Polished Stones

We used to live in Northern Arizona and Utah, where there are running streams of water everywhere. It was a common occurence to see rocks in the water that were smooth, flat, and of varying sizes. We didn't think anything about them, really. Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona was full of them. East Canyon in Utah was full of them. Nebraska does not have many running streams close to where I live. We have a river, the Platte, but it has sand bars instead of rocks like creek rocks (and not much water, either!).

I miss those rocks! When we were in Wisconsin last month, we could watch the waves of Green Bay wash against the shore. I went rock hunting one morning, and found these rocks.
Nothing much to look at - they are mostly white, kind of boring, but to feel them---you'd think you were touching silk. They have been smoothed and polished from constant movement of the water. I brought them home (the one in front is about the size of a quarter) -- to remind me of the places I have lived, where I used to fly fish, and of vacation, of course. I keep that small one in my pocket most of the time, or my purse -- whenever I get upset or stressed, I feel the texture of that velvety rock. It's calming. And if I stay stressed, I suppose I could always throw it at something.....I'm kidding!

Since late last night, SCS has been having some problems -- and I couldn't get on to talk to my friends or look at cards, or upload mine. That was (and still is!) stressful. I have my rock in my pocket.

So - rather than do any number of household things that should have been done, my rock and I made Polished Stone backgrounds. It's one of my favorite techniques and looks, and it is so simple. I think I must have made about 40 different color combinations. Here is one of them, using today's SCS challenge (which I did get on long enough to read).
We were to use flourishes of any kind, anywhere. This style is very popular right now, and just about every stamp company has some kind of swirls and flourishes. I stamped mine (from Rhonna Farrer) on watercolor paper and then swirled it with an Aqua brush to resemble waves. The seagulls were stamped right on the Polished Stone background in Basic Black ink.
We still have rain today, so no good light again for pictures. I guess I should go build a light box! I will post a tutorial for the Polished Stone a little later today. I have done enough rambling for now...