THINKING ABOUT THE YEAR AHEAD ....

Well it's what you do at the beginning of a New Year isn't it? Even though I don't make resolutions there's something about starting over in January that makes you believe that, somehow, this year can be different ...

This page began with a leftover piece of scrapbook paper (I have to use them up somehow!) which is also the source of the stripy border. Like I say, I don't make resolutions, but I started to think about getting to the end of the year, and the things I hope for in the months to come. More like setting hopeful goals if you see what I mean?
I had a lot of fun doodling and generally messing about with this, but its only now that I realise I've done it again - why do I (nearly) always write across the page in straight lines? I could write sideways, or in circles, anything I like, but give me a blank page and I'll automatically work in tidy lines from left to right. Maybe I should add that to my list as a goal - to train myself to think outside the box, and to write in all kinds of different ways? You may have to remind me ....

HOW EFFICIENT AM I ...?

I was determined to join in with Kate Crane's calendar project this year, so got myself organised for January in good time! This will be the first time I've done a double page in my journal, and I sneakily made these several pages in - that way if I fail in my good intentions and don't complete the full calendar, I can just pretend these were random pages! Method in my madness you see ...

Lots of lovely Distress Inks on this - mainly Stormy Sky and a touch of Peeled Paint I think, then when it was dry I splodged some water about. The funny little houses are unmounted stamps by Invoke Arts and for the days themselves I just raided my scraps box for suitable colours, and pressed my square punch into use.
And so far I've managed an entry every day, although I have reluctantly concluded that my life is pretty boring as there never seems to be anything particularly exciting to record!

NEW YEAR, NEW JOURNAL

OK, I admit it, that's not strictly true ... as I did start my new book on 19th December, but the principle is there! And it is my first posting of a New Year isn't it? Near enough. The background is Distress Inks just smudged around in my usual fashion and then splattered with water, and because this is page one I started writing about what these journals mean to me ...
And then you can sort of see how it grew, as the conversation with myself sort of wandered along. This process is all very unplanned with me, sometimes I do a whole page in an afternoon or sometimes I make a start and come back to it days or even weeks later.
On this occasion I finished this page over a couple of days, and as usual I felt I HAD to fill all the available space! Some of it is blocks of colour and pattern from collage sheets (I was in very pink mode that day, which usually means that I'm happy). It's also pleasing to see that although I'm still writing in straight lines, I have varied things by writing sideways and in blocks - otherwise I tend to just scrawl my way across the page left to right, just because that's what I'm used to! How set in my ways am I getting, its embarrassing!

AT LAST!!

OK the mince pies are made, the presents bought and wrapped, so I finally managed to spend time with my journal again. I started this page some time ago but never got any further than this ... and its the very last page in the book too!

So anyway, I added some green zig zags and this writing, and without having to think about it I was off again, just like I'd never been away ....
And as you can see it just sort of flowed from there. Its an internal conversation with myself, trying to remember AGAIN that I really shouldn't worry so much since Herself is in charge of it all. The trouble is that sometimes I forget, and think I have to sort everything out single handed, and then I end up feeling overwhelmed .... Daft really, but I never seem to learn!
But it turned into quite an interesting page really. I should probably have it framed and stick it on my wall less than 6 inches from my nose. Do you think then I would remember? Nah, neither do I .....

STILL AT IT ....

... painting and altering that is! I've finished the clock (see previous post) but I'm not pleased with it so it will need further treatment before I'm ready to put it on display! If at first you don't succeed, and all that! However, my bargain buys from our American holiday have all come through much improved - the little candle holder was a sort of deep maroon colour, and I forget what it had written on the side. I gave it a couple of coats of emulsion and a rub-on before putting back the candle cups and one of the stars (which I'd temporarily removed), and then chalk inked the edges and corners before it finally got a coat of sealant. Now I have an item which matches my living room colours but only cost $2!
I was particularly pleased with this little basket, another $2 bargain - it was red, white and blue before and the lid had some 4th of July type picture on it. I painted the red and blue slats in the basket itself and likewise the blue lid, added some ribbon from my stash and a metal star I'd recycled from the candle holder, et voila! It's only tiny this basket - about to the top of the handle - but you know how expensive they can be. The star similarly got a coat of emulsion and another of sealant, and I'm delighted with my budget saving efforts!

Can you believe I haven't done any journalling at all .... life seems to be a long round of mince pies and other efforts towards Christmas, but I have promised myself to get my journal out as soon as I can make time. In fact I may even start work in the brand new one I've got ready .....

BUSY BUSY BUSY

And I know its not an excuse for neglecting my blog, but I haven't been busy at the sort of stuff I could take pictures of if you see what I mean. Got a lot on my mind right now and haven't seemed able to settle to anything, but the other day I got out some stuff I'd been promising to alter for ever ... and well, this is the result! I buy bargain items while on holiday in the USA - their wooden blanks and baskets are just so brilliant - and since I'm working towards a interior look which is kind of country style/primitive (think Gisela Graham) all these items play their part. That basket in the foreground is one I must have had for a decade, and it was dark brown with green Christmas trees on it! I painted it cream, then gave it a coat of light woodstain, and it looks better already!

And below is a clock we've had for years - I've been threatening to paint it for a long long time, and now I have! It isn't finished (obviously) but I'm quite pleased with it so far.
So there you are - I may have been AWOL but not entirely unproductive, and I do have a pile of wrapped Christmas presents waiting and my cards are all made and posted! No! Don't hate me, please ...... !!

WICKED STUFF ...

This is one of my painted background pages - I still find the chalky feel of them a bit difficult, but am gradually getting comfortable with this medium. Well its just too versatile to ignore isn't it? I love pink and green, so some of my offcuts of scrapbook paper came in handy to provide a border for this page. In case you were wondering, the artistically torn bits aren't actually deliberate - I glued some motifs to the page and then decided I didn't like them, so ripped them off! The effect this left behind was quite nice really!

I'd been listening to a piece on Radio 4 which was discussing wickedness and deadly sins and so on, which had got me thinking about telling lies. Sadly I concluded that I was a simply dreadful fibber because it wasn't possible to be anything else unless you were prepared to go around hurting people all the time. And I'm not!
I just LOVE the pink boots I found to illustrate the concept of "trampling" and managed to squeeze a pinky Artchix lady in the corner too. The printed words are more of my cuttings out from magazines - I love to do that, its amazing what comes out when you try and put cut out words like this together.
And I finished it all off with some stamped flowers and drawn foliage. For once I didn't feel the need to fill every available corner (although sometimes I do go back and write some more on a page ages after its 'finished'). There hasn't been nearly enough time for journalling lately - got things on my mind which have distracted me. That's a shame because really I should be using my journal to reflect on what's going on in my life .... well I would if only there was time!!

LAYERS AND LAYERS

I really like making pages with (what I think of as) layers like this ... I just draw the wavy shapes with my water-soluble crayons and work on these until I'm happy with the colours and how it looks. That's a very restful process in which my thoughts can just drift off ...
Then I start to put in some definition - darker lines to demarcate the layers (dark blue paint in this case) and the beginnings of some pattern. I actually got the page this far on just one day, and then left it alone for quite a few weeks until I happened to feel like writing on it. When I did, this is what I wrote ...
Then a couple of days later I added some more as my ideas about what I wanted to say developed. The page came out of some difficult feelings that I was able to work through and resolve ... I love how I can do that through my journal.
It was about another week before I finally finished the writing, after which it was easy to just fill in any spaces. It always seems right to me to fill the page - not sure I can explain why, it just DOES!!

PASSION

I got this lettering from an advert in the colour supplements - some kind of spirit is being advertised but it was the lovely white letters on the red background I noticed and cut out!! There are several versions of the ad and the wording is different on each, so eventually I laid everything out on the desk and started to see what I could make out of it. This is the result!

I painted my page black and then set to work, like someone composing a ransom note out of the newspaper! I'm amazed at what came out of this exercise - but then again I shouldn't be really, its clear that something here was meant to be ...

AUTUMN REFLECTIONS

Even though I dread the cold weather, I do love the colours at this time of year .... I even like the wild blowy days as long as I don't have to go out in them! Watching the leaves blow outside my bay window is quite enough thank you. This leaf is done with one of my favourite stamps and for once I decided to use my ordinary handwriting rather than the style I usually use for journalling.
I was in the mood for a little bit of reflective colouring, so this page is quite simple and straightforward, but it catches how I was feeling.
It kind of reminded me that I could waste some perfectly lovely Autumn days in dreading the cold ones to come, instead of appreciating what IS, right now .... do I sound like Pollyanna? Hope not. Bah Humbug!!

BREATHING UNDERWATER ...

This title was one of those journal prompts which I got from my trawling through magazines, and I think it touched a chord because I occasionally have days when I feel so overwhelmed by life, the universe and everything, that its almost as if I can't breathe, or hear what's being said except distantly. My beloved describes it as like wearing a goldfish bowl, but I prefer my way of looking at it. Anyway, that's what was on my mind when I began this page with a distress ink background and a rough border done with water soluble crayons. Acrylic paint takes really well on the top.

Almost immediately I stopped liking the heart I'd stuck on, so I took it off again, which resulted in a rather interesting effect up there in the corner! Did some more work on the self portrait, but I ended up looking grumpy rather than the solemn and slightly confused effect I was after ... well let's face it, breathing underwater would make your face look a bit funny wouldn't it??
What you probably can't see from the finished page (which is less busy than those I usually make isn't it?) is that I've given some of the bubbles a coat of glossy accents which gives a rather good effect - well I was pleased with it anyway.
PS there's a reason why the word breathe is a bit different - it originally was the same as the others until I discovered that I'd actually written "breahe" duh. Not sure I have any talent for drawing fish either, but who cares?? I'm away for a few days now - off to a convention in London for a bit of FUN! May be a hospital case afterwards ...

ONE OF THE BIG GIRLS ....

For this journal page I was responding to a challenge from somewhere to block out big splodges of colour as a background. At the time I can't say I enjoyed it as a way to get a page started, but once I got going it did turn into something I was quite pleased with. Not sure I would necessarily use this method again though. Above you can see the colour blocked page, and the first statement that I am "one of the big girls now". It was obvious that there had to be a picture of me to go with that ...
Then in my usual fashion I started adding bits and pieces - and I couldn't leave the photo alone could I, which is why I sprouted pink lipstick and a hat!
And this is the result when I'd finished adding curly doodles, more words, and generally filling up every inch of space! Its not clear to me why I do that (am I scared of too much empty space?) but I always feel more satisfied if the result is nice and busy ... make of that what you will! Maybe its to do with my determination to make every day count - with this illness it would be so easy to just sit about achieving very little? Or perhaps its simpler than that, and it simply doesn't look finished until I've filled all the space? Who can say?