Jeudi Journal - Ignore (sorry, it's long)

For this page I used one of Dyans paints on the background - I haven't used these paints for a while and I think this one is going to feature a few times now as I really do like the colour.  I made a border down one side and across the top with one of her stencils and I put tiny circles in some of the squares, some in black and some in white (although the white seems to have disappeared into the page - if you enlarge it you might manage to see them).

I chose two slimline figures - the one on the left is a mix up of several and to be honest I am never sure whether that stamp I have used for the skirt is really a skirt or what?  I put some of my lovely Van Gogh washi tape across the bottom to 'ground' the two figures and when I had finished the wording I realised it looked a bit bare so I added a dog.  Sorry but it is not a Dylusion dog, it's a Katzelkraft one that I like to use because they do look a bit more like dogs and sometimes I feel that is what I want.

I am entering this into Art Journal Journey's challenge, as set by Elle of Empire of the Cat - Language - and this is my interpretation of the quote we are using today "Please don't interrupt me when I'm trying to ignore you".

"Several things had been going through Paula's mind, it was a worrying time at work with redundancies on the horizon and she knew she was probably going to be one of the first girls to go as she hadn't been there long.  Jobs were not easy to come by, the whole country was in a bit of a mess and she only had a few qualifications - a smattering of examinations she had passed at school.  She realised now that she should have worked harder in school and listened to the career's teacher who had been always there to hand out good advice.

She had taken her dog for a walk that day to clear her head and was wondering if she should enrol at evening classes to better herself with some qualifications that would mean she could try for something else.  She had always wanted to go into nursing but now they expected you to train to a very high standard -  a degree course was needed, or so she had been told.  There was just her and mum at home, it wasn't easy to keep up with her friends and all the things they did and the clothes they bought.  Her wage had not been a big contribution and mum was working all the hours she could to keep the mortgage going on the house.  If she went to evening classes for a year or so and then to university it would be mum's wage alone that kept them going.

All the time she was worrying and thinking what to do next her friend, Amelia, had been going on about some clothing store that had opened in town and how she had seen something she wanted from there which would "be perfect for going out with the girls in".  Amelia's family was comfortably well off, her father owning the largest factory in town, she had only to ask daddy for a rise in her allowance and he gave it to her, she was the apple of his eye.  In fact he had just given her the money for the new jewelled beret she was wearing and the 'ever so expensive glasses'. She went on and on, raising her voice with a slight exaggeration now and then until Paula finally blew.  "Please don't interrupt me when I'm trying to ignore you", she shouted.  Biffo, her dog, recognised the tone and sat down quickly, his ears stood up waiting for the next blow out, his eyes looked upwards to heaven.  Amelia stuck her hands on her hips and asked what on earth the matter was, she was rather taken aback at the tone of her friend and Paula felt a bit sorry that she had spoken in that way.  "I'm sorry", said Paula, "I didn't mean to be rude, but I think I am going to lose my job".  And so she began to talk about her fears to her friend.  I wonder if Amelia could help?  Or maybe daddy?"

My stories are getting longer and longer and I think I need to learn to cut them down.  So sorry, maybe I think I am writing a novel when in fact I am just trying to explain the pictures above.  I am entering this into Art Journal Journey and their challenge set by Elle which is "Language".  Sometimes we all need to talk to a friend and it is surprising where friends often are - like just around the corner.

I've been getting lots of BOTS (like 500+ then 35 already this morning) for some reason, apparently they pick on a word you have used and then start deluging you with Spam comments.  Last week, when it started,  I lost three comments (Elizabeth, Erika and Alison).  I posted the comments and then went back to delete the Bots.  I tried to use a symbol which I thought would delete them "en masse" but it went and deleted the ones I had published also.  Now I have to delete each Bot singly and that requires two actions.  If anyone knows how to delete a block of them without deleting the good ones please shout out.