I Cleaned My Brushes!

I decided to clean my stencil brushes. Here's how I did it! I used and old plastic bowl and an old sieve thing that I don't use any more. (Photo above) The sieve fits inside the owl, which was a bonus. I added some warm water and added a drop or two of dishwashing liquid. I put the brushes in the water one at a time, and gently 'scrubbed' them on the sieve. The sieve I used has small fine steel netting and is very gentle on my brushes. Once I had finished I cleaned the brushes under some warm water to get rid of any dishwashing liquid on them. Below is 2 of the brushes before I cleaned them. I have the brushes in three sizes, these are the 2 biggest ones.

Below are the 2 brushes after I cleaned them. There's some staining on the black one, but there's no actual 'colour' left on the brush. I haven't cleaned my brushes for four years, so I think it was time to give them a  clean. They are now drying on the window ledge in the

sun. YES! We have sun today! After days of heavy rain we finally have a sunny day!

 

The next couple of photo's are of the rocks I have made and painted, so far. I really need lot's of dry sunny days, but being Winter I know that's not likely to happen any time soon. The Turtle below measures about 2 1/2 inches in length, and around 1 1/2 inches in width. I also have a much larger mold of him, which I didn't realize come with the smaller Turtle. I like this smaller size and once I get time I will spray on some sealant and put him in amongst my pot plants. 

The Bee Kind rock is one I found in my garden. It was smooth and easy to paint. The M&M was made using plaster of Paris, which I found easy to mix and use. Unfortunately it broke when I took it out of the mold - so it became a broken M&M! It was nice and smooth to paint. (I'm using acrylic paint and Posca pens to draw with.  The pink rock was one I hand created without a mold, just to see how easy it was. The mix was too wet and sloppy and dry in an uneven way. No big deal, I'm still learning! You can see it isn't smooth compared to the ones done in a mold. The red heart one was created using cement, so it is heavier than the POP ones. Of course, there's also the ones I've made which aren't painted. There's the Pig, five heart ones, some flat some more rounded, a crouching kitten which  has a hollow part you can grow a small plant in, as well as a Hedgehog you can put a plant in. I also did a gnome one. I also have a few more molds yet to be used.

To be honest, I don't know why I am making all these - I hate colouring in! Ok so these rocks are all painted, but it means I still have to 'colour' in some way! Which bring me to my next topic. I have lost my mojo for making cards. It disappeared some time back. I am selling some of my Lavinia Stamps, so if anyone is interested, please leave me a message in the comments (or email me) and I will get back to you and discuss details. I still check the LS FB pages but nothing there is inspiring me. To be honest, it's stress. Romeo has some sneezing and I think he caught it from Wookie. Romeo is a total indoor cat, where as Wookie is an outdoor cat. She was sneezing recently when she was inside and whatever it was I think she passed it on to Romeo. So I will make an appointment for him to see the Vet. On top of that, I have been unwell for about 10-12 days. I've got a sore throat that isn't going away, digestive issues, not feeling hungry so not eating properly and feeling tired - oh the joy of having an immune system that doesn't work properly! On top of that it's Winter which I hate. I'm always cold (I have Reynauds which means my blood doesn't circulate properly). Right now my fingers are so cold they hurt. Wear gloves? I hear you say! Sounds like a good idea, but they don't work because there is no blood circulation in my fingers. It would be like putting gloves on a block of ice. The gloves wouldn't warm to block of ice because it has no blood circulation. I know it's hard to understand, and you don't have to! I'm just having a bit of a vent! I will stop here and get his posted!

Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self, and shine bright each and every day!