Baby wipe technique revisited and the 200th Friday Smiles

Not long ago in a galaxy not so far away, there lived a muddled mixed media artist who



Whoa!  Wrong story.  I seem to have been lulled toward the dark side by the Force.  Let's start again.  Recently I showed the baby wipe technique.  If you missed it, it is here.

Please note that I referenced that I had seen the technique on Fiona at Staring at the Sea's blog and remembered I now I had baby wipes.  I want to explain that Fiona teaches this technique in a class, so there were no instructions on how to make this on her blog.  But I had remembered it from years past and that is how I came up with the birthday images I created.


Once again, I started with DYE reinkers to make the trees for my

tip-ins I showed yesterday.

I placed three baby wipes on my largest acrylic block and spread three colors of ink onto the wet baby wipes.  Be sure your baby wipes are very wet.  If you don't use yours often, like me, the top one might not be juicy wet.  You have now created your very own stamp pad.

For my first layer,  I started with medium bubble wrap. 

Although I don't show it, I next went to the small bubble wrap, which was much more accepting of the ink.  I had a bit of trouble getting the large bubble wrap to work, mainly because the "bubbles" were mostly gone from previous use.  I also had a bit of trouble with the star punchinella (sequin waste), while the large punchinella was overpowering.

Next, I stamped a few words and images randomly on the pages.  For the final page, I swiped the now nearly dry baby wipes.

To make certain I didn't create any bias by cutting a favorite place on each page,

I turned the page over and began laying down the tree templates I had created.  

These pages can also be used as masterboards, a background technique that has not caught on in the states, as it has in Europe, whose artists fully embrace it.

To change the subject completely, as I was cleaning my office, I found this from 2008.

I thought it was so unique, and it put a smile on my face.  Since it's been awhile since I've joined Annie (aka Wipso) at A Stitch in Time, I thought it was time I joined in again.

I'm calling this "The Cost."

Since these are 2008 prices,

I can only imagine what that cost is today.

I had to smile about the caveat.  After having a drummer live in my basement for a few years, I can definitely appreciate the earplugs!

That's when I decided to go to PNC to see if I could find the latest CPI.

It seems to have gone up considerably since 2008.

If you want to see some incredible images of each gift (these are simply STUNNING) and incredibly clever, you should click on the link above.  I especially enjoyed the image of the six geese-a-laying.  And if you like those images and love coloring, you can download your own coloring book to, as PNC explains "produce your own beautiful interpretation" of these truly gorgeous images.

However, if you want to see the TRUE COST of all 364 gifts (due to repetition), this is how it plays out.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you enjoyed learning how I created the trees for my latest tip-ins using a masterboard background technique.  And please don't forget to visit Annie at A Stitch in Time, where a smile is always the best way to start the weekend.  You'll smile at every link you see there, too.