Stencil Breakthrough ... and Break Out!

BREAKING through and breaking out! It's a hot summer day today, and while we don't have air conditioning, it is still cooler inside than out right now. Ideal for artwork, but not for house cleaning. Well, studio cleaning ... yes, I've done that. I can't believe how many pencils, pens and crayons I have. But that's usually because I can't find anything and I have to go buy more.
With this recent burst of organization, however, those days of "more" be over. I am ending up organizing myself and not leaving it to the Mister, who has enough of his own stuff to do. He's moving into the new garage/shop and I will inherit the old garage off the dining room. I can't wait to have room to spread out ... but I must improve my work habits. Wish me luck.
Thanks to Judy Wise for posting on stencils (search her blog for "Tweaked" if you don't see it). She included a photo of the process and it made it a lot clearer for me. So I printed a photo and set to work. It's a picture of someone who reads this blog often, so let's see if she recognizes herself. : )
I then cut out slivers around the figure like Judy did and realized how you have to think ahead about the positive and negative space you create.
Here's the photo stamped with ink. I didn't want to spray paint the image since it smells so bad and I didn't want to take time to lay down newspapers. OK. I was real lazy.
After I had stamped it all over - and it took a while because the slivers I had cut away were small and only defined the person in the photograph just a little - I peeked from time to time to see how I was doing.
Then voila! Here is the little girl in the photo. Who could she be?
This was really fun and will, now, certainly not be the only stencil I do. I can see where I need to improve.
Hooked on so many things. My list of "to do's" keeps getting longer.
By the way, the photo at the beginning of the blog entry is of the computer room at work. It is usually kept locked, since it's the heart and brains of all the computers in the newsroom. I thought I saw a visitor who might be up to no good, however. (That's right - it's a monkey in the works. No wonder Jim brings a banana to work every single day!)
Here, also, for an ending, is a photo of the "other side" of the woman painted on glass. I turned it around yesterday and was surprised to see how different she had become from the "person" she was when I started. Hope you've got good weather where you are and something fun to keep your mind and hands busy - femminismo
P.S. Almost forgot this intriguing flower I saw at Sylvia's house. It's a hoya - a 10 foot long, or longer, vine. Inside plant. Check it out by clicking on the image for a closer look. The flower petals have little tiny hairs on them. Before the flower blooms the tiny petals look almost metallic. It's one of those plants - like the passion flower - that could be placed in a "Star Trek" episode and they would fit right in.