Modge Podge and Snowflakes

Isn't this a wonderful picture of the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge? My BFF Sharon and I traveled there in the late 1980's. Although I didn't feel a great connection with Stonehenge (prefering Avebury), there is still something really special about the ley lines at Stonehenge, and this picture was a beautiful reminder of the seasonal crux coming up in a few days.

So I'm busy trying to finish up holiday gifts. I suspect that I'm far from alone in that hectic and time-deliniated path. Although I celebrate Solstice, I know many of my friends who celebrate Christmas which allows me an extra four days - pathetic, aren't I? LOL. I wanted to make some blue and white snowflakes for my sister-in-law. I'm having issues with them, however. The beads I chose are really beautiful, but they don't fill the snowflake arms sufficiently, leaving too much play. I'll have to add something else to the bead mix to make them work. I had hoped to have these complete already, and it's back to the design/drawing board again (sigh).

And then there's my DH's gift. That's actually working out well, although I still have a lot of work to do on it. Even though I wanted to hand-paint the central character's image in enamel paints, I didn't feel as if I had enough skill with the media to make it look the way that I wanted. So, after making the copper disks look really wonderful with multiple firings, I cheated. I used my computer to make a high-resolution image and then printed it out onto paper. I then carefully cut them out and glued them onto the disks. Then I started applying Modge Podge in thin coats, wet sanding after every few to smooth out the surface. The decoupage is starting to work really well, and I'm VERY happy with this result, even though it wasn't quite the original image. And isn't that what makes art unique? The ability to roll with the punches and change on the fly to complete the project that you visualize is key to artistic success. So the changes in the disks and in the snowflakes will end up enhancing each project even though they are slight deviations from the original artistic vision.