Smile, Do not Fear

Hi Everyone, Just like Beth said below... I too had sort of a "artist's block" and had no idea how to relate to the theme and wanted to take my time with it as it's not my journal... right? So, after my Saturday morning Art Class which usually gets the juices flowing the idea came to me and I worked on it most of Sunday. Lucine, I hope you like it. She's at peace with herself...

Anne's journal

Anne's journal, "Light Through The Crack",  arrived in December. I understand the meaning of the saying, but, how would I express it in her journal? I spent a long time contemplating about this. Ideas, just did not come. I'm a very literal thinker. I never was good at deep thinking.

I decided to go with dark colors for the background. An idea came to mind. Half way done and I had to walk away. It wasn't working. I would pass this little journal and think, "How do I express this?". I found this quote by Joseph Carpenter, " The black moment is the moment when the real message of the transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light."

After several more attempts this is what I came up with. Thanks, Anne, for giving me something to shake my brain into thinking different. The light eventually  found a crack.

Hi everyone...
I've just been catching up with all the posts from the behind the scenes aspect....did you know that we can label all our posts so that they come up in the search engines ?
When you publish your post, at the bottom of the peachy box is a box marked "labels". Click "show all" and a whole list of previously added words will show to help you choose. To add new words, just type in the box and comma... you can add @20 words so have a peek at the labels already used and be as varied as you can...it all helps!! Also, if you type a letter in the box a list appears with words beginning with that letter, just another way to make it easy...
I'll add this into the helps and hints section so you can read at leisure...
Happy creating,
Kal.xxx

Where are we at?

I post (see below) on milliande to inform you about Louise's journal.

Elvira, on Saturday the 15th I received the package you sent me. I am a bit late with this post, but thank you so much for all the goodies. You did not have to... but I sure appreciate your gesture. Here some pics. Elvira, I adhered the picture on your page in Louise's journal. The pic you sent is a bit smaller than the one on the page. I did the best I could do:-) Hopefully you'll like what it look like now. So I also did some repair. See what it looks like now. As I pm you, I added some extra wax paper between the pages to prevent damage as when I received the journal it still stuck. Hopefully the pages will travel safely from now on. Enjoy... ☺

I expect to finish Louise's journal tonight and I plan to mail the envelope with two journals (from Rachel & Louise) this week. I'll keep you informed.

Anne's Hands Spread

I had the beginnings of an idea for the spread in Elvira's journal, had even gotten the background laid down and the basic hands painted. Then I experienced Jill K Berry's webinar (sponsored by Creative Mixed Media) on personal geography -- and I had a new direction for the spread! But what fun it's been...

Since the lettering is so small, I took separate pictures of each hand.

I'll be sending Elvira's journey off to Marie on Monday.

Mary's Fairy Tales Journal

Two months in a row I've worked in journals with a fairy tale theme...quite a stretch for me who is a tomboy at heart.  Me and my brother's GI Joe action figures were good pals (as were climbing trees!) when I was little...and so, fairy tales just gathered dust in my house.  Either way, I had fun working in Mary's journal this month and decided to do a spread on Rapunzel.  But of course, I had to add a bit of humour to the spread with a poem I found online that I thought was hysterical and fitting for my spread.  Since you can't read the small font, here it is for your reading pleasure.   

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel! You've cut off your hair!
Your billowing tresses are no longer there.
That mohawk you're sporting is spiky and pink.
I'm really not certain just what I should think.

"I came here expecting to clamber a braid,
ascending your tower to come to your aid.
Instead I have suffered the greatest of shocks
to find that you've cut off your lovely blonde locks."

"Prince Charming, Prince Charming," Rapunzel replied,
"I have no intention of being your bride.
We will not get married.  We will not elope.
I've cut off my hair and I've braided a rope.

"You came here to visit me once every day,
and promised that soon you would take me away,
but you were too clueless to even conceive
of cutting my hair off so we could just leave.

"I cannot believe you were such a big dope.
I come and I go as I please with my rope.
And so, I'm afraid I can't give you my hand.
In spite of the fabulous wedding you planned."

From then on Rapunzel was known through the land.
She toured the world in a rock and roll band.
And silly Prince Charming, with rocks in his head,
rode off and got married to Snow White instead.

--Kenn Nesbitt

 Inside the bush flap:

This journal will be mailed off to Deedee on Monday so she can work her magic! 

Blue is the colour of...

Blue Hydrangeas. This is my spread in Trine's beautiful journal.

Acrylic paints, stamps (I made), tissue, gel medium, markers...

Now I have Lucine's journal to play in.

Hello, it's Deedee and I'm finally aboard!

A few pictures to share with all of you. First is Liz Monaghan's wonderfully beautiful journal cover. OMG the whole journal, the entry page, the sign in pages, the front and back covers are just unbelievable! This picture does not do it justice. There are actual beads in the stitching all around the cover!

My contribution

I just received Loren Cranes journal from Liz and will begin this week. Pictures to follow...

"Bygone Era" Page Spread

Here's the page spread I completed for Beth's journal. I loved the image as it reflected a New Year - okay 1875 but, still a new year; another new beginning for everyone. Hope Beth likes it.

I hope to get this journal on it's way to Loren soon.

I will begin working on Sadie's "Haiku" journal spread.

Purple Owl Tree

My first entree in Rachel's art journal. A whimsical page. I do not feel to be too serious, so whimsical it is. I like this page very, very much. The second page will be uploaded today. So I did my part in Rachel's journal:-3

My second page for Rachel. So I did my part in Rachel's journal:-3

Pandora's Journal - Alice in Wonderland Halloween

To follow is my spread in Pandora's "Hallowe'en in Wonderland" an Alice in Wonderland Halloween themed journal.  I was really hesitant to get started in her journal as I'm not particularly a fan of Alice in Wonderland!  And, to be honest I don't even remember the last time I saw the movie. I suppose if my son were a little girl, I would have become a fan by default...but, that's not the case.  As a result, I just had no idea where to start.

On the other hand, the Red Queen images from the 2010 remake of the movie have always been intriguing to me so I decided to start with her and build on it.  I then decided to make her a masquerade mask as her Halloween costume and the rest just came together. 

Artist:  Liz Monaghan

Kalona's spread in Elvira's journal jan 2012

Elvira's journal is themed "Hands of an artist". I love the previous works and was tempted to do some of my usual doodling, but that had already been done as the first spread...so I wanted to try something really new. Thinking of hands I just kept recalling a photo I'd taken of a sculpture, but didn't want to do a literal collage, something 3D was in order, so I had a play with making a pop-up. Hope you like it, Elvira! x

gesso, card, inks & stamps, alcohol inks and templates, sharpies, stick-ons, pastels, fimo, beads and wire. Butterfly courtesy of a friend with a sizzix. I told her I'd find a great project for it! I hope she agrees...

rachel´s Owls and Louise´s Totem is ready to fly of the shores of Denmark

 Surprise.....Rachel your journal is taped up, and ready to fly on :)

Louise, my Eagle Totem is on its way south :)