AJC10 Philately will get you anywhere ;)

I also collected stamps as a child, poring over books to find out what each stamp was, identifying the country it came from and then looking in the Atlas my paternal granny had given me to find out where in the world some of the countries were. I would buy a bag of stamps, soak them from their envelopes if needed, then put the stamps in a ring binder, in country, then year, order. My original collection was thrown out by my 1st (ex-) husband - he had a habit of declaring clearouts and then thrown out my stuff, but none of his - I wrote a poem about that http://ajewelshiningthrough.blogspot.com/2009/06/lets-have-clearout.html ;) I still collect stamps from correspondence, from friends and family - so mostly my stamps are from the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and Australia - but I don't catalogue them anymore: I have them in a plastic box and use the spares for embellishments. The collage was made mostly with real stamps, some of which I trimmed to fit the spaces.

Credit:

Background paper (mostly covered over with stamps but just peeking through in places) - Me and My Ideas, Vintage Scrappy Chic, Silver grey diamond patterned Collage Paper Collection

Tag - K & Co, Cut n Paste assorted tag sheet

"Love" and "Imagine" stamps - Pebbles inc. Real Life, Adhesive Die Cut Stamps, Random

Other stamps - from my spares stamp collection

AJC10 Week 10 - A Blank Page? (double page layout)

One of the alternative journalling prompt for this week was "What's your first reaction to a blank page or canvas?" I blogged about blank pages last year Oct/Nov time as I was trying to find me. The journalled poem appeared in my main blog then, but I've now added to it for the Art Journal Caravan.

Credits:
Background papers - Studio Tangie @ SBG, Nature Notes papers
Journal book - Studio Tangie @ SBG, Art Journal Caravan, Steamer Trunk Elements

AJC10 Week 5 - Simplify

This week on the art journey the theme is to explore the idea of me - how would I describe me? Eeeek, where do I start as I'm still trying to work out myself my idea of self? The "poem" came to me at the weekend. Simplification is just a backing paper and a photoshop font...

Credits: Background paper: Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan Week 5 Parcel, papers

Struggling against the Bars - scrapbooked AJC10

This was a creative piece that I write last year on my main blog. *Warning* the piece deals with personal and weight issues - the words may trigger. Part of the reason I'm doing the Caravan is as a distraction as I confront my binge eating issues: I'm still struggling against the bars. The words are below after the credits.

Credits:

Background paper (rotated 90 degrees) - Tangie Baxter, Journal Anthology papers
Cage and the bird - Tangie Baxter, Art Journal Caravan week 2 parcel


Struggling Against the Bars

My past is my cage
And some days it's tight,
Keeping my arms by my side
Squeezing the breath and my flesh
Like a mask for a face
That's not mine.
But other days I'm a bird
Let free to soar,
And see all the colours
And more.

My weight is my cage
Hanging heavy on my limbs
But I want to be rid now.
I look to the future
But I can't see today
How to get through.
So I must look to the bird
Unburdened and free
To see how the weight
Can be lost
By slipping my chains
Or struggling against the bars
For a while.

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.

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.