible'.  That's a little bit of a side tracking device in my brain. Another excuse for not completing half of what I start. (talking jewelry now btw). 

  So, I had a LSNAOAP moment and found something I wanted to learn. That something was etching on metal. I've actually been interested in this for a long time. My CF took over and I never tried it. (Chemical Fear) I used a wonderful tutorial by Harry Wood of Oscar Crow, he is in a few creative groups I'm in and he is also on Etsy, (check him out) It's a great tutorial, thanks Harry, btw.

 I was hesitant about the etching as I'm no chemist, and I have a little  'CH' or 'chemical fear' if it's anything stronger than dish soap.  I had to use an etching solution, which was recommended by Harry Wood, and is pretty safe stuff. I asked a lot of questions, got a lot of answers and then bought the stuff. It sat in my studio about a week. I looked at it, walked away, did that a few hundred times. THEN I took the plunge. 

 I etched.

  THEN IT HAPPENED: 'What if?'. Yep, it always does, why would this be any different right? Can't leave well enough alone, have to stretch it to it's boundaries, or at least find out what those boundaries are. Have to take it the length of the football field and then back again. My curiosity just gets the best of me and takes over. I wonder if there is a name for that?. I think it might be AYTTKYW? That would be 'Are You Trying To Kill Yourself Woman?'. The answer would be, possibly. Not sure. Brains are strange things. So back to the point. Etching and What If, if you don't really know what the point is here. 

 That would not be uncommon, I'm a little ' pointless' at times.

 OKAY then, etching. I did it. I did it on copper and a few other random objects due to the What if factor. HOWEVER....the biggest 'W. I?' really surprised me. I used a ton of random things while 'stretching' my limits, or 'finding my limits' (and I did find some limits btw) . Something on my work bench struck me..and the What If happened. So I tried it. Oh my gosh....I am so impressed with myself, or the creative person who invaded my body at that time, which ever. It doesn't happen real often (being impressed with myself, rare occasion, reason to throw a party, better yet, take a nap)  Not bragging, I'm sure many have done this, though I hadn't seen it. So.....drum roll please....(bare with me...I need some excitement in my life) 

  Okay, premature on the drum roll, but this is where I started. A plain 'stamping', brass, of a butterfly. 

 What if?  So I proceed to take out my permanent marker and somewhat mess up the butterfly. (photo below)  Or so I thought. It was a 'What If' moment indeed. Very novice at etching at this point.

  What IF I etched on the brass butterfly? Stretching the boundaries, not running to 'Google' to see if it would work (not that would be too easy wouldn't it? Never occurs to me)  So, her it it (well, this isn't the original, I didn't photograph that one, of course...) Here it is ready to be tossed in the etching solution. (again, the above photo)

 This is a 'comparison photo'. One etched (top on obviously) the original on the bottom. I like it. 

  It was very basically drawing on the brass with a permanent marker, as you saw in the photo. Very basic. The outcome was a bit surprising to me. I was somewhat stunned and I was really liking it! Made this baby just POP! There are a few 'oopsies' that can happen however. ( I learn by doing, always) Example:

  

 The arrow is pointing to a very thin spot. That should have been covered in tape. The etching fluid took a bite out of it, made it pretty thin. Live and Learn (LAL) comes with 'What If' very frequently. 

   End result:  Polished and shined, I really like this technique, and I encourage you too, to join the WI (not Wisconsin, though I live there, Club. 'WIC'. 'What If Club. lol. Lets experiment together. What IF you tried this on something 'random'? NO googling, no asking anyone any questions, that will NOT stretch your brain, get the juices flowing or help your creativeness grow. So go to the 'WI' confidently. It's the same direction as your dreams. "God confidently in the direction of your dreams'. (forgot who said that) When I remember I'll add his name. What if? What if YOU tried something new and rather random today? What If?????? OKAY, now, drum roll please...my finished What if I etched on this plain butterfly, finished piece.

and to all a creative day!

FROG. Linda

Of This That and The Other

   

  I used to be a writer. I was also a newspaper editor. Used to be. Key words. I thought I could easily blog and since I once had a column, I thought...'no problem'. Things to write about? That's easy, right?
Wrong.
I can't think of one thing to 'blog' about.
That's not true. I can think of many. However they are all very 'uninteresting' or ....worse yet, controversial in the world I hang out in. (the Jewelry world to be specific).
  You see, I could blog about people being 'INSPIRED' (in·spi·ra·tion

 [ ìnspə ráysh'n ]   

1. stimulation to do creative work: stimulation for the human mind to creative thought or to the making of art
2. somebody or something that inspires: somebody or something that inspires somebody to creative thought or to the making of art
3. creativeness: the quality of being stimulated to creative thought or activity, or the manifestation of this

  However if I wrote about that I think the angry me would come out and I would be typing away madly, literally. 

  Yes, I have been copied on numerous occasions, but just recently it went straight into the gut, and the heart.

  Someone I 'trusted' ('meet' people online and 'trust') Those two might not go hand in hand. That aside, someone I really did trust asked a lot of questions about something I designed. I write tutorials, so explaining was easy, and I did. It's not a tutorial and I had no plans for it to become one just yet.   

  Then it happened. (One thing you should know: I only posted a  photo of said object on my FB page, not a 'group' page) Alrighty then, back to 'it happened'. 

  She posted on a group we both belong to. She posted a photo of her 'version' of my design, which I might add, was identical to MY DESIGN. Credit to THE DESIGNER? No. 

 So that brings me to: Do I share? Do I trust?  Do I stay in these 'groups' and expose myself or do I hide in my own little corner in my own little chair? 

  It's six of one 1/2 dozen of the other.

  Wait. Did I hear you say that this is a form of 'flattery'? What planet did you come from? REALLY? It is a form a STEALING.  I'm about as flattered as I was the time the lady in the department store asked when I had the mastectomy. (I hadn't had one) WHOA. Slap slap I wanna slap slap slap.    I didn't. I said....'Yesterday". Ok...enough about the 'Ta Ta's'. (for now anyway)

  So suck it up and move forward right? Do what? I can't do anything. I could say something to her but I KNOW she would blatantly tell me I was wrong and that it was 'her idea'. (why do people do that when they know THEY are not right?).

  Being right is so important to so many people. That kind of cracks me up, just a little bit. No, not really. It cracks me up a LOT. 

 Why is being 'right' so important? No one has all the answers, but I sure know of plenty who think they do. I could so easily name each and every one of them. That would take the better part of my day, and in all honesty, I find it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I or anyone else 'call people out'. BUT WATCH OUT .............THE DAY WILL COME. (If you have screwed me over, hang on to your hat, just saying).  (just never know when I'm gonna blow right D.A.?) THAT is a story for another day. (IF those are your initials, no, it's not you. That one doesn't even know I have a blog.)

 Back to being right. THAT is so irritating. One person in particular. If I say it's blue she says it's green. If I say it's night she says it's day. She has to disagree with me 100% of the time and she IS always right. Not so much. Enough about all that, I'm gaggin' just a little bit. 

  Yes, there are copyright laws to protect 'yourself'. Try going to court on that one. You'll lose so much money it's insane. I know someone who did just that. Fought it to the bitter end. The end was thousands of dollars spend and then it finally got tossed out of court like a stinky forgeten 'I have no idea what this is' in the fridge.