a hilarity from penpal world... art tutorial?

So I got this amazing letter from a penpal and was over the moon with it. I still am. She makes her own stationery and writes with fountain pens... it's like... heaven? She's amazing. Insanely busy, a working mom going back to school!

She DID say a thing, though... that got under my skin the more I thought about it. See, she used a really fun image that she didn't paint, she noted this and said, "I wish it was mine but..." 

UGH... I guess this part of me hasn't changed in a decade. It is probably a good thing. Something that is genuinely me... 

So I made her a tutorial letter. And repeated that I believed 100% that she could and should make one better from her own hands when time and life and everything else allow. Because I know she CAN. 

Then on Instagram I made a "YOU CAN DO THIS" sort of post. The words of which will end this post.

the LSS: grow the picture and you can see

I used stuff on my desk and have been using a lot of notebook paper of late, maybe because I feel like the obsession with HAVING to have special expensive paper is part of an addiction that I just don't have. While I love stationery and love making it and using it and buying it... it's not the only paper.

The stencil I used is from Artistcellar and just happened to be by the desk in the album cover it lives in because I went to the mother-in-law's Tuesday to do some playing with stencils and inks and have fun making cards. It has now been put away. They have some of the best stencils and sets so their name is a link if you wanna go look. The one I used is from a series of maps that I love.

This was, admittedly the second attempt. I tried first with some neon acrylic paints I had out on the desk and it was awful. I was using a waterbrush and it was diluting the acrylic so much that it was transparent and also wasn't drying nicely. So the one you see above was a work in progress that I just continued to work on and wasn't a true work or art or anything, but I am happy enough with it. And... more importantly... I wanted her to know that I believe she can.

And remember... You f'ing CAN. You won't believe me, and so I will repeat it. YOU CAN.

99% of everything you see and wish you could do is 1000x easier than you think it is. Mostly it starts with a willingness to screw it right the hell up, and an ability to do it again. Now, launching a car to Mars or flying on your own and stuff, maybe that's in the 1% we are being realistic about when we doubt ourselves... And maybe you can find the way I don't see. Just please be safe and love you as much as you love everyone around you.

Because YOU CAN.