Feeling like a kid again...

So at my first real college apartment (I say REAL, because I don't count the one that I was afraid to live in prior to that and moved out of four months in because my roommate was a psychopath...literally), my roommates and I decided that coloring would be a great stress reliever.  We went out and bought a few of those giant kid's coloring books and the biggest boxes of crayons we could find.  This stress relieving process morphed into a rite of passage, and everyone was strongly encouraged (although not officially required) to color something in the coloring book upon their first visit.  Everyone signed and dated their work.  It turned into a fun little keepsake, though I'm not sure who wound up with it or if it even survived all of our moving out after school.  Throughout my life, though, despite whatever the heck is going on, nothing is quite so soothing as sitting down with a goofy picture of a cartoon animal and a giant box of crayons. 

So, I was ecstatic to discover several months ago that there's a scrapbooking equivalent.  Doodling.  Like, draw in the margins, color in all the "O"s and "B"s and "P"s style doodling.  There are books on this technique!  Who knew?  So, obviously, I DID buy a book about it (cuz I'm crazy like that, and I need direction for my doodling...yeah...OCD a little, I know).  I found myself somewhat stressed about it because I had never before considered making doodling a PART of what I was doing.  I've always doodled while I was daydreaming about what I may be doing in the future, or to kill time waiting to do something, or to avoid doing something, or maybe just to stay awake while I'm doing something boring.  I've never considered it to be the end product.  This sentiment has been echoed by most of the customers I've suggested it to as well.  So imagine my surprise when I sat down, and it just started happening.  Just like coloring.  Just like pulling out the crayons and coloring in that goofy cartoon animal.  And when I convince customers to just sit down and try it...they agree.  Beautiful, creative, relaxing.  Just...doodling. 

So yeah, here's some fun with doodling I had tonight...basic, boring-ish patterened paper, made fun!

The original:

Starting the outlines:

Filling in pattern:

That's all for tonight :)