A Wrap Up and a Look Forth

So - here we are in 2012 already!  Happy New Year peeps :)

I was planning to do a kind of wrap up page for my 2011 Moleskine (I've filled it, but it has this neat little pocket in the back cover to put a folded loose leaf page into...), but kept finding more urgent things to do - and then along came the very last prompt from A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal to give me a nudge.... 

THE PROMPT: Reflections
THE SONG: Live Like There's No Tomorrow by Selena Gomez and The Scene
Written Lyrics HERE
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Stencils

I used my self portrait stencil in two directions and in positive and negative, to represent me both reflecting over the year just gone and looking forward to the new year to come.

And on the back I wrote down my highlights from 2011, and my hopes for 2012:

A quick and simple page - I didn't have much choice as my house was in disarray today with British Gas installing a new boiler and I couldn't get at most of my art stuff - but it finishes off my 2011 journal nicely

Onwards and upwards!

Don't upset the balance....

And so, with this quick and simple page, that's my baby Moleskine all filled up!

I was kind of hoping it would last till the end of the year so it could be my 2011 journal - but I guess I got a bit ahead of myself :)

Here it is all bursting at the seams, it's been a good little companion to me over the past 11 months:

But anyway, back to the page in hand.

This one's in response to the latest prompt over at A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal, the one challenge site I have managed to keep up with pretty much all year, as I really enjoy their 3-part prompts that you can take in pretty much any direction you choose.

THE PROMPT: Pretty
THE SONG: Fuckin' Perfect by Pink
Written Lyrics HERE
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Pink Paint Dripped like Blood

I started thinking about the concept of "pretty" - and would I want to be prettier than I am (not difficult lol) - and then got stuck on the "pretty pretty please" in the song lyrics, and thinking about asking/begging the universe to make me prettier/thinner/richer/have more talent/have more stuff.....

And then I thought about the concept of balance ..... how if the left hand gives, the right hand takes away .... and I realised I didn't want any of that extra stuff enough to give up any of the great things I already have in my life.

So my "pretty pretty please" ended up as a request to the universe to leave my perfect life just as it is.

Funny where these prompts end up taking you :)

The construction of the page was quick and easy - spray paint in two shades of pink over some scrapbook paper with a faint Oriental text on it.  Stamped yin-yang symbols.  A picture of a perfectly balanced scale (must have been tricky getting it so spot on that those balls didn't roll off!) added to drive the point home.  And then the title drawn with a yellow Posca paint pen and outlined with a thin black Pitt pen.  And the journalling written in with the same Pitt pen.  and we're done.

It's way simpler than most of my pages but it doesn't seem to need anything else adding to it.

AJED : 105 / 365

My cheer-me-up playlist

It's been too long since I last played in the Green Pepper Press Crusades - but Michelle knows that she can always count on me to join in with the music related challenges, I can never resist :)

Can't believe this is Crusade #57 - I fondly remember number one!

A simple brief then - name and shame the list of songs you can't stop yourself belting out in the car, in the bath, pottering around the kitchen - the ones that lift your spirits every. single. time.

So here's my list - my playlist of pure joy :)

I think I'm going to burn this little lot onto a CD for the car - then if I'm ever feeling a little down, I know I have handy a 100% guaranteed way to cheer myself up :)

(Please don't judge me on McFly and the show tunes!)

AJED : 104/365

...so do you really need 5 different bottles of shampoo???

A quick "just because" art journal page tonight, in honour of a fab gig I went to on Wednesday night.

AJED : 102/365

Happy Halloween!

An art journal page just for the fun of it this month, no soul searching or deep and meaningful journalling, just a little spookiness for Halloween.

This is my response to a recent prompt on A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal:

THE PROMPT: Eye opener
THE SONG: Why are we sleeping - Soft Machine
Written Lyrics HERE
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Eyes

I loved the lyrics to the chosen song, and in particular I found this verse fascinating, if rather creepy:

people are watching - people who stare - waiting for something that's already there

That part, along with the mention of a mask, made me think of one of my own occasional nightmares, masked white faces with eyes like dark pools, just staring at me silently.  shudder!  :D

So, a halloween page it had to be.

Other than the alcohol ink for the blood dripping from his eyes, everything else on here was spray painted so it all came together quickly.

Just looking at the page is freaking me out a little, I think I'll close my art journal and put it away ....

AJED : 100/365

(Although I have clearly fallen well short of art journalling EVERY day this year - I'm chuffed to hit day 100 with this page!)

Two posts in one day??

I know! it's not like me at all.  Just call me super blogger!

So - this is a highly unusual (for me) art journal page.  None of my usual collaging over bright acrylic painted backgrounds.  Instead I thought I would have a first (and quite possibly last :) ) attempt at actually painting something half recognisable with watercolours.

I'm not entirely sure I was successful at that!  But never mind, it was fun to work on in front of the telly for a couple of evenings.

Here it is before I added the journalling:

Once again, it has been a shameful length of time since I last worked in this journal, 5 weeks in fact.  And once again I have the fantastic A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal blog to thank for spurring me into action.

Their current prompt is:

THE PROMPT: Memory Lane
THE SONG: You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins
Written lyrics HERE
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: photo of a road

I ended up pretty much ignoring the song, which was nice enough but didn't really resonate with me, and I painted my road instead of using a photo - but I did journal about my "memory lane"

You probably can't read what I wrote, I wrote it tiny for a reason - but the jist is that I'd rather not reminisce down Memory Lane, as there's a lot down there I'd prefer not to remember - but instead I'm concentrating on the road ahead, the path not yet trodden, and trying to build up a new store of good memories to cancel out the not-so-great ones.

AJED : 99/365

Fun and frolics in and around Blackpool

We're not long back from a week's holiday in Blackpool, where much fun was had by all, and much art journalling was done by me :)

Without further ado, here are the pages I pulled together while we were away (plus a couple I finished up back at home)

Arrival day - the highlight for Reece and I was the TERRIFYING but brilliant live action ghost train down by the Pleasure Beach:

The following day we headed to Camelot theme park, around an hour's drive away from the 'pool:

This was the day that a young lad there at the park fell 80 feet out of a ride and injured himself badly, you might have seen it on the news.  We were just heading over to that exact ride when it happened!  Hope the poor young lad is recovering well.  Almost feel guilty to admit that we had a brilliant day there!

After a non journalled day (it rained a lot and the kids went swimming, not much else to say about that one), we headed to the world famous Pleasure Beach.  I truly believe that some of the rides here, especially the Big One, my favourite ride in all the world, are unrivalled anywhere on the planet.  Plus we were blessed with, for the majority of the day, great weather and short queues.  Thank you Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Next up, a brilliant day trip to Yorkshire.  We went down into the White Scar show caves (spectacular!), and then after that we went up onto the Dales, and into another, much smaller, cave to find a geocache.  

The day after that was another Blackpool day - first we went to the circus in the Tower, and then we took a tram (squeee! my  first time!) back down to the Pleasure Beach end, where we all played adventure golf, and then went to check out the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum, which the boys loved.

And finally, on the last day of our (too short!) holiday, we headed down into Merseyside.  To Southport first to go on the rides at Pleasureland, and do a bit of caching.  And then on to Crosby Beach to see the Antony Gormley installation 'Another Place':

Th-th-that's all folks!

AJED : 97/365

An eye for an eye?

I've been neglecting my art journal recently, so much for Art Journal Every Day, I'm barely managing Art Journal Every Month!

I can always rely on the girls over at A Year In The Life... to fire my mojo back up though.

The current three part prompt is:

THE PROMPT: Promises
THE SONG: Run Devil Run by Kesha
Written Lyrics HERE
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: The poison symbol 

(Kesha, again??? sigh :) )

The song lyrics deal with revenge:

You better run, run, run, run, run
Cause there's gonna be some hell to play
You better run, run, run, run, run
And that's the only thing I'm gonna say, hey
I wish I know the right from the start
That I was dancing with the dark
You better run
Devil, Run, Run, Devil, Run Run
Run Devil Devil Run Run
Which got me to thinking that revenge really isn't my thing.

I strongly believe in karma, I don't need to cause harm to anyone who has wronged me, their own deeds will poison them in time, and I'm very patient.

Probably the most personal page I've ever pulled together.  I wasn't sure whether to blog it or not, but hey, warts n all.

AJED : 87 / 365

RIP #2

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be in attendance at the Sonisphere rock festival down at Knebworth.

It was utterly brilliant and I wish it was still going and I was still there! 

Eventually I'll pull a page together in my day trip & holiday journal to document the whole weekend.....but before that, I had a real need, no other word for it, to get down on paper the emotions stirred up in me by the tributes at the festival to Paul Gray, Slipknot's recently departed bassist.

There was a 2 minute silence held during the day:



This was so unbelievably moving - seeing his mask and suit up there on the stage, empty :(  And the silence was utterly perfect across the entire site, which was some feat given the huge quantity of people in attendance!

I couldn't help but cry.

And then there were further tributes at the end of Slipknot's set that evening, which set the floods going again.

Even now thinking about it, or watching that video above, I can feel my eyes welling up.

Things like this really get to me.  I hope he is sleeping peacefully.



AJED : 86 / 365

Running up that hill

The last time we saw little stick-person-mini-me, she was stood on the edge of a cliff, battling her on-again-off-again fear of heights.

Today she's facing another fear, and climbing an ever steepening hill of money problems :| 

But the battle, uphill as it may be, is one she believes she will eventually win.  Once the kids have all left home, perhaps, and the mortgage and loans are finally paid. 

This page is my contribution to the current prompt over at A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal:

The Prompt: What's the deal?
The Song: Running Up That Hill by Placebo (or Kate Bush)
Written Lyrics HERE
Product/Technique: Playing Cards

I love the song, both versions, Kate Bush from my younger days and Placebo a little more recently

I used the playing cards to build a hill for mini-me to climb.  The numbers on the cards and the background represent money problems, which I'm suffering from majorly right now :(

One of the places I have identified that I need to spend a lot less is my local supermarket, Tesco, so it's ironic that that's where I got the kiddies sponge numbers that I used to stamp copper paint onto the background.  They were only £2.50 though and, to be fair, they are the first "art supplies" I have bought in yonks!

The title was made with some ancient letraset rubons that have been sitting unopened in one of my craft drawers for many many years, they still laid down good as new though.  Actually, I'd forgotten how much I like rubons, I will have to make a concerted effort to use them more often, as I have a pile of them....

AJED : 85 / 365

Hello! Hello! Hola!

 

Art Journal pages are like buses, none for weeks, and then two come along at once!

This page (which looks a lot better when it isn't bathed in camera flash flare, sorry about that) is in response to the current prompt over at A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal:

THE PROMPT: Vertigo
THE SONG: Right Round Ft. Kesha
Written Lyrics HERE
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Circles

I had to draw the line at Kesha, sorry.  I took my musical inspiration from the U2 song Vertigo instead.

I'm by no means the world's biggest U2 fan, but I do love this song.  Whenever it comes on the radio I'm hollerin' "HOLA!" with the best of them :)

The page deals with my love/hate relationship with heights....I get a real thrill from looking down from a great height but only if I am standing on something that feels solid and doesn't wobble! :)

AJED : 82/365

A quick journal page

Well you didn't think I would let that test spray on braille paper go to waste, did you???

AJED : 80/365

Abnormal and unhealthy? moi???

A quick just-for-fun journal page pulled together tonight while waiting for my hair to dry so I can go to bed.

I had the stencilled skull lying around already, as it was a by product of a quick test of the Copic airbrush system that I got for my birthday, and I'd already laid down some nice jewel toned paints on the page courtesy of an overloaded brush or two from another project.

So all I had to add tonight was the diamond pattern (a 2 second job with copper spraypaint), some sandpaper scratches, the crow in her little tailored jacket, and all the writing.

The page is about the fact that, throughout my life, so many people have called me "morbid", just because I like graveyards, and pet rats, and halloween, and horror movies, and all things dark and creepy.

But looking at the definition of morbid, that's not me at all - nothing abnormal and unhealthy going on - I just listened to too much Sisters of Mercy in my formative years, that's all :)

AJED : 78 / 365

A little love for my poor neglected art journal

I just checked, and the last page I completed in this little journal was dated April 22nd.  That's a whole month ago, so much for Art Journal Every Day :(

I have been doing other creative stuff near enough every day (like the new CJ I blogged about yesterday), but not working in this little book - sorry little book!

This page is in response to this prompt from the girls over at A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal:

The Prompt: Busy!
The song: Manic Monday by the Bangles
Written Lyrics HERE
Product/technique: Lace/trim

Ironically this prompt is a couple of weeks old, but I have been too busy to work with it until now!

I didn't use the lace or trim in the end, as I preferred the page without it.  

It's all about how I sometimes get so overwhelmed by the amount of things I have to do - that I try to juggle them all together and end up messing them all up.  I need to learn to calm down, and concentrate on doing the highest priority tasks WELL, rather than trying to do absolutely everything and achieving absolutely nothing.

My favourite part of this page is the background which I made with spray paint over those black plastic things which hold the twist ties into toy packaging.  I'm really in love with spray paint at the moment.

AJED : 77 / 365 

(I'm not sure why I'm continuing with this counter given that it's obvious I won't be anywhere near 365 by the end of the year - I've failed rather dismally with the whole Art Journal Every Day thing - but it will still be nice at the end of the year to see how many days I did manage to just play, just for me.  Hopefully it will be at least 100, maybe more)

 

Catching up in my Trip/Travel journal

Thanks to some bloke marrying some woman, we all got the day off work and school today - woohoo!  So I spent some time this morning playing catch up in my 2011 trip journal... I'm trying to document all our day trips and holidays this year, so we'll have something to look back at in the future to remember all the fun times.

So here's the page about our day out at Blenheim Palace - all very posh and regal, and rather appropriate for a day like today! 

None of us had ever been there before, and we weren't sure what to expect, but it was a fantastic place to visit, both the house and extensive grounds, not too stuffy and snobby and boring, if you know what I mean - and we barely had time to see everything there was to see and do everything there was to do.

Not very "arty", these pages, more just a download of memories.  But I did enjoy using my new Copic airbrush system (a birthday pressie from t'other half) to make the backgrounds, and doodling the little maze.

And yes, that's my third orangey/yellow based page in a row - I'm afraid I made up a little too much paint the other day, and I'm too tight to waste it!  But that's it all gone now.  No more yellow for a while, I promise :)

AJED : 75 / 365

No Waaaay! Really??

 

Woohoo!!  Now that Skullita is in the post and winging her way to the U S of A, I am back to playing in my art journal, I've missed it loads!

And I knew exactly what I wanted to do on my first page back....as I loved this fortnight's prompt from A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal:

 

The prompt: Really?!

The song: Tell Me Something I Don't Know by Selena Gomez (lyrics HERE)
Product/technique: speech bubbles

And it fitted right in with something I'd been wondering about recently....if I had the chance to go back in time and talk to my younger self, before my disastrous marriage, before various other mistakes I've made, what would I say to her?

The more I thought about it, the more I figured that she wouldn't believe a word I was saying anyway - especially if I told her some things about my life in 2011 - I've ended up a very different person than perhaps I would have predicted back then!  But I'm happier than I've ever been, so hip hip hooray for unexpected diversions from the plan :)

This page took much longer than it looks like it took - I spent hours making a lovely, involved, woven book page background, and then promptly covered it up so much you can barely see it, pah! :)

Luckily I took a photo of the background before I stuck and wrote stuff all over it, I love the look (inspired by Maryanne's cards here) - I must try this again, and next time maybe I'll leave a bit showing!

AJED : 73 / 365

A slightly late crusade - my forensic self portrait

Yet another outing for my self portrait stencil - I'm certainly making it earn its keep!

This page is in response to a recent Crusade from Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Street Team:

Due April 1st - oops!

The premise was nice and straightforward - document yourself right now in this moment.

This will be really fun to do once a year, to see how my preferences and behaviours change over time...

I was brave and used fabric and the dreaded sewing machine on this page, it behaved perfectly, I must use it more!


AJED : 72 / 365

Not Broken.

This page was pure and simple synchronicity....

I had this mask left over from my Guns n Roses page, and with its lovely black and gold spray paint treatment it was far too nice to waste.

Then came an unexpected free evening and time to work in my journal...and I spotted the latest three-part prompt from A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal:

THE PROMPT: Love
THE SONG: Not Broken by the Goo Goo Dolls
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Silhouettes

Everything fell into place pretty quickly from that point....I had the silhouette.....a "love" themed page seemed to fit the dancers, plus Jay and I have now been together two years so the timing is right....and "not broken" made me think of not breaking step - dancing in unison - a relationship in perfect balance.

I couldn't be happier, or luckier, to have found my perfect partner for the dance.  Happy anniversary Jay xxx


AJED : 71 / 365

Shout, shout, let it all out....

 

Oh my, this was fun, I have to do this again one day :)

This page is in response to a prompt on the excellent Year In The Life Of An Art Journal site, where they offer three part prompts every fortnight, including a theme, a technique and a song, any or all of which you can use as a springboard for a journal page in any way you choose.

The current prompt is as follows:

• theme - "confidence shot"
• song - Strut by Adam Lambert (lyrics)
• product/technique - eye shadow

I'd never heard of the song before, or even the singer (according to Wiki he's an American Idol contestant), and it wasn't totally my kind of thing, but I did love the lyrics - especially the part "open your mouth, open it wide, let the freedom begin!" -  so that was my starting point

I wanted something to illustrate the shouting out part, and as I was the only model I had on hand, I used a self portrait

It was entertaining watching "cartoon me" evolving, so here's a few photos I took along the way:

Original photo.  I'm supposed to be joyously shouting.  instead I look like I've just seen a ghost :)  acting is not my core skill!

Photo lightly gesso'd, and skin tones, teeth and whites of eyes painted in....plus double chin obliterated :)

Jewellery, clothing, and rather glam red lipstick added....instead of the eye shadow mentioned in the prompt - I didn't want to make myself look too Bet Lynch!

 

...with the addition of hair and a tongue, cartoon me is nearly done...

The black outlines finish everything off nicely

I really enjoyed this, right up until the point when my 18 year old son walked past after I had been painstakingly painting for a few hours, and announced that I was wasting my time as "mum, I could have done that in 30 seconds in Adobe Illustrator"... bah ... I think he's missing the point :)

So - what does all this have to do with a "confidence shot"?....let me tell you.....

The reason the "let the freedom begin!" part of the song lyrics appealed to me so much was that it worked on two counts... in the short term I feel freed from stress this week, as my fortnight-from-hell is behind me at work, and now that we have recruited an extra team member, hopefully it will never get that stupidly busy again....and in the broader sense, I have more freedom in my life now than I had in the first 40 years put together.  Part of this is undoubtedly down to being in the best relationship I have ever had, part is down to finally feeling secure in my job, but it all boils down to feeling in control of my own destiny, not being limited by fear or insecurities - and THAT comes from confidence.  I don't know exactly where this newfound confidence and feelings of security have come from, but please can I keep them???

Life is good for me right now.

[I have to add, I feel a twinge of guilt writing those words today of all days, thinking of poor Sian O' Callaghan whose murdered body was found today :(  RIP Sian, the whole of Swindon is in shock and mourning, nobody can quite believe this has happened to one of our own]


AJED : 69 / 365

Always leave your mark...

 

It feels gooood to be back in the swing of things with my journal, I really enjoyed putting this page together.

It's one of those that just kind of fell together with very little effort from me, it's always the pages that make themselves that end up being my favourites.

I've had this fingerprint stencil for yonks, but I think I've only ever used it once before, which is a crying shame because isn't it FAB???

AJED : 67 / 365