Jeudi Journal - Want

Thankfully today we have yet another  Journal Page for Art Journal Journey's theme as set by Aimeslee.  I am glad I was working a week or two in advance.  A lovely theme for the month of May because it is "Flowers" and what could be better as our gardens and the countryside are becoming a hive of colour.

So what do I need?  A Tim Holtz Snarky Comment, some Dylusion figures, flowers, maybe a stencil or two ... and colour of some description.  Oh, and a story to illustrate it all.  Like this page?

Esme was at the same Gardens as Billy and Sam.  In fact she was in the same class at school as young Sam.  That was about as far as the similarities went with the two youngsters.  Where Sam was kind and a thoughtful little boy Esme was a bit of a spoiled young madam.

In fact we find her just as she was being naughty.  With total disregard for the beautiful flowers in the garden she was to be seen pulling flowers up and scattering their petals on the ground.  "He loves me, he loves me not" she was chanting as she destroyed the pretty flowers.

Billy saw her and was rather taken aback to see what she was doing and so he shouted over to her.

"Hey, you mustn't pick the flowers, they are here for all to see and enjoy.  What do you think you are doing?" 

Esme turned, and looked in the direction of Billy, not a look of remorse or anything at having been caught destroying flowers.  Haughtily she shouted back at him "I do this thing called what I want" and carried on picking at the petals of the daisy in her hand.

"Well", said Billy to Sam, "I think you might have a word with teacher on Monday and tell her just what we saw today.  In fact you can write it up in your school diary for the whole class to see."

Samjust grinned.

WOYWW 727

 Yes, another Wednesday, and nothing to show on my desk, sorry.

The weather has been lovely up in the north of England, well, my north anyway, I hope it has been the same in other places in the country too.

Television was all geared up for the celebrations at the weekend when we saw King Charles III  being crowned at the Abbey.  It was a joyous occasion and I am sure all who watched or took part in any way, had a thoroughly wonderful day.  I wonder how many of you went to a street party, or had family around to help with the celebrations.  We two simply had an all day buffet that we could dip into as and when we wanted something - and top up as plates became empty.  

Yes, I am still suffering but am now on another set of steroids and antibiotics so all is pointing the right way.  Sadly I am not up to crafting at the moment, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible, so I will show you something you (most of you) have not seen before.  I know one WOYWW'er will recognise my little crafting project from a long time ago.  It was forged in Carnforth, some of the pieces I believe were made in the wee small hours to give us all lots to decorate and it was all the brainchild of our wee Tracy.  There's a much larger heart somewhere else but at this moment I cannot find it.

I am sure nobody looking at this needs to be told who is behind the whole idea of these three pretty maidens that have adorned my craft room for a long time now.

Well, that is it for this week, hopefully some crafting to show next time - certainly the ATC's should be done, need to be done!

Lastly, thanks so much to Lynne for the link, it really has helped.

Jeudi Journal - Right

"One of us is right, the other one is you" is the Tim Holtz Snarky Comment we are working with today.  "We" being Wendy and myself who also have to use Dylusion figures wherever possible.  I have used the two boys today plus some of Dyan's flowers (many of which were too large so I had to cut them down considerably), and a couple of little Dyan bugs.

My background was done with Oxides smooched on an acrylic block. spritzed with water and then squished all over.  First was the Lime, then the Cracked Pistachio and lastly the Mustard Seed.  I wanted the background to be light and summery to set off Aimeslee's new theme at Art Journal Journey.  I do hope Aimeslee gets lots of entries for this lovely theme, no reason why she shouldn't as it is a great one to go with.

I have a very severe chest infection, saw the doctor yesterday and got steroids and antibiotics to take.  She was in two minds whether to send me to hospital so I have promised if I go any worse I will ring for an ambulance.  So, my colouring is not up to its usual standard, I found working with the markers very restrictive in that they made me short of breath.  That is a major problem for me at the moment, shortness of breath.  Anyway, enough of me, I am fine really.

"Billy had taken his younger brother, Sam, to a well known garden attraction in town.  Little Sam was keen on knowing the names of various flowers that there were likely to be and so he recited several as they went along.

"Agapanthus, Geranium, Sunflower, Lilac, Rose, Orchid, Carnation, Gardenia, Hydrangea, Peony and Stephanotis." he shouted in a sing song voice as they walked along to the entrance.

"You know all of these Sam?" asked Billy.

"Most of them" Sam replied, "and I know lots more.  Bet I know more than you do Billy."

"You probably do"  his big brother said, smiling, as he handed over the money mother had given him to take his young brother out for the morning,  There was enough for a glass of milk and a sticky bun for them to have afterwards too.  It was going to be a lovely morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and the gardens did not appear to be that busy.

"Oh look" shouted Billy, "there is your favourite bush, a hydrangea.  It's in your favourite blue colour too."  

Sam was delighted to see the big cabbage sized heads on his favourite bush.  "Wonder if we can see mum's favourite whilst we are here?"

Off the two boys went in search of mum's favourite.  Surely there was bound to be a rose garden.  And to be sure, they noticed a sign for the Rose Garden.  Both boys walked through the gate and were met with a wonderful display of roses of various colours and hues not to mention the different species.

Mum had always liked the Peace Rose and the boys began looking, surely there would be one here.

"How many roses is it romantic to give to a girl?" suddenly asked Sam.

"Twelve I think" replied Billy, They say buy a dozen red roses for love."

"Wrong" shouted Sam, excitedly jumping up and down on the pathway.  "You are wrong.  The answer is nine.  One of us is right, and the other one is you." and he did a funny little dance on the spot, spinning around and around on one foot.  "I read on my computer before we came out this morning that nine roses are a symbol of eternal love and you would often give nine roses to the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.  You can check on your phone if you like.  Wonder if dad gave mum nine Peace roses when they got married?"

Billy just smiled and decided to check on his phone ... but later, when Sam was not around.  He wanted the little guy to have a lovely morning with his big brother so it was all up to him."

WOYWW 726

Nothing at all to show you, my fellow WOYWW'ers, on my desk today.  I unpacked my little box that I had taken with me to Cheltenham last week and set it all out on the desk in readiness for me to continue with what I had hoped to do whilst away.  I hadn't done much at all in the hotel and so I needed to get on with things.

Unfortunately I was struck down with a very severe chest infection and still am suffering.  Not as much as the last few days of last week.  As it is I am taking paracetamol and steaming myself four times a day in the hope that I will start to feel a bit better.  

So here is my desk in all its glory:

That's it folks - see you next week

Jeudi Journal - Sorry

Remember last week? ...

"Janice really regretted the phone call she had had with her friend Barbara when she had told her that her boyfriend had been rushed into hospital.  It was only later that night that Janice realised she had not been fair.   Downright selfish in fact.  Yes, the trip was great and it was a once in a lifetime journey across the Atlantic Ocean for her, it might never happen again. But what about poor Brad?  If it had been the other way around he would have not hesitated to ring her and reassure her that she would be fine once the operation was over.  What had she done?

Not only had she risked her friendship with Barbara but also Brad might not want to see her again, that is if Barbara had told him the whole story.  It was too late to ring now, there was the time difference between where she was and home to consider.  Brad would have most likely have had his operation now and probably still be sleeping, and Barbara, well, she would still be asleep and no doubt rushing about later to get herself ready for work.  What could she do?

After a fitful sleep, and looking dreadful from crying part of the night, Janice took a shower and washed her face over again, in cold water, to try to look human.  It was 7 am where she was, that meant it was about five in the evening at home.  If she skipped breakfast she could ring Barbara and apologise.

She went over and over that conversation they had had.  Would Barbara still be angry with her?  She had put the phone down on her so she must have been a bit cross.  Did she go to the hospital to see Brad?  Did she tell him that his girlfriend preferred a night out to ringing to see how he was?  So many questions were whirling around and around in her head.  What should she do?

Well, there was only one way to find out and so she rang Barbara.  The phone seemed to ring and ring, was she not there, was she visiting Brad, Janice was just about to put the phone down when Barbar answered.

"It's me, Janice, I am so sorry about last night.  Sorry for the mean hurtful things I said to you.  Are you angry with me, is Brad ok, did the operation go well?"

Barbara took a moment or two to answer, "No, I am not angry with you.  I realise how difficult it must be when you are so far away and maybe I should not have rung you, well, at least until the operation was over.  Or maybe I should have said nothing and let Brad ring you."

"No Barbara, you did the right thing in letting me know, it's me, I don't know what it is that is wrong with me.  I've just been enjoying myself far too much and I forgot about you all at home.  Is he alright?"

"Yes, he is fine, I went to see him last night with his mother.  He was a bit groggy but it was a small operation, keyhole I believe.  In fact he came home late today so you can ring him."

"Yes, I will" said Janice, looking at the clock.  "In fact if I am quick I can ring him now before I have to go to the office.  You don't mind if I go right away?"  And with that Janice said a hasty goodbye promising to ring later.  "Well, it looks as if I will have to miss breakfast altogether, but that serves me right for being so selfish" she said to herself, and with that she began ringing Brad's number."

I thought about using some of my affirmation cards and collage bits to make a border like I have done in the past, in the style of Teesha Moore.  This should fit in perfectly with Elizabeth and Bleubeard's  theme at Art Journal Journey which is 'Recycle Reuse, Repurpose'.  This is probably going to be my last attempt at this theme as it is close to month end so I wanted it to be one of my better ones for them.  Choosing the various items for the border I decided then to go around the edge with a black marker to separate the border from the main image.  So here you have, as continuation in a way of last week's blog post and another entry for AJJ.

I love these little cards which I used and and am so pleased I have now have found a way to keep them in my journal.  I wish I had scanned them before I used them as now my figure sits on part of them.

"Life is like an ever shifting kaleidoscope.  A slight change and all patterns alter."  Sharon Salzburg

"Art is there to wash the everyday dust off our souls."  Picasso

and my favourite - I imagine from the mouth of a child  

"First I think, then I draw my think"

WOYWW 725

Why is it that Wednesdays come around so quickly.  No sooner have I had one Wednesday than I am having another.  A bit like chocolates!  I only compare it to chocolate because Wednesday's are a day to enjoy.  Why you ask?  Because we get to see one another's desks by joining in with Ms Julia and her merry band of crafters who bare their desks for all to see.  It's WOYWW day!  Hip Hip Hooray!

Now what do I have for you today?  A desk that was like this on Monday and remains like this until the end of today when I return from an overnight trip to Cheltenham to see my bil.  As you can see I have been playing about with the Gelli Plate yet again.  Not too many prints from the plates as I decided I did not want too many hanging about waiting for decoration to turn them into finished cards or whatever.

You will see, however, that I have also used my stencils to make pages in my journal for decoration at a later date.  Well, why waste perfectly good ink and wash it down the sink?  I do hope that last week I inspired some of you to get out your Gelli plates and give them a try with ink as it seemed one or two of you were put off, like me, with the washing up and mess of using acrylic paint.  This is so much easier and cleaner.

I did turn a couple into cards though

I haven't got the hang of doing even shading as can be seen in the first one.  I did some spatters of water to try to draw the eye away but it didn't work.  However, I am sure if I stamp some words randomly over the top it will make all the difference.  I refuse to throw it away.  The last one looks better and it is meant to be darker in the actual corners.

Well, that is it for another week.  Must get on with some workshop prep and my ATC's as I don't like the ideas I had so they have ended up as card toppers.  See you all next week.

Jeudi Journal - Don't Care

 Well, this week it is not a particularly happy story as the words I had to work with were "Words cannot express how much I just don't care".  The background, in the hopes it will do for Elizabeth and Bleubeard's challenge, is wallpaper.  I saw it a year or so ago in a local DIY shop and just had to have a piece, I knew it would come in one day and so it has left a big gap in my paper collection (it is quite thick wallpaper).  Isn't it fabulous?  I would love a feature wall with this wallpaper on it, the gold is fantastic and shows up so well on the black.

"Janice had recently been promoted at work and as such she got the chance to travel to their sister company in America.  She just loved it over there.  The bright lights, the fast moving traffic, all the glitz and glamour that she wasn't used to in her own little village in the north of England.

She had so enjoyed the long haul flight over the Atlantic, business class was something she never dreamed of ever experiencing but as her boss was also travelling with her she had got to travel in style.  Not only that but they had been met at the airport by a limo!  Her eyes had been like to huge saucers as she climbed in.  Then the hotel - her friends would never believe her so she had taken lots and lots of photographs at every opportunity.

Of course there had been all the meetings she had had to attend, but everyone had loved her.  Her northern accent enchanted most of the Americans and she was a huge success being taken out in the evenings by a group of young women, eager to show her the sights and sounds.

Everything was going swimmingly until she got that phone call.

"Janice, your boyfriend has been rushed into hospital, suspected appendicitis", it was Barbara, her best friend at home.  "He really was in so much pain and I am sure if you could just give him a call he would feel so much better, he really has missed you whilst you've been away."

"Words cannot express how much I just don't care" said Janice, rather rudely.  "I'm out with the girls and I really cannot expect them to take me back to the hotel just to ring him.  You do realise I am thousands of miles away, across the world in fact.  Why don't you ring him if you are so concerned?"

"Oh, I just thought you would want to know but if that's your attitude, goodbye" and with that Barbara clicked her phone off.

"Something the matter?" asked Kim, one of the girls.

"No, just a friend wanting to know if I was having a good time" replied Janice.  And with that she carried on enjoying the night out with the girls.  Would she regret it the next day?  Or when she got home?