first of all, i just HAD to post this picture. my sister took it (& instagrammed) last night during joey's bath. and i just think it proves hoe irresistibly cute my son is! so i had to share ;)

i also wanted to share this piece that i made at least a year ago, but has now been strategically placed in our house where people can actually see it, and there have been endless comments (and many requests to help them make their own!) so i thought i'd do a DIY on here. i'm pretty sure i got this technique from a book (maybe Image Transfer Workshop by McElroy & Wilson? - yep, i just looked - page 20 :) - it's called making a "gel skin". they used it to include in a mixed-media art piece, as the top layer to show the rest of the layers underneath, while still showcasing the image. of course, i did my own "take" on it (as usual), and just used the gel skin itself as a work of art! you choose - here's how:

1. print out a laserjet copy of the picture you want to use (you could even do color if you had color laserjet capabilities). you're gonna want to increase the contrast some, to get a more striking image.

2. paint on a layer of gel medium (of course, most mixed-media artists will tell you, use Golden brand, but really any that they sell in the art aisle at michael's have worked fine for me! and since i'm not a "real artist", i can tell you that, and shop there ;). let dry.

3. repeat 3-4 times. let dry overnight.

4. soak the back with a spray bottle, let it soak in, then begin rolling off the paper with your fingers (gently, so you don't tear the image! but it does take some pressure - you'll get it with practice :) until all the paper backing has been removed, and you are left with your "gel skin"!

5. if you want the look i created here, take the backing out of a stand-alone frame, and simply "stick" your gel skin to the back of the inside glass! it should adhere like one of those "window cling" thingys.

or, do something totally different with it! and tell me about it! :)

this is actually the back of the piece - that's why everyone loves it so much! with where we placed it (see below) strategically between two rooms, you can see it from both, and with very different effects - here, the afternoon light is shining through it, which just makes it luminescent (yeah, that's pretty much the definition of luminescent, but whatever ;).

please ignore all the smudges and scratches on the sliding glass door here (i have a toddler! and i am home alone, and just had my gallbladder surgically removed 3 days ago, or else i might've cleaned it! ok, probably not. but here, i did the next best thing - edit in photoshop so they're much less visible ;)

ah, finally, a shot of the twice-before-noted strategic placement of the piece that engendered all the comments

(this is also one of my new favorite "comfy" spots in the house after we did a little rearranging last week :)