One Step Beyond

I'm back with a double double helping of challenges & prompts

from The Documented Life Project.

The theme for March is
Making Your Mark
(Doodles & Mark Making).

The Art Challenges are

Week 10.  As a Layer Element

Week 11.  Borders

Week 12.  As a Focal Point

Week 13.  Make a Custom Element  

& the Journal Prompts are

Week 10.   Surviving the Elements  

Week 11.  "Borderline feels like I'm going to lose my mind." - Madonna

Week 12.   Coming into Focus

Week 13.  "Ride the energy of your own unique spirit." - Gabrielle Roth

I guess this month has been about creating a set of our own elements to use in our art journals.

I had so many ideas flying around in my head, that I didn't actually get around to doing anything in my art journal & a whole month has flown by.

So, in an attempt to "catch up" here is my one & only journal spread for March.

I carved my own rubber stamps & made a variety of tapes.

Hand carved Arrow rubber stamp

With an explosion of colour, using Gelatos over a base of gesso

my theme is

Love the Life you Live

Focal Point

Movement & Energy

No Strings Attached

A fun poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti is my choice for my
Waddington Weekly.

Children & their toys

Don't let that horse
eat that violin
cried Chagall's mother

Dimension added with Ranger's Glossy Accents

Additional images from The Graphics Fairy.

Still Waters

Welcome to
Waddington Weekly,
my altered playing card project for 2015.

This week my inspirational poem is by Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy.

We are the dreamers of dreams
Wandering by lone sea-breakers
And sitting by desolate streams

Oops a daisy

One more page wrecked in my journal, this time it is the

Space for negative comments

(What is your inner critic saying?)

Mine, as usual, has plenty to say for herself,

but, certainly for the time being,

I would not wish to expose you to the harshness of her sharp tongue.

The words, (a poem written earlier this month)

are concealed behind the speech bubble tag,

to which the image from The Graphics Fairy is pointing.

The other images are from Madame Payraud, with labels cut from an old dictionary.

I feel this page is still missing a certain something ...

... see there she goes again.

How do I love thee?

I have chosen a familiar poem for my next
Waddington Weekly.

It is by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways

I love thee to the depth & breadth & height
My soul can reach

I made the numbered tape from an old copy of Collins' Commercial Reckoner Trade Tables.

About me

I received an offer from about.me for free business cards from Moo.

How could I refuse?

They arrived today.

I am smiling.

Come visit me on about.me & say hello.

A Perfect Match

Just a quick update on my
Wreck This Journal.

As we moved into a new month, I was about to put my Valentine card safely away in my keepsake box,
when I was reminded of something Carolyn had done in her journal.

She had glued in a card from Karen.

So, instead of hiding it away in my box, I decided to
Wreck it.

I placed it alongside my Four Letter word page & thought it matched quite well. 

With a little cutting & sticking, I created a pocket for the signed insert,

rounded the top corners & added a ribbon to create a tag. 

The two pages blend together due to the pairing of swallows, 

the white blossom,

the matching tones of red in the roses & the hearts,

& the background of The Graphics Fairy image

with the mottled colouring of the card insert. 

Perfect.

I'll say it again

I'm back with a double helping of challenges & prompts

from The Documented Life Project.

Continuing February's theme of
Layers you will love.

The Art Challenges are

Week 8.  Repeating elements

Week 9.  Using at least five layers

& the Journal Prompts are

Week 8.  It's worth repeating  

Week 9.  Give me a high five

I was searching for the right five letter word for this journal page,
something to inspire me,
to have some kind of reason to journal, something worth repeating ...

I decided to look at my own blog & then it struck me ...

"daisy, daisy
as the second month draws to a close,
it's worth repeating the five goals you set yourself
at the beginning of January."

The first layer is a base of gesso.

The second layer is a watercolour effect background, created using Whispers Strokes. Annoyingly the permanent ink pens do not have their individual colour names on them, so here is a photo to record which ones I used.

The third layer, stencilled patterns, using ColorBox fluid chalk inkpad (Orchard Pastel) through the Tim Holtz Dot Fade stencil by Stampers Anonymous.

The fourth layer is my grid & my doodled letters & flowers. The grid template, which I use for my Moleskin book, is just the right size for this journal.

Finally, I added words & letters cut from an old book (Pride & Prejudice), printed text & Ranger's Texture Paste, through stencils (Typo & Dot Fade).

There was also some white gesso added on the top.

I did struggle to get started on this challenge,
but once I got going I really enjoyed the process.

It gave me the opportunity to use stencils & paste, both for the first time.

I also made use of an old ink pad, very old colouring pens
& a butterfly that I found whilst looking for something else.

Moonbeams

The words I have chosen for this week's altered playing card
for Waddington Weekly,
are from the same poem, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, as the previous week.

the sunlight clasps the earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea

Adding a glint to the musician's eyes with a couple of drops of Ranger's Glossy Accents.