Roz's Entries in Monika's Grimoire...Finally!!!

Please accept my apologies for taking so long!

Mon's work in Deb's Natura journal

Deb's Natura journal was one I was hanging out to work in for a long time and yet it took a couple of starts to get into the flow.

 A while back while researching Nettles I came upon a passage from a book by Stephen Harrod Buhner ("The lost language of plants") that stated that Elder trees (Sambucus nigra) were keystone species and as such attract bacteria, mycelia etc. to them and "tell" the plants around them what to do and how to behave. They are the leaders of their plant communities.

Being a big fan of Elder I knew I wanted to base my entry in Deb's journal on it. Elder trees have a vast amount of folklore, superstition and of course also remedies written about them.

I chose to paint the Elder Mother sitting under her tree, teaching and guarding her "Queendom".

 

I added a charm to the spine of the journal with some handmade Elder beads from a stick from my Elder tree. They are fun and quick to make as the soft pith in the center is easily hollowed out.

I dyed them with alcohol ink and carved the Elder symbol "Ruis" from the Celtic Ogham in to the focal bead. There are a couple of Job's tears beads from the garden too and a needle felted leaf.

 I really enjoyed working in Deb's journal.

Mon's work in Danielle's journal

Danielle's beautiful journal has the theme of: A witch's book of mirrors.

Danielle asked for a herbal theme so I chose to journal about my current fascination with Ikaria, a little Greek Island known for its citizens' longevity.

Herbal teas are drunk frequently on the island and I have been experimenting making my own mixtures with what I have on hand from the garden.

 

I kept my palette quite restricted and muted to go with the vintage theme.

The pages came together quite spontaneous and without much planning and I enjoyed working this way.

Jan works in Grimoire

This was such a lovely journal to receive and I chose Angel Blessings for my dream catcher!! I felt i needed it at the time (arm broke an' all!) So thank you very much Monica.

I also mostly did this with the left hand so it was kept fairly simple. A friend gave me a helpful book and so I chose to interpret that and just copied the principles.

The shroud covering the journal was lovely. Unfortunately I was not able at the time to sew, however I signed it and added a few stamps.

It was a pleasure to work in this inspiring journal. 

The man with the hollow tooth: Mon's entry in Nicole's "Out of the Box"

Nicole's journal was so freeing and "out of the box" for me that it took me a while to find what I'd be doing as my entry. Normally when working to a theme I try to push the boundaries and think outside the box.

With the theme of "Out of the box" it was more the opposite for me: a working "into a box" if that makes any sense.

I based my entry on a story my Grandpa used to tell me when I was little. It is one of those never ending  stories that loop. The sparse reference i could find on the net implied it was a Swiss story as it was apparently not known in Germany. The story goes like this (translated from Swissgerman:)

There once was a man who had a hollow tooth,
inside the tooth was a little box,
inside the little box was a letter,
inside the letter was written:
There once was a man who had a hollow tooth,
inside the tooth was a little box,
inside the little box was a letter,
inside the letter was written:
etc. etc.  you get the idea.

Somehow as a kid I could not get enough of this story and I must have driven my ever patient Grandpa nuts with urging him to go on and on and on.
In my mind I could see it clearly; the man with the hollow tooth who's tooth housed increasingly smaller versions of himself and at the same time I was still curious as to what the next "little box" might contain. But of course it always was another letter with the same story in the box but that did not dim my fascination with it.

It was a bit like holding both mirrored bathroom cabinet doors to my face and seeing an infinite and ever smaller version of myself. Or like going for a walk not knowing what the next bend in the path might reveal.

My entry in Nicole's "journal" (it is a box not a journal) became itself a little box as this is a hollow double layer about 1cm thick. Inside the hollow tooth sits a little box with a wee letter stuck in it and with a wee drop of sealing wax which landed partially on my finger. I have a blister to prove it. (Note to self: When working with sealing wax on tiny areas it is safer to use a toothpick or similar to hold down the piece.)

On the back I wrote the story as many times as would fit onto the paper and then used an aqua brush to paint a man's face with water and the soluble ink from my writing pen as the only paint.

I enjoyed working in this box of a journal and it brought back many memories from my childhood.
xoxo

Mon's entry in Jan's "Three Words"

Jan's "Three Words" journal was a bit of a challenge for me in the beginning.
No three words I could think of resonated with me so off to google I went and found:

I Become Myself

This instantly rang true to me as I have been feeling like I am really becoming myself lately, knowing more who I am and what I like and kind of "settling" into myself like into a comfy armchair.

 

Of course becoming oneself is not an overnight thing, there are many steps to get there and I don't know if one ever gets there until the very end or whether there are different stages of becoming oneself.
I did a play on words and tried to make as many different three word phrases out of the original one as a path to becoming oneself.

I used Neocolour II and Inktense pencils.

I hope Jan will like it. xoxo

Mon's entry in Janene's "The things that make you truly happy"

I have been working in Janene's beautiful journal: "The things that make you truly happy".

You'd think this would be an easy theme yet I struggled for a while. I started by gluing used (emptied) teabags to the pages and loved the worn, old look. Next I used my calligraphy pen to write down all the things that make me truly happy and there was no shortage of words to fill the pages with.

 

Next I started sketching the old mill I stayed in in France. My plan was to paint a scene from my recent holiday there but it took on a life of its own. The mill became the gown of my Muse, her long locks reaching out to various things that make me happy and inspire me.

 

 Lady Inspiration might not have a huge smile on her face but she is very happy.

 

The red butterfly has a red yarn thread attached leading my muse on to new inspiration.

Being inspired (among many other things) makes me truly happy :-)

xoxo

Mon's entry in Roz' journal

Roz' beautiful journal has the theme "Oriental". I dove right in without a clue of where the pages would lead. I first added two "doors" to give me more space to work on. The pages evolved with different layers and materials and stitching.

It is a kind of an Asian fusion page reminding me of Chinese wedding cabinets, Japanese kimonos, Chinese Cheong Sams and lanterns.

The doors open to reveal a lotus pond with free machine embroidered Koi made from vintage Japanese Kimono silk fabric.

 

I first collaged these pages with an old Chinese Feng Shui Horoscope calendar pages...

 

 before painting on top.

I really enjoyed working in Roz' journal.

xoxo

Mon's page in Pam's "The Music Is You" journal

Pam's beautiful journal titled "The Music Is You"was one I had an idea of what I would be doing in it for a long time.
I love Samba music, it lifts my spirit and makes me happy so I knew I'd be basing my entry around that. But I had no preconceived idea of how I was going to go about it.

It started out with a pencil sketch of a Samba dancer and then days passed before I started painting the dancer. I then added various Samba instruments before adding the writing.

To finish it off I put on some lovely Brazilian Samba music and started on the dots with toothpicks and various kebab sticks. This proved very relaxing and meditative.

I used pencil and acrylic paints.

 

The Coffee Ritual by Sharon

It was a real pleasure to work on such a beautifully made journal.  Monika even included a small gift for all of us and the instructions on how to connect to our creative source from Wendy were a great find.   

Grimoire seemed to epitomize what it means to work on a round robin.  Our individual styles shone out from the pages and I hesitated to begin.  I wanted to create something worthy of such a journal and it took quite a bit of inner lecturing to realize that I am simply what I am and it was pointless to try to be anything else!

Surprisingly the month passed and I still hadn't begun.  

I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  It should be based on the Shakespearean rhyme 

"Double, double, toil and trouble"

It should have beautiful symbols and fonts, layers and an image of

coffee brewing but I got stuck on paraphrasing the Shakespeare.  I simply hadn't the time to sit quietly and come up with anything.

This is where the spirit of cooperation came to the fore.  My good friend Tam simply went "that is easy" and wrote my words for me in no time flat.  

So with no further adieu:

"Hubble, bubble, boil and bubble,

For a brew on the double.

Grind your beans with midnight power

and cast them measured

or taste will sour.

Let them steep while you seek the bean

that has also been made by the chocolate Queen

and cast in bars of flavour and taste

Then pour your coffee with out due haste."

I began with a layer of vintage book pages.

Then started to layer up the page with symbols from the internet (nice ones)

then aged the page and before I knew it, I had finished.

I hope people realize how much time artists spend thinking about the task at hand.  It isn't always easy but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Transformations by Monika

This month I had the great pleasure of working in Louise's beautiful journal "Transformations".

Inspiration took a while to come but suddenly it all started to come together. I based my entry on the phases of the moon.

Here is the pale moon maiden with a moon phase halo that rotates.

The Moon Lady holds a silver heart that opens up to reveal:

The poem: "That Sweet Moon Language" by the ancient persian poet Hafiz.

On the outside I added some bling to the spine of the journal: A moon pendant I bought over twenty years ago in a far away place. Since then it has moved with me to many places always waiting for this special project where it would fit and it finally has found its place.

I hope Louise will like it.

xoxo

Wendy's page in Monika's journal - channel connection

This page is all about how to connect your intuitive channel. My intuitive channel helps me to paint freely and without having to worry about the end result.  By trusting the information being given to me, it allows the painting to take all the twist's and turn's it needs, to be what it must.

I have shown in my page the importance of also being grounded while connected to your channel. If you are not grounded, then you won't finish your work and will also be off with the fairies, so to speak.

I have enclosed a copy in the pocket in the back of Monika's journal, bigger than the writing you see here. You might need a magnifying glass to read this.  It was hard keeping it this small, but you can actually read it after all.

I used acrylic paint, because that's what I love.

Monika's entry in Reniet's journal

Reniet's journal has been challenging for me not least because of the (for me) difficult theme of  "Laughter in spite of pain". 

 

I had an idea for starters which promptly went away as I dove in with wild abandon first by sewing a mask then with collage and then layer upon layer of water soluble crayons, acrylic paint, markers, and gel pen. 

I did not let my lack of direction worry me but rather trusting myself that it would all work out in the end and enjoy myself.

 

 It was a wild journey with many twists and turns and layers but after several days all the disparate pieces finally fit together yesterday.

 

I have added some more bling to the already gorgeously colourful spine.

 

So thank you Reniet for challenging me and helping me grow and think outside the box and trusting the journey rather than a plan. I hope you will like the page.

xoxo

Grimoire - Monika's Journal

The theme for my journal is Grimoire. Here's a sneek peak at my journal so far:

I made the journal from scratch using mat board offcuts covered in soft leather from a hideous secondhand 80s leather jacket onto which I have painted the tree and glued stitched and leather leaves onto.

It is a Coptic bound journal with more stitched leaves sewn into the spine. The paper for the pages is 300gsm Watercolour paper so it will be robust enough to withstand serious mixed media treatments.

The inside cover is from a wallpaper sample book.  And opposite the first page.

 

Here the back inside cover with a favourite Roald Dahl quote and a pocket on the right where there will be a little surprise awaiting each participant.

The back cover has a leather abracadabra triangle.

This is where I am at so far I still got to do my double page as well as the surprises.

xoxo