earth, wind and fire... plus special guest star: water! ♥♥♥

NO, i'm not having a 1970's r+b reunion over here, this week's challenge at shopping our stash is called "the four elements" for which we'd like you to choose one or more of the following: earth, water, fire and wind... then make a card or project which represents at least one of those in some way. need some hints? ok, howsabout a goldfish in a bowl or a mermaid by the sea for water; birthday candles or rocket ships with afterburn for fire; a beautiful landscape or desert scene for earth; and a cloudy sky or hot air balloon for wind? i went a little bit tangential*, because i didn't quiiiiiiite "get" the brief at first, so i used WATERCOLORS to paint some flowers. fortunately, the flowers are growing in the EARTH... which isn't pictured, but it's there, ok? trust me on this! :)

flowers painted on strathmore watercolor paper with color burst pigment powders mixed with water (essentially you're making your own liquid watercolor paints in tiny batches and then mixing the colors on a palette or just in layers on the paper; outlining pen: faber-castell pitt in XS nib; pink gingham patterned paper: bella blvd; glossy white kromekote: the paper kut; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, sewing machine

ok, yeah, i know what you're thinking, you're thinking, "hey lauren, are you still totally in a watercolor phase then?!" and pretty obviously the answer is, "yep!" what can i say? i like painting, generally, and painting flowers, particularly, and i'll pretty much take any excuse to sit down in the evening and do just that. there are worse things to be addicted to, right?

be sure to check out the SOS gang where you can see lots more gorgeous inspiration, including projects by our lovely new design team members, stacey, maria, mimi and cyndi! be sure to say hi to those guys and welcome them to our neck of the woods, ok?

*you can probably get away with being a bit tangential, too, because afterall, it's meant to be a creative challenge... if you can figure out a way to EXPLAIN how your project fits one of the categories, i think i can assure you we'll be happy with what you've done. furthermore, anyone who submits a project which features the 1970's rock/pop group earth, wind and fire will almost certainly be featured in the shout-outs next saturday, even if i have to strongarm the other SOS team members into agreeing with me on this point, lol! so there's that to look forward to! :) :) :)