AJC 2011 11.0 Word for the Year - Believe



I forgive you...



Last week, I decided to forgive myself, to stop my binge eating to keep the past away, and to move forward.

I choose my word for this year at the beginning of 2011, to work on me believing my own worth, etc.  It's taken a while to start my journal for the Art Journal Caravan, but it's actually a journal for all the courses I'm doing this year as I keep on my journey - the cover of journal has the various course details as stickers, like a suitcase for a journey.

My Word 2011: Believe

This year I'm going to believe... Some of the things I've said before but this time I'm aiming to mean it.  This

year my journal's going to be a hybrid one on the whole, as I prefer some texture to my pieces.



This year I'm going to believe this...


Credits:
Spotty Background papers : Week 1 Parcel, Art Journal Caravan 2011, from Studio Tangie Baxter @ http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/
Journal frame, "My Word" Artgirl, "2011" and paint splatter elements: Week 1 Parcel 2011 - as above.
"This year I'm going to", camel, "create", "enjoy the journey" and painted circle corner elements: Starter Kit for Art Journal Caravan 2011, from Studio Tangie Baxter as above.
"Believe" element: Week 1 Parcel, Art Journal Caravan 2010, from Studio Tangie Baxter as above
Fonts : Rough Typewriter,

dReAm.CrEaTe.GrOw

Last year, I drew this figure as part of my Art Journal - for a page I called "bloom where you grow" http://ajeweljournallingthrough.blogspot.com/2010/02/week-5-bloom-where-you-grow.html . I quite liked the figure and wanted to use her in my sketch journal, but wanted to add more colours to the piece. The background includes yellow, pale green, blue, lilac and orange. I used tracing paper to copy the "heart believe heart" from Traci Bautista's Creative Doodles Collage kit http://www.etsy.com/listing/62777824/creative-doodles-collage-kits-limited - the rest is my handwriting LOL

Credits:

Sketch pad - Moleskine Pocket Watercolour Notebook (as before)
Coloured Pens - Letraset Promarkers (as before)
Black outline pen - Kuretake

A New Start

This year, I'm actually doing two journals - a small sketch pad to experiment with colour and drawing, and a medium sized mixed media one for my Art Journal Caravan 2011 ("AJC2011") adventure. The piece above is from my small sketch pad. "Live more, fear less" were part of my wishes for 2011 and the quote I came across from a larger one found on http://www.kindovermatter.com/2010/12/stand-up-walk-out-of-your-history.html . For AJC2011 my word of the year is probably going to be "Believe" but "Sparkle" or even "Shine" are also playing with my brain, so I shall make that choice later this week.

I've always shied away from colours and the piece is still a little pastel in places, but includes more colours than I would usually use together - pinks, purples, yellows, light greens, blues and orange. Initially I started with a lilac Promarker to stencil hearts from some sequin waste, but the colour hearts merged. I used a different marker and highlighted alternate hearts, but the colours felt too muted. So I added colours and patches of colour, using a blender pen to reduce hard lines of colour. I added circles of purple and a heart, and then when I had finished, added highlighting circles with a white pencil.

Using Promakers has the additional advantage (so I discovered) of soaking through the paper of the sketch pad, so I don't have to colour in the back ;) . You can see the original heart stencils on the back of the piece. The white patches are where I wrote with a Pigma pen which doesn't soak through but the ink does bleed a little with the use of the Promarkers over the top. I slightly shortened the gap between the words "an" and "end" by mistake, but I'm not going to sweat it too much...


Credits:
Sketch pad - Moleskine Pocket Watercolour Notebook
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/8883705602/ref=oss_product
Coloured Pens - Letraset Promarkers http://www.letraset.com/products/8-ProMarkers/
Black outline pen - Sakura Pigma pen, Micron 01 http://www.sakuraofamerica.com/Pen-Archival
White pencil - Berol Verithik
http://www.berol.co.uk/cdetail.php?cType=p®ion=eu&catCode=33&Cat=&crumb=