Laughter in Spite of Pain - Reniet

Well I've mastered the blog lol. Seems i was trying to sign in with the wrong email address.
I chose the topic after having to spend a few years in the world of pediatric oncology. These kids were enduring some terrible things yet they still managed to laugh whenever they could.
But that then made me realize how many of us smile or laugh in spite of any sort of pain.  Putting on a brave face so to speak.  I for one am a master at laughing when I'm in physical pain as a way of coping.
I'm not much of an artist in the sense of painting and drawing etc. I tend to have a more analytical mind then creative. As such my journal (as a first time) is some what basic but we have to start somewhere.
The cover was about the pain i was feeling, very dark with sharp stabbing parts. The laughter starts as small on the outside as the pain is greater.

I should add that my almost 15 yr old daughter is helping with this.  On the inside we decided that the laughter was bigger and the pain (represented by black heart) had become smaller.
I also put 3 pictures of Faith smiling during times i know she was in pain as she was my inspiration.
Beth put bright beads and ribbons on the spine to show the laughter side of things.

I made a little book with different scrap booking papers i had and bound it with some ribbon. I made a pocket on the inside cover to hold the book.  I thought if anyone wanted to write a little note about what they had done in the journal they could do it here.

Hmm the pic is upside down sorry lol.
I had also planned to journal on the next page a little about how i came about the spread i have done.  It was a bit of therapy for me in a way.
Well thats it for now i hope everyone has fun.

Let the Game Begin!

My journal is finished.....as finished as I can make it. I am both looking forward to it and scared stiff of working in other peoples journals.  I have little confidence in my work and have no claims as an artist.  I dabble and splatter and hope for an OK result.

I hope you are all satisfied with what I do.....if not you have the gesso option :)

So here is my finished journal.

 At the back of my book there is a little booklet with a welcome message and plenty of room for you all to leave a message or a thought or just your name and the date you worked in my journal...whatever you like to do. The main thing I ask is that you have fun and enjoy the journey.

Deb "Natura"

My layout done so my journal is ready to post and go on it's journey....yippee.

journal tracker preview

Hello everyone here is a preview of our tracking chart. As we haven't mailed ,out yet i have just put a heart for each of us which you will see means "page finnished" don't worry that doesn't mean we are actually finnished I know I'm not quite. So this is what it will look like and I will be posting an updated version every month and more if needed.
The all done smiley face symbol is for when our journals finally make it home.
The arrow en route, awaiting arrival is to say journal has been mailed and the next in line is waiting for it.
The hand recieved, in progress symbol is to say yes got it and doing my page.
The heart page finnished symbol is to say page is done and ready to be mailed to next in line.
I hope this is easy to follow. I will be keeping another spreadsheet at home with post dates and any queries in relation to problems that may come up so I can hopefully answer everyone's concerns. I think that post dates may be useful if a journal heaven forbib goes missing in the post, fingers crossed none do xxxxxxxxx.
Cheers Deb

First Blog Post

This is a bit of a test run to see if I can follow instructions!!

Just read Blogging 101.

Well I managed to get there and my draft was there!!!
Here goes....

My very first blog post! I couldn't have done it without Louise’s 101 lesson. Thank you so much.

I got good at re-sizing using Paint and ‘saving as’ I just hope the quality is ok.

You have mostly seen the cover that I made using heavy duty brown card that is used in commercial pattern making. This was courtesy of my daughter.  I applied the base coat, then crackle medium then the warm white paint that crackled nicely.

Then I stenciled letters and some patterns in colours I like. Then I attached the sari ribbon and some embellishments. I printed the words and embossed them to make them 3D. And the back cover has some stenciling as well.

Next I did the first page which was a lot of fun.

I loved the idea that Louise had for the pockets at the back and shamelessly copied( thanks Louise!) But maths is not my strong suit so the spacing was a bit wonky. But hey  it works!

I have written a blurb in the front and some lists of prompts (that probably wont be needed, but I thought I should include some of my inspirations that helped me to choose my theme.

I think I will leave it at that. I am exhausted from the stress. (a picture is round the wrong way!!)

An accomplishment tho! Really chuffed.

My Journal......The Music is You.

I would like to share where I am up to so far with my journal.  As I have said before I am very unsure of myself and am a bit daunted by the responsibility of adding to everybody's precious journals.

There have been plenty of doubts and dramas so far, but my trusty mentor Louise has been there to hold my hand virtually. Thanks xxxx

So here are the steps I have taken so far.

1 Cover

2 Inside cover

3 Step 2 Inside cover and Opening page

 4 And my first page

So I am feeling much happier now I have got to this stage.  I hope everybody enjoys adding to my journal and expressing themselves through a musical theme.  Let the journey begin.

Creating a Touch of Alice

For me, art is a lot like swimming in cold water. You stand at the edge, dangling your toes in trying to acclimatise.  Then you take a deep breathe and jump.  There is always a moment of panic where you wonder why you ever started. But before long you are swimming and you suddenly realize you are having fun.

"A Touch of Alice" was a lot like that.  So many decisions to make.  Not to mention a few false starts.  The final one was the smallest.  I was concerned about the cost of posting, knowing it was only going to get heavier.  I created it from canson paper and I think it was called edition.  It is the replacement in the local art store for stonehenge and at least twice the cost!

This is me off to one of the false starts.  This version was way too heavy but perfect for a new journal for home.  It now has a beautiful blue canvas cover.

Teesha Moore finally gave me the idea I needed.  A whole book from 2 pages!  Perfect.  This is the beginning of the layering of the cover art work.

Close up of title.

An image transfer of the white rabbit from my childhood copy of Alice in Wonderland.

I was concerned that not everyone might be familiar with Lewis Carroll so I began to do some research and this image from my visual diary captures a modern Alice.

The beginnings of some hints with small drawings on the back to help inspire everyone.  I've created a pocket on the back inside cover for them so don't forget to claim yours when the time comes.

Along the way I got side tracked by making my own gelli plate from gelatine, sugar, glycerine and water. I was too impatient to wait for a real one to come in the mail.  Not knowing what a real one is like, I think this one works well.   I have had fun decorating my little gifts.  I hope you like them.

The idea of my theme is that Alice is leaving home for the first time and you, the gifted guest journaler will provide her with guidance along the way in the form of quotes from Lewis Carroll.  I hope you enjoy the challenge.
Sharon

Setting Up a Journal for a travelling journal swap

There are many ways to set up a travelling art journal,

I am just setting up this one for the Australian Art Journal Swap

I like to have a title on the outside and a title page when the front cover is opened.

I also have a little mini booklet just inside the front cover to welcome my fellow artists and to share any hopes or guidelines I might have for that journal.

I tend to offer a variety of different pages, here there are pages with extra flaps and others without, I also do the initial spread to set the tone for the journal. I think it might be harder for others to be the first to work in a pristine new journal that belongs to someone else.

In the back I like an area for each artist to sign in.

Here I have included tags in pockets.

I also have a bigger pocket in the back of the journal for people to leave anything extra they might like to leave.

Thanks for the invite Louise

This is a test run to see if I've got it happening. I have been trying to tell Deb that I love her cover so now I have lol.

Deb Parkes here with "Natura"
In the last week we have been threatened with a cyclone which turned out to be a fizzler for Townsville, but not so for further south unfortunatley. In the lead up to this event it has been very muggy and revolting so i have been confined to the house pretty much. What has been taking up my time in a lovely way is the making of my journal for "the Australian Art Jaournal Swap" (AAJS). I had a great time painting and sewing my soft spine journal, using freemotion stitching, bit s of lace, material, paper and splashing around paint in bright colours. All that is left to do is my 2 page spread and my intro.

 front n back cover's

 inside front cover

inside back cover the stitch scrawl at the top say's "dear journaler" there's a card in that there pocket with a thankyou note to all our lovely artist's.