Two new pieces

Well the journal challenge finished, we are currently away from home sorting out damaged shipments, a broken trailer and a sick car.  However, I have managed to do these two pictures and they have helped me relax and preserve my sanity and spirits!  And do you know?  I kinda quite like them!

JFAC Prompt XXX

Journal Prompt 30:  Closing Page. 

JFAC Prompt XXIX

Prompt 29: What should you be doing today?

JFAC Prompt XXVIII

Journal Prompt 28 :  Today I want you to start thinking about goals for September!  Five goals that are completely do-able! 

Another prompt that was quite easy to do and really enjoyable! Just for once I'm pretty confident I'll be able to tick all the boxes at the end of September!

JFAC Prompt XXVII

Journal Prompt 27:  Today I want you to create your journal page using a different medium then what you are used to using :)  Search your studio/craft spaces and challenge yourself to try something new!!

 

OMG! I absolutely LOVE this page! At first I thought oh no what can I try, I've none of my stuff, just the same watercolor pencils and art pens I've been using all month. Then I remembered a recent book I got from the library on craft. One of the things I had made a note of to try was the art of taking fresh flowers/leaves and then placing them between a layer of kitchen roll, a cotton hankie, another layer of kitchen roll and then bash them with a hammer. I can't remember what they call this, and I wasn't convinced it would work! But WOW! It did! I ironed the piece afterward as this makes the dye permanent! I will certainly being doing more of this. it was SO easy and SO effective. probably my very best page ever!

JFAC Prompt XXVI

Journal Prompt 26:  What are some lessons you have learned through this journal class?  Have you grown as a person?  Have you grown in your journaling?

Oh how we take things for granted! It wasn't until this prompt arrived that I really stopped to think about what I've done, how far I've come! I have so enjoyed this challenge. So much so that I intend to pretend it's still happening after 30 days and just ask a friend or my partner to suggest a prompt each day! I revisited my goals from day 2 and realised that I have indeed, come along way. I actually like the pages I've produced. I feel that I am good enough! And yes, I am a creative person!

JFAC Prompt XXV

Journal Prompt :  What is your favourite Season?

This one needs no explanation!

JFAC Prompt XXIV

Journal Prompt 24: This prompt is all about documenting a feeling that you felt this past week.  Does that make sense? lol!  For example...something that made me happy this past week or something that made me mad this past week.  Choose a feeling, and document it.

I loved doing this one! Last week when I went to collect the mail from the post office there was an unexpected parcel waiting for me. Inside was a glossy magazine, some watercolor pencils and a watercolor pad. My best friend had sent them over from the UK to keep me happy until all my things arrive here! What a star! Well I decided to do a collage using the front cover of the magazine, a picture of my best friend and I (taken a good few years ago) and a picture of the UK! Then I remembered a beautiful card Jan gave me before I left the UK. I didn't want to stick it in the journal because I have a special treasures box where I keep special cards and momentos. So I decided to have a go at drawing it using the pencils she sent. Above is the card, the illustration by Friedrich Neitzsche. Below is my journal page with my attempt at drawing the bloom!

JFAC Prompt XXIII

Journal Prompt:  The unsent letter.  This is a page where you can let all of your feelings out without hurting anyone's feelings OR sharing any feelings that you aren't ready to share yet :)  This letter is to be written to someone who you WANT to say something to, but can't or won't or don't.  This could be a secret love letter, a letter telling someone how they hurt you or anything in between!!

This is one I put off and put off. It was quite difficult for me to which may come as a surprise to some people who know me as I'm not usually stuck for things to say. I could only think of one letter I wanted to write and yet I didn't want to either. A few years ago someone one day suddenly decided to cut me out of their life. They will not tell me why despite being asked and I have apologised for anything I may have said or done. Apologising when you don't know what you are apologising for is very difficult, and to be honest a little insincere. After all an apology is also a pledge not to to the same deed again. If you really don't know what the deed was how can you promise not to do it again? So there we are. I have done it. I have said in the letter all the things I feel and have felt for three years. 

JFAC Prompt XXII

Journal Prompt:  What are you looking forward to?  There are so many great things on the horizon, in the near future and the far.  

I decided I needed to make this page a little different. I seem to have slipped into a rut over the last few days of simple writing a list and doing a little sketch. I received a glossy magazine from my friend in the UK in the mail the other day, so I carefully snipped a bit of color from pages here and there and I found a small picture of a sewing machine which fitted nicely with a small scrap of fabric which I could spare from the piece I bought to make my first bag.

JFAC Prompt XXI

Journal Prompt:  Right this Second...  While you are sitting there with your journal I want you to tell me what is going on right this second!! What do you hear?  What do you smell?  What do you see?  What are you wearing, everything...

 Need to practice sketching! I used to be really good. I remember my passion was motorcycles, plants and people! I had a whole portfolio containing some real good sketches when I left school. My biggest regret is that I didn't take more care of them. They got lost in one of our house moves. But I was a teenager and as such placed little importance on such stuff. Now some 30 plus years later it all seems much harder. I think it boils down plain and simple to the fact that I am impatient and I don't actually stop to really see the basic shapes, proportions and angles before I start adding the detail. Sometimes it's almost like there's a deadline to adhere to and there's a panic to get it done as quickly as possible.

JFAC Prompt XX

Journal Prompt:  Today you are going to make lists that will add up to 100 things that you love!
This prompt may take awhile but it will definitely be fun!
Here is how it will go down...
*  10 Activities
*  10 Restaurants
*  10 People
*  10 Foods 
*  10 Games
*  6 Famous People
*  4 Desserts
*  10 TV shows
*  10 Websites
*  10 Books
*  10 Songs

 This took a while to think of everything. The ten people I love was not long enough so I had to extend a little because I wasn't going to 'drop' anyone from the list! The TV shows, however, was infinitely shorter. I'm a doer mainly. TV holds no fascination for me. There are some things I like to watch but even these sometimes get pushed aside. I'm sure it irritates David when I insist I watch a certain thing on TV and then get absorbed in a book or drawing something, or worse I wander off to another room to get something and don't come back! When I lived alone my best friend bought me a TV. For a whole year I lived in that little flat and I think I did put it on -ONCE! So....at last count there were 100 things on my list, just not many tv shows!

JFAC Prompt XIX

Journal Prompt:  I had read somewhere today, "What you deal with, does not define you."  I absolutely loved it and it spoke to me.  For example, if you are divorced, that isn't what people see when they see you.  I have a huge anxiety problem BUT that's not who I am.  I love it.

So, that lead me to the question, Who are you? What are some categories that you fall in to?  What types of things define you?

Well!  This one was a bit of a challenge! Come on how often do we really stop to think about what make us who we are.  And when we do how many of us focus on all the negative things because we're not comfortable 'blowing our own trumpets'.  I sought help on this asking David what was unique about me, what did he think made me "me".  A long drawn out discussion ensued.  It went something like this.  "I'm really quite organised" "Ha! you're not!"  "I'm quite an adventurer" "A timid adventurer, you need a kick up the a** sometimes!" and so it went on.  Everything I thought I was I realised I could be exactly the opposite too at times.

In the end I came to the conclusion that I am me, I am unique, like a diamond with many facets. Or as David might describe a woman of contradiction!

JFAC Prompt XVIII

Journal Prompt:  What's the buzz? What is going on in your mind right now?  What are some things that are going on your life right now? They don't have to be super significant life-changing events or thoughts to be documented in your journal.  Even the littlest things are important to write.

Fairly self explanatory I think.  A head full of questions, worries and idle chatter!

JFAC Prompt XVII

Journal Prompt:  Today I want you to focus on something beautiful.  I want you to think of something that you saw, and it was beautiful.  This could be an object, something that you heard, something that you saw, etc.  I just want it to be something that just resonated with you as something that represented beauty in some way :)

 Last week at around 11pm our neighbor came knocking on our door to tell us that the skies were clear and you could just see the Northern Lights above the tree tops at the back of our yard.  At first we stood outside on the deck but figured as it was so dark this might not be one of our better ideas having been warned about bears being around our neighborhood lately.  So from around midnight until 1.45 am I took up position by the bedroom window!  The light show in the skies beyond the trees was awesome.  I never dreamed I would actually live somewhere where I could view this phenomenon first hand. I consider myself VERY lucky.  Truly a thing of beauty to watch.

JFAC Prompt XVI

Journal Prompt:  This page is going to be dedicated to the pet or pets that have you heart :)  This could be a pet of the past, a pet your currently have in your family, or even a dream pet!  Dedicate a page to a special animal :)

When I read this prompt I was so excited! I couldn't think of anything I'd like better than to dedicate a page to my beloved Springer Spaniel, Jake. It was, however, very hard. Six years ago I 'lost' Jake in a messy divorce. Suffice to say I didn't get custody. I think that probably the reason I'm finding it difficult to 'let go' is because I don't know where he is or how he is. When a pet dies you grieve and gradually you come to terms with the loss. But somehow when they are still around just not with you it's harder.




I cried buckets while doing this one. I'm surprised the paper didn't get spoiled! But I couldn't have done this page for anyone else but him.

JFAC Prompt XV

Journal Prompt- What are 50 random facts about you?  This is a great page because you are documenting some random facts about you at this time in your life.  I'm sure this one will be a fun page to look back on some day :)

 Ha!  So what does this say about me?  I have a healthy preoccupation with food, I'll try anything at least once, I'm a late starter (given that I waited till I was forty before I tried anything).  Guess I'm  not boring tho eh?!

JFAC Prompt XIV

Journal Prompt:  5 Things!!  This journal challenge is all about using 5 different things that are just laying around.  These five items can be supplies, tools, pen colors, whatever.  I want you to find 5 things that are sitting out and can be used for a project such as this.  Don't go to your supply stash and dig out the five most perfect things, use what is already out, challenge yourself!!  The prompt is up to  you.  This is more of  a challenge then a prompt today :)

 OK. Not so easy this one. Having just moved in to a new house with only a suitcase full of clothes each there is not much lying around to stick in a journal!  I scraped the barrel a bit and I must confess to a slight cheat - The midge repellent hasn't been used yet so I was loathe to stick it in in-case I need it!  The beer bottle top is also not stuck in for several reasons - a glue stick will not hold it, I have no tape and lastly I wouldn't be able to close my journal nicely!!!!  All excuses aside I quite liked the finished result!

JFAC Prompt XIII

Journal Prompt:  What were your dreams when you were a child?  What did you aspire to be?  What did you hope for?

I enjoyed this one. I don't actually remember ever consciously wanting to be something in particular except for when I was a teenager I said I wanted to be a vet.  But my parents talked me out of it saying I was too soft and it would tear me apart when I had to put an animal to sleep and that I wouldn't be able to cope.  In a sense I regret this as now I know, as an adult, that I would have coped.  I have no problem ending a life of an animal if it is suffering and cannot be made better.  In another sense I don't regret not becoming a vet because I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and that if we don't do or get something it's because we are meant for other (better) things.  However I can recall easily all the things I used to do and enjoy as a child.  On doing this today I realised that, although I didn't consciously dream of being who I am today, I did set a pattern or path for myself.  I still am happiest when I'm creating, I still make my clothes occasionally and I make bags.  I love to cook from scratch (I hate ready made). And until recently I was in a caring profession.  I don't have a monkey but I do have my little chipmunks in the yard! 

Just for a change I thought I would try sketching using a fine ball point pen having got fed up with the cheap felt tips I managed to find locally - Please Angels of Art - Please deliver my new pens tomorrow!

Creative Colour Challenge

Well, after all my enthusiasm and good intentions I have stumbled at the first hurdle on this one.  Having joined Journaling for a Cause (which, by the way, I am really enjoying) late I have only just caught up with that.  Add to that a distinct lack of materials here it is now Saturday morning and I haven't done anything yellow!  I did consider sacking it altogether, however, it did say you don't have to submit every week so I will wait to see what this week brings!

JFAC Prompt XII

Journal Prompt:  Today...

How was your day today?  What did you do? 

 This was a nice easy one to do today, straight forward, tell it like it is!  Just right after such a tiring day!

JFAC Prompt IX

Journal Prompt:  If they were to write a book about you, what would the cover look like??  I thought this was a really cool idea and really fun!!  What would the cover of your biography look like?  Who would it be written by??

 Ooh this one wasn't as easy at first.  How do you sum up a life in just one page? I think my propensity to focus on every little event in my life, believing quite firmly that even the tiniest thing happens for a reason and is therefore mega important, did not help.  So how do you sum it all up?  Just like everyone else I've had a good deal of challenges in my life, some at times didn't seem so good but, as I say, they happen for a reason.  I've also had some adventures. All of these have helped me to grow and made me who I am today.


So where to start?  I remembered my best friend said, after one messy divorce (I've had two!), that I had emerged a much stronger and beautiful person and likened me to a butterfly! An image started to take shape. That same friend, and others, have always commented that I never really settle for anything for too long. This is not because I have a problem with commitment or a short attention span.  It's simply this. Life and the world itself is a cornucopia of experiences and adventures just begging to be explored. We have, in relative terms, but a short time to investigate them. And so it is that I seem to have flitted from one adventure to the next, trying new things, experimenting. Just like a butterfly, busy in the garden flitting from one flower to another. Apart from that I like drawing butterflies and flowers!

JFAC Prompt XI

Journal Prompt 11:  What are three things that you absolutely could not live without??

It was, again,  a test of the old gray matter this one.  Partly because I wanted to be original and partly because there are so many things we 'think' we cannot live without.  Then there was the debate in my head between the "logical, scientific" side which screamed "water" "air" "shelter" and the emotional/romantic that said "David" "Mum" and so on.  I decided to avoid hurting anyone's feelings by naming names - thus having someone feel unimportant - and I figured to say "all my family and friends" was technically more than three things before I even started!  Yes people, I have more than three friends! So......

Having spent almost a month without internet I think I can honestly say life is horrid without it!  My big comfy bed is certainly important because without a GOOD nights sleep I am horrid! Lastly I can't imagine life without a garden to sit in on a lovely sunny day!

JFAC Prompt X

Journal Prompt 10-  I don't know about you but I love lists!! Lists make me really happy :)   Today I would like you to create a list that somehow deals with books!  It can be a list of your all time favorite books, books you want to read in your lifetime, the worst books ever, anything!!  

Ooh I LOVE lists! My partner says I am a champion list writer and that I make lists of lists I need to make!  I also love books.  When I lived in the UK Amazon was my best friend and I had book shelves that groaned under the weight of all the books I bought.  Then when I moved to Manitouwadge in Northern Ontario I had no internet for nearly a month - can you believe that?!  So every day I went to the local library to use the internet but I also discovered a treasury of books.  So everyday my poor back and shoulders groaned under the weight of a heavy bag of books I carried up the hill to the house! Honestly, put me in a library or a bookshop and I could lose myself for hours - days even! Sometimes it is sufficient even to just gaze at or stroke them! But there you go, I'm waffling again!  Here is my post for today!

JFAC Prompt IV

Journal Prompt:  What does happiness mean to you??  You can write about it, doodle it, take a picture of it, paint it, or anything.  Whatever makes you "happy":)

I sorta got stuck with this spelling thing haven't I?  But you know... I  like it.  Anyhow I started by simply doodling the illustrations but then I thought "HEY!" I've got some lovely photos of things that really make me happy.  So hence the collage bits.  Also hence the lateness in posting... had to wait for the library to open!

JFAC Prompt V

Journal Prompt:  Todays prompt is "It's all in the details..." I think adding the details to something really make it special and from the heart!! You can choose to interpret that in any way :)  I chose to focus on all of the little details that make my home really special.  It may be little details that you add to your art to make it yours.  It could be little details like freckles or dimples that make you so special.  Just think about it!!

I just love detail.  Whether it's clothing, accessories, flowers, anything.  It's the detail that makes something different to everything else that's similar.  It's the detail that makes the plainest thing special.  I have a very simple, plain pink wool coat and on the lapel I wear an intricate beaded brooch.  If I make a purse from floral fabric I will pick out just a small part of the pattern in a corner with pretty glass beads.  All these little touches make them mine, and different to everyone elses!  I once bought a wonderful book by the late Elspeth Thompson called The Wonderful Weekend Book which advocated the rekindling of the art of letter writing.  Her preference of good quality velum and a decent pen was something I adopted and really enjoy.  

JFAC Prompt VI

Journal Prompt:  Open your journal to a blank page, a blank canvas per say :) Do whatever you choose!!! Draw, paint, collage, doodle, sticker, whatever!!

Well I started off by trying to write a poem.  I spent absolutely hours jotting and doodling about over it, even waking in the night to scribble lines down.  Poetry has never been my thing even at Uni.  And the harder I tried the worse it got!  So in the end I retired to the garden where I was accompanied by my new best friend.  The sun was shining and the sky was so blue!  I got to taking some pictures as usual and so the poetry was duly abandoned and this is the resulting journal page!  I have, however, kept the poem and will continue to work on it. I WILL NOT BE BEATEN!

JFAC Prompt VIII

Journal Prompt:  What are your "go to" clothes. I think that our "go to" clothes kind of define who we are and what we are comfortable with!

Now I know I'm full of excuses and I'm sure you're all tired of hearing them. But really my lack of personal things is really having an impact here!  Now I would have much preferred to photograph my favourite clothes and produce a wonderful collage.  However due to their absence I have to remain satisfied with a simple drawing and another list!  I think, however, it reflects my clothing mantra as learned from my hero, Gok Wan!

JFAC Prompt VII

Journal Prompt-  What are you thankful for? It is sooo important to reflect on all of the good things in your life.  Somedays are obviously harder than others so this will be a great page to look back on when things just seem to be down in the dumps.

This is something I often reflect upon.  I keep a small pretty notepad by the side of my bed, and from time to time I doodle lists of everything good that has happened that day or things that I am really grateful for before I go to sleep.  This time when I wrote the list it seemed to me that the most important things to me are my family, my friends, my home.  So rather than just list them I wrote them around a "home".  Home is where the heart is, hence the heart.  After that I got a bit carried away sitting in the sunshine and started to add my surroundings!

Creative Colour Challenge

Today is day one of the Creative Colour Challenge .  The colour for this week is Sunflower Yellow.  So this week I need to create something using only this colour (and shades of) and a little black and white is allowed too.  So, no paint to hand I'm off out with the camera!


I'm lagging behind a little with the Journal for a Cause, mainly because I started late, but also because I don't have even simple things like decent pen and paper!  However the ideas are being recorded and I'm doing things as and when I can get hold of the things I want to use.  So they will be posted, maybe not every day and maybe not in the right order, but posted nevertheless!  Today's prompt is about things you are thankful for.  I love this prompt as it's something I do quite often.  I keep a pretty note book by my bed and whenever I feel the need I write down all the things I'm thankful for before I go to sleep.  So this one at least I may actually be able to post on time later today.