And finally for AJC10 week 1 - I'm packing light

This as an idea was a very quick one to produce, as I already had the check list tag and the wording just came to me. The journal will be a very personal thing for me, as this year will be a journey of discovering me. I will blog all the pages that I do but may not upload all the photos to the project's gallery as I do have quite a bit of baggage I already carry. I'm a binge eater and part of the idea in joining the project was to give me something to distract me when my son returns to school after his winter break. I tend to eat to fill the loneliness. Instead I hope to journal and it also allows me to use up all the different crafty things that I have bought that make up an overflowing stash. This is pushing boundaries as my past messages always were that I would mess things up, that the beauty of the thing would be lost. I used to photocopy things, rather than use originals of embellishments as I felt that I wasn't worth the best. Luckily I don't think that way quite so much now :). The printed text on the background was produced using Photoshop - although I had to write the ' manually afterwards.

Credits:

Background paper - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan, Steamer Trunk papers

"Vacation Checklist", part of Travel Dipsticks tag set - We R Memory Keepers

Trunk - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan, Steamer Trunk elements

Roll on week 2 :)

AJC10: All the colours of the Rainbow...

This page came from a variation on the idea of using all the paints in the box. The background paper just begged to be used for this ideas, and was the contrast I wanted with the previous page ("Don't"). I couldn't fit "Freedom" across the page, but the L shape seems to work well. The circular piece of paper which I used to record my thought today has different colour threads running through it, but these don't show up with my photographic skills. The white writing was produced using Photoshop.

Credits:
Background paper - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan, Steamer Trunk Papers
"Freedom" metal tiles - Making Memories (I think), from stash
White paper - offcut from stash
"To Choose" - Dyno Junior dynotape

AJC10: Don't - now as a layout

This creative writing piece appeared earlier in my art blog this week, as I needed to record the thought, play with it and refine it before I'd reached the page it was to appear on. The messages at the top should be read with the DON'T as the first word to each line, until "Some rules are made to be broken". These were messages I was left with as my depression has revealed, explaining why on bad days I feel bound/tied up by my past, paralysed to do anything. The good thing about depression is that your mind does eventually reveal these past messages and often reveals ways around still believing this "all or nothing" thinking. I am still on the road to recovery, but each step forward takes me away from the darkest days.

Credits:

Background paper - Birgit Kerr, Echoes from the Past, Love letters paper

"Don't" - Dyno Junior dynotape

"Round the World" and Airballoon elements - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan, Steamer Trunk elements

"Word" card - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan, Week 1 Parcel - I added "Freedom" using Photoshop and its fonts

The words of the creative writing piece also used a Photoshop font.

AJC10: Back of the January divider

To match the front, I used the same altered background paper and the airplane appear on the back of the "Ticket to travel" Tag. The heart shape I distorted using photoshop to produce a longer shape.

Credits:
"Follow your Dreams" and the painted heart elements, from Tangie Baxter's Journal Anthology
(As before: Background paper - Tangie Baxter, Journal Anthology papers no. 11, Arrow tag, part of a six pack of Keychain Coasters to which I added 2 further punch holes - Maya Road, "Ticket to Travel", part of Travel Dipsticks tag set - We R Memory Keepers, Ribbon - freebie)

AJC10: Start of the Journey - January, only way is up

Today I've managed to catch up with ideas, so I've been able to put several pages together, and get my computer working to upload the photos I had taken onto the gallery for the Art Journal Caravan project. I wanted to do a divider for each month and found some chipboard arrows that will fit my scrapbook and its theme. The idea came to me a few days ago - I've just been waiting until I got to that bit of the scrapbook. I took some of the colour out of the original paper download using Photoshop, because I wanted it to be pale to contrast with later pages. As a child I found it difficult to get strong colours mixes for my Art lessons at school so favouring watercolours. The use of the lighter palette is reflect the prospect of breaking free from the past, hence the crossing out of bound, here being seen as bound with shackles.

Credits:

Background paper - Tangie Baxter, Journal Anthology papers no. 11.

Arrow tag, part of a six pack of Keychain Coasters to which I added 2 further punch holes - Maya Road

"January" Metal embellishment - Making Memories (I think)

"Ticket to Travel", part of Travel Dipsticks tag set - We R Memory Keepers

Ribbon - freebie

xx

AJC10: Prologue - page 2

This page follows on from the quotation layout on page 1. I wanted to explain and capture my earlier blog of today, so that the quote tied in with the Art Journal project. I used Photoshop to alter the size of digital art elements to fit into my 6x6ish format.

Credits:
Background paper - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan Steamer Trunk Papers
Altered Word card - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan Parcel 1
Travel Journal book element - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan Steamer Trunk Elements
"Admit One" ticket tag - 7 gypsies
"Destination Unknown" wooden tag, part of Travel Dipsticks tag set - We R Memory Keepers

AJC10: Prologue to the journey - page 1

My first page is actually a prologue to my journey and is a quote from the Alanis Morisette song "Thank U". It's a quote that close to my heart and reminds me that although letting go can be scary its rewards are greater.

Credits:

Background paper - C'est Magnifique, Rhonna Farrer (cut down from a scrapbook page 12x12)

Black glittery Lettering - Making Memories (I think)*

Spidery handwriting - my own with ZIG Memory System Black acid-free Writer pen

Tags - designer/supplier details not known now*

Flower dimensional stickers - Whimisical Flowers, Jolee's boutique*

Hole punch - Crop-a-dile

*Purchased over 12 months ago, may no longer be available

AJC10 Cover of journal finished

It's taken a few days of sewing, but I've finished the fabric cover of my journal. It was an organic piece as I had no pattern or instructions on how to make a fabric covered journal front - I just let the design evolve. I had found a sari-covered journal book in a local stationery store, but didn't like the paper they were using inside - wasn't sure if the paper was acid-free and it wasn't an useful size for scrapbook layouts, so I cannibalised it, using the sari material and the silver ribbon that was wrapped around the journal set for part of the cover and removing the silver cord bookmark to make a fastening for the new journal. I used some quilting batting (stuffing) to bulk out the cover to give it a cushiony feel and stitched the muslin backing around some 6x6 book board to give it shape and rigidity. I then attached the embellishings with stitch or Xyron's create-a-sticker adhesive. The "O" of "FREEDOM" is purposely upside down to show freedom from being prefect. I wanted my cover to look like a cushion - my soft place to land.

To finish the back of the front cover, I attached ribbon to the edges of the front cover, pinned them to some space-dyed velvet from my stash and sowed the ribbon to the velvet. I signed the cover using a woven label I had from a knitting kit that I didn't use. I used to not sign things I had made, but this is signed, to again reflect freedom to own art as my creation.

Credits: Front Cover
Sari fabric (purple silk with silver embroidered leaves, and silver and purple woven ribbon), cannabalised from a sari-covered journal book - WH Smiths
Space-dyed calico and lace - Kates Kloths*
Twill ribbons "Under Construction" and "Journey Adventure Travel" - Paperartsy*
Silver ribbon and silver cord bookmark with heart-shaped charm - from cannabalised sari journal book as above
Book Board 6x6 - 7 gypsies
Hole punch and eyelet setter - Crop-a-dile
Adhesive - Xyron create-a-sticker
Remaining items - muslin, batting, embellishments, threads etc from my stashes*

*Purchased at least 12 months ago - may no longer be available


Credits: Back of Front Cover
All items from my craft stash* designer/supplier details no longer known

Don't...

DON'T: Draw outside the lines
DON'T: Make mistakes
DON'T: Try something new
DON'T: Rock the boat, whatever you do.

DON'T: Do unless you're told otherwise
DON'T: Think you're anything good
DON'T: Stray off the path or amount to much
DON'T: Be fearless, some of the time.

DON'T: Be anything original
DON'T: Be messy, or break rules
DON'T: Be unique
DON'T: Be you

Some rules are made to be broken
DO instead of DON'T
Try, let go, feel freedom
BE instead of DON'T

Let some rough edges show
Don't be neat at all times
Or perfect in your lines
Let things be fluid, unplanned
For life is about the freedom
Have joy as you take a path
Explore, meander, wonder
Rather than blinkered
Look around, linger, stay,
Whenever you can.

AJC10 Week 1 - Buzzing with ideas

Last night I couldn't get to sleep initially, ideas were whizzing round my head. I had to get up and write them down, before my brain would shut off. I started on an idea for a cover for my journal which will be a physical one, rather than a digital or virtual one. I took to pieces a journal book I had bought (similar to the one above) as I loved the sari material it was covered in. The material is too small to cover both the front and the back covers I wanted to use, but I had ideas - I had to soak the material to remove the adhesive and some of the paper from the cover - "freedom" to alter books and to use what I want how I want. This morning, the silk sari - a beautiful purple with silver thread embroidery and ribbon - was dry and it is now ironed and stabulised on some muslin. I've had a look in my stashes of materials and experimental fabric packs that I had bought over the years to use, but never got round to using or thought that were too beautiful to use - "freedom" that I am good enough to use them and not destroy their beauty by doing so. I've got some ribbons and twill to add to the sari silk and see where that takes me - "freedom" to be fluid.

I'll be photographing or scanning things as works-in-progress or as finished pieces, and will be blogging much more than what will go in the journal, as I feel I need write things down, otherwise I will burst.

Once a book, now a cover...

Chosen one-word: Freedom

Theme: Letting Go

xx

Art Journal Caravan 2010 Week 1 - One Word

For some time I've been scrapbooking and having been using digital elements in my scrapbook pages as well as physical embellishments. My last project was a Thank you Album for Brian Kennedy, but I have had several other projects on the go - an small scrapbook album called "The Game of Life" and a scrapped photo album. However this year-long Art Journalling project grabbed my eye.

Week 1's instructions are to find "One Word" to focus on, "a word that inspires all your goals" and then produce a journal/scrapbook layout inspired by the word. I was in the middle of a quandary on choosing my word when my computer crashed off the internet. My theme was to be "Letting Go" but that's 2 words, so I've now settled on an related word "Freedom". Now I'll have to put my thinking cap on for design.

Best wishes, Julie x