**I added some information below on the tools I used for the stamp carving I have been really captivated by rubber stamp carving these days.  Bette got me started and now I keep thinking of things I want to carve.  I love making a design and then carving away the excess until only the form remains.  It becomes very meditative as I am fully mindful and present to what is before me.  I also love the look of the metallic ink on black paper:    I love trees, so of course had to carve one!   This cross is from

This is now.  Now is, all there is.  Don’t wait for Then; strike the spark, light the fire. Sit at the Beloved’s table, feast with gusto, drink your fill then dance the way branches of jasmine and cypress dance in a spring wind. The green earth is your cloth; tailor your robe with dignity and grace. -Rumi I feel my creative fires continuing to kindle and spark.  How lovely to have some time this week to simply craft and play.  I share below my initial experiment with lettering, carving stamps, and using pastel and paint.  Unfortunately the vibrancy of the silver and gold