WOYWW 608

Another week has gone by and the past week has been an enjoyable one because Mr Mojo came back to bite me on the bum and I produced stuff.  Not jaw dropping stuff but stuff all the same.  Blame Marjie Kemper for doing a 5 day challenge which was doing a page a day in a sort of junk journal.  I paid my dues and joined in.  Won't say we made two pages each day, or even one because some days we prepped pageS for the following days.  Anyway, here is what I ended up with:

Top L is a paper bag, bottom R cereal box

Top R is washi tape

Well, after crafting each evening for an hour Mr Mojo was definitely back and so on Friday night I immediately signed up for a workshop with Jo Rice.  

Jo used hearts where I have used stars

I loved that card and was raring to go on another so I got my journal our and made a similar page in my journal.

Now if I show you my desk as it is this morning (and was last night) you will think it is staged.  Well, you might be kind of correct but it isn't, it is just waiting for me to decide which stamps I am going to use in my next layout which is going to be along the same lines but with different stamps.  Can't wait to get started.

Was raring to go both Monday and Tuesday but other things got in the way so it is all ready for me to get going today.  But first of all I have to order the correct Distress oxide Spray - I ordered Bundled Sage when I meant Frayed Burlap.  Doh, still am a dizzy blonde despite the blonde having faded over the years.

Well, see you all next week on WOYWW when I hope the mojo has kept working, but in the meantime here is my desk today - I am off now for a snoop at other desks.  Toodle Pip!

and here is space around the corner

Hopes & Dreams

Where would we be without our Hopes and Dreams?  I find this something that just had to be included in my Journal for the challenge over at Art Journal Journey with Halle choosing 'Words to Live By" as the topic for the month of June.  I have just managed to scrape in on the last day of the month with this one in my Junk Journal.

The page was a lovely shade of dark green and then I went and covered most of it with some scrapbook paper which I just fell in love with.  No idea what the pad was called, that it came from, as it is one I have obviously used before - it was an 8 x 8 page that had been torn into but had the words "bicycle built for two" on which you can just see in the bottom left corner.

Then there was another page I liked, for the colours, which I chose to put in the top left hand corner and repeat in the bottom right.  Perhaps my couple have now ventured to see The Colosseum in Rome.

At last I am starting to use some of my stash that up to now has been only used for 'stroking' - who knows what might come out another week?

Junk Journal - Spring and a Rabbit

One of the topics to include in our Junk Journal challenge (just me with a friend)  is an animal and the first on the list is a rabbit.  Imagine my delight when my buddy, Lorraine, gave me a couple of floral rabbits - perfect for this page.

I began by tearing some papers in shades of blue - one was like a piece of fencing - and I married them with a bit of torn map paper.  Then I chose my two little girls from the TH Petite Doll range and wondered what else I could use.  When I saw the rabbit tag in my stash I thought it would go perfectly and so I tried it just behind the figures.  The small girl's head is actually hiding the tiny hole where there was an eyelet.  

Next I wondered about putting a word or two on but having exhausted myself of spring minded words/quotes I just left it.  It looked so bare though.  Eventually having tried a few things I settled on three diecut flowers making a daisy.  No mention of "Spring" but rabbits are seen in Spring aren't they?

Winter Outside but Spring in my Junk Journal

Oh dear, "the weather outside is frightful" but inside it is not the fire that is delightful but my journalling bits are and today I decided to make a Spring page for Art Journal Journey to cheer me up on a blustery March day and get some of those bits used.

I have been avoiding using the paper that is at the top right but plucking up my brave I tore it in half, sort of corner to corner, and made that my first 'stick down' bit.  Then I had some pink tissue on one of my birthday gifts so a tiny bit of that and some other pink paper saw the most of the page covered.  

One of my friends had bought me a little pin (a kind of Skull Russian Doll) and it was fixed to the little rectangle with the oval aperture that I have put the Tim Holtz Petite Doll on.   A little rose  patterned paper, a Wildflower (cut from another birthday present) and a postage stamp from Oz which was on my birthday card sent by my little sister.

So there we are, another entry for Spring at Art Journal Journey.  have you joined in yet?

Junk Journal meets Art Journal Journey - Spring

Couldn't wait to see what I could do in my Junk Journal for the challenge over at Art Journal Journey.  This month it is "Spring" as chosen by Jo and I immediately thought of the little Junk Journal I have that has people in it.  It was about time I added to that.

My page (something in my head to be honest) wanted me to do something along the lines of "Springtime in Paris" and so I sifted through my yellow stash of papers left over from the month before's challenge settling on a floral one and a gingham one.  Then it was a case of gathering some bits and pieces to decorate with.  I chose a lovely ticket for a show but after I stuck it in found it said 'December' and so it had to be covered up.  Luckily I had some small replica French postage stamps and, as that was the next topic on my Junk Journal list, it worked fine.

A bit more ephemera, two lovely young ladies and the page was finished bar the wording.  I was sure I had a rubber stamp suitable but could not find a single one so it was off to the computer for a bit of assistance.

Hope you like my entry:

Art Journal Journey

Another page in my Junk Journal which can be entered into Rike's challenge over on Art Journal Journey because, once more, I have a yellow background.  I need to use some of my scrapbook paper up in this colour and I must admit it makes me feel sunny when working with it.  I think it is a colour that should be used more often because it is such a happy colour.

Once again I used the Wildflower die to cut some flowers.  This time I wanted to make them with dark colours and I chose to use two burgundy ones and a moss green one.  I felt they worked very nicely against the yellow background.  As you can see I bunched them together and put a single word on - Hedgerow.

There's just a few days left to do another entry and I have plans for it, I just hope I get around to it. 

Yellow Again - Junk Journal

Art Journal Journey with the theme "Yellow" has called me again and there is a link to my previous page in my Junk Journal which focussed on 'feathers' because I have chosen 'wings' for this page.

Another previously coloured yellow page, this time I added a deeper shade of Distress Ink (Fossilised Amber) through one of my favourite stencils.  A rummage through my bag of bits gave me a focus - a butterfly lady and I found one or two other 'yellow' bits to use plus a bit of gold - well it is a kind of yellow isn't it?

A clock face led me to thinking about 'time flying' and so I had a look for some smallish wings to attach.  This time they did not look right left white and so they got a bit of Fossilised Amber on.  I had to outline them with a black pen as they faded into the background and the addition of the word in black seemed to marry the whole page - central picture, outlined wings and word.

So there it is, my latest page for Art Journal Journey.

Art Journal Journey - The Colour Yellow

The Challenge this month on Art Journal Journey has been chosen by Rike and she has cheered us all up by using the colour "Yellow" - perfect for the month of February.

For my entry I used my Junk Journal that I do with Lorraine  but I guess I am adding things we haven't even listed, but I am so enjoying myself.  I had actually painted a white page with some yellow paint, via my roller. so I used Squeezed Lemonade and Scattered Straw on most of the blank bits.

Then it was a rummage through my 'bag of bits' and the perfect piece of cardstock was there - left over from a workshop with Abs using one of his stencils.  Next it was a "Katy's Corner Collage ATC Pack" which revealed a birdcage with two canaries in, a red flower on a partial yellow background and an advert for some Baking Powder.  

I played around with the positioning of the bits and added a feather (Sizzix die) which I decided to leave white.  This led to my stamping the word 'feather' on a strip of yellow paper and it was finished.  i guess I could have gone on and on with other bits but I chose to call it finished.

I have another yellow page in my junk journal and I think I might just play around with that later in the week.  Now what other yellow 'bits' can I find?

WOYWW 504

Can't believe how soon another Wednesday has come around.  Time to have a nosey at some desks and see what various friends have been up to.  Follow this link to WOYWW and Miss Julia and then see the desks of crafters from all over the world.  You can have a morning of fun snooping about, honestly.

Well, thought I would treat you to one of my Junk Journal pages this morning.  This is something I started with my friend Lorraine a few weeks before Christmas but which we both have let slide of late - now a real effort is being made to play catch up and my last three entries in my blog have been solely for my Junk Journal.  Here's the latest:

I am entering this into Art Journal Journey where the theme is Geometric Shapes and I have a triangle, squares and a rectangle on this page.  I have so enjoyed doing this challenge and even though this one was hard to do because of the pain in my back I made it - a real accomplishment.  I just love that stamp I have used.

Now, my beloved has set my Vagabond up in my craft room so that I can do some die cutting electronically - saves him having to turn the handle on one of the others (ha ha).  So that plus my tiny Misti has made it a bit easier to do some crafting.

My actual crafting area, at the moment, is a trolley with some papers on and one or two other bits plus a couple of Junk Journals.

Underneath is a small paper cutter and a bag of bits and pieces whilst on top you can see one of my Junk Journals, some German Scrap, a  pack of bits from Katy's Corner, scissors and a ruler plus a folder which contains all the bits and pieces Lorraine and I gathered together to share for the purpose of making a Junk Journal each.  There's a towel on the handle of my trolley which is for one of my hourly exercises that my new physio has told me to do.  Started on Monday and am now doing more exercises each day to try to help.  She has told me to do some crafting each day too in the hopes that it will help take my mind off the pain.  So far it is a real effort but one has to push the boundaries some times.

Yesterday I had to go for my quarterly Pacemaker check and I was wishing it had been an afternoon appointment but in the afternoon it started snowing heavily - and sticking - so I was glad - we can now stay in for the remainder of the week.  

Don't the trees look lovely with snow on them?  Shot in full colour, not black and white!  This is looking to the road from our utility room door.  Thought it was a nice photo to finish off with.  See you next week!

Geometric Flowers Again

Once again I am entering a last minute page in my journal into the Art Journal Journey Challenge of Alison's which is "Geometric Shapes".  This is my Junk Journal so the page I chose to use was a black one which lent itself perfectly to my white rectangles, which had been stamped and embossed in black.  I should know whose images they are but I simply cannot remember - bet I know someone who can tell me!

I chose five of the smaller rectangles - thistle, sunflower, larkspur, daisy and purple and then I chose the words of William Blake to complete the page with a sprig of a wildflower placed kind of behind the words.  I did think of adding some punched out tiny circles to the words but decided to leave it as was.  After all the challenge did not say you had to have more than one shape for each entry - mine has six rectangles.

Wonder if I have time to do another one before the challenge closes - I am so enjoying myself and the physiotherapist has told me to introduce a little crafting into my daily routine.  Think this is going to be my junk journal of flowers.

Art Journal Journey Again

Done another page in my Junk Journal  today.  This time I used scrapbook paper to make my background starting with a piece of pink spotted paper and adding two Scalene (have I got this right?) triangles.  Then I added a diecut flower in black for contrast.  

Hadn't a clue what the flower is apart from the fact that it is a wild flower so typed out "A stroll in the Meadow" to add to the base of the flower rather than the actual name.  Next I punched five small black circles out and stuck them on one of the triangles. 

So my page has "triangles", "rectangles" where the words are, and "circles" - the black ones not the dots on the pink paper.  And why?  Well, so I can enter it into Alison's challenge on Art Journal Journey which is "Geometric Shapes".  Here it is:

Flower Pages

Found some easy journalling to where I more or less just stick paper on my journal pages to create backgrounds.  This worked just fine for Art Journal Journey theme this month, chosen by Alison, which is Geometric Shapes.  Luckily I had a page in a new journal which had been painted in blue and lime green and I just put a stencil on one edge making some geometric shapes with some white paint and a piece of sponge.

I then outlined the shapes with a black pen that went down the right hand side but left the diamond shapes, top and bottom, as they were.  Next I chose some papers which I thought would tone in although I realised that the background colour was a bit too bright for what was in my "bit envelope".  

I started off with a large rectangle in a muted green and then used a square of cream and cut it in in two because Lorraine and I have "triangle" in our list for our Junk Journal (another page done).  The reverse of the cream paper was a nice green shade and so I cut a circle from it and then a circular letter "P" for Poppy.  The final thing was to stamp a Poppy across the two triangles.

So there it is, my Geometric rendition for Art Journal Journey.  Now could I make another one before the challenge closes?

Junk Journal - Albert - a Happy Ending?

At last we have the final chapter of Marie's Journey.  The observant reader will notice that the train ride took an abnormally long time but I did so enjoy myself playing along with Erika's theme of Vintage or Modern at Art journal Journey.  Big thank you's to Erika for giving me the spurt I needed to do some crafting and dream up "Marie's Journey".

This also covers one of the challenges I have with Lorraine as it contains a clock in the picture.  Just a couple of torn papers also, one depicting a train and one representing a love letter that had been carried in Albert's pocket for almost a full year.  Apart from the word 'beloved' I didn't think the page needed any more as the Tim Holt figure says it all.

There are two blog posts today and there were three yesterday so you might want to scroll down to see what has happened up to now unless you were just waiting to read the 'happy' ending which is right here.

"As Marie neared the huge clock in the station she could not decide which was making the loudest noise, her knocking knees or the beating of her heart.  Then she saw him, Aldrich was there, looking so handsome in his straw boater and wearing what she imagined must be his best suit.  He was sat, directly under the huge clock, his hands casually resting on his knees and a faraway look in his eyes.  But wait ... his face lit up as he saw her and he unfurled his long frame and rushed towards her gathering her up in his big strong arms, carpet bag, hat and all.  He swung her round and round and all her butterflies disappeared, tears streaming from her eyes as she was once more reunited with her beloved."

A short ending to a love story which spanned the miles but at least it was a happy one.  Now will we find out what happens next?  You will have to wait and see.

Junk Journal - Such Joy

"It was a beautiful morning when the train pulled into its final destination in Switzerland.  Maria was so excited, would he be there at the station waiting for her, should she wear her hat, would he recognise her - after-all it had been almost a full year since they had last met.  Yes, they had poured their hearts out to one another in the many letters that had gone to and fro between them, yes she loved him with all of her heart and yes, she was certain of his love for her.  Oh the butterflies rose up in her stomach and did a can-can dance until she felt quite sickly.  'Be still my beating heart' she muttered to herself.  

Just then the Legrand family emerged from their carriage and Yvonne rushed over to wish Marie all the best for her future and Marie said that if there was ever anything she could be of assistance with Yvonne was to get in touch.  Monsieur Legrand tipped his hat and smiled as the boys gathered around him and beckoned for his grand-daughter to join them.  Celine and Celeste walked by and said 'thank you' having had such a lovely time on the train with Marie.  They had so enjoyed their many games of I-Spy.

Then it was time for them all to step from the train and so with her carpet bag in one hand and her hat in the other Marie walked quickly along the platform.  'By the clock' was the arrangement and sure enough, she could see a huge clock face above and to her left.  Knees knocking she made her way across to where her beloved would be waiting."

The observant amongst you may realise that this is virtually the same figure that I have used for Marie - the only difference being that I carefully removed her hat and she now has one hand down by her right hand side and hidden from view.  

The train picture was from a piece of scrapbook paper and the photograph shows some internees arriving at Chateau d'Oex who were given flowers and other gifts by the Swiss people.  "Britain's ambassador to Switzerland at the time, Sir Evelyn Grant Duff, went to Chateau d'Oex to welcome the British soldiers, and wrote in his diary that evening "It is difficult to write calmly about it for the simple reason that I have never before in my life seen such a welcome accorded to anyone although for 28 years I have been present at every kind of function in half the capitals of Europe.  At Lausanne some 10,000 people, at 5 am were present at the station"  

"Our men were simply astounded.  Many of them were crying like children, a few fainted from emotion.  As one private said to me: "God bless you, sir, it's like dropping right into 'eaven from 'ell"

(information taken from a BBC News Report by Imogen Foulkes - Switzerland's Forgotten Role in Saving World War One Lives)

Junk Journal - Music

For this page I wanted some pictures of the war and I came across an article about Switzerland, which, as you probably know, remained neutral during the war.  Apparently between 1916 and 1918 the country accepted 68,000 sick and injured soldiers.  When the first train carrying wounded prisoners crossed the border into Switzerland the rail tracks were lined with cheering Swiss citizens.  There was even a band at the station in Montreux and by the time the train arrived in Lausanne thousands of people were waiting and throwing flowers into the carriages.

I wanted to depict this in some way and so my page contains two photographs copied from the internet, a stamped image of a small chalet high in the mountains and a young man holding a bugle and wearing a Boy Scout type hat.  I hope you don't mind this deviation from the story.

This fits in with one of the challenges for my Junk Journal with Lorraine - "Hat" - the one the young man is wearing.

Junk Journal - Yvonne

"Marie was still intrigued by the old gentleman who had boarded the train at Villefranche sur Saône but no-one seemed to know much about him.  

Leaving the young girls with the sisters she made her way along the train, peeking in each of the compartments as she went along.  Imagine her face when she saw that not only was the old gentleman in one with the four boys but that there were also two others and an older girl.  The whole compartment was full!  Curiosity got the better of her and she stood towards the end of the carriages wondering what on earth was happening.  She did not think there was anything amiss but she could not understand why there was not a female companion with them.

Suddenly the door to the compartment opened and who should come out but the young girl.   This was her opportunity to see what was going on. "Excusè M'amselle" said Marie and then taking the bull by the horns asked if they were all travelling to Switzerland with their Grand Papa.  

They stood in the corridor and chatted at some length whist the young girl told her that Monsieur  Legrand was indeed a benevolent philanthropist who, since his wife had become ill and was in a sanitarium in Geneva, had dedicated much of his life to rescuing young children from the streets of Paris and taking them to a better life in various parts of Switzerland and she was his grand-daughter, Yvonne.  Normally she stayed behind in their home town to be close to her grandmother but as he had a large group to escort through France he had requested that she go with him this time.  

He did not believe in splitting siblings and so the two brothers she was escorting were to go to a rich clockmakers in Lucerne, whilst the two brothers who had boarded the train with him were off to Berne and the other two were to stay around Geneva.  He had placed over forty children up to now and hoped to go on for a few years yet although he did realise that he was tiring with all the travel.  Maybe that was why he wanted the oldest of the boys to stay near to him so he could take over the journeys back and forth as he was certainly street wise having lived on his wits around the barges on the Seine for a number of years."

Well, that is going on a bit but I hope it has kept you amused and I promise I will be bringing the story to an end tomorrow but there is one bit more to the story today from an interesting fact I found out about Switzerland.

Junk Journal - The Dressmaker

For this page I found a copy of an old "Woman's Weekly" magazine that they brought out for some anniversary they had.  How fortunate that the date coincided with the period I had my Vintage pages set in.  I had a great time reading through some of the articles and particularly liked the one featured at the top of this page, especially the promise of a new sewing pattern (see box).  I had some wrapping paper, or is it craft paper, in my big box and I tore a piece off to use on the bottom of this page.

Originally this page was yellow with orange circles on so I had gone over it with Gesso and hen with Tea Dye Distress Ink followed by Gathered Twigs.  Lesson learned - it rubbed off despite trying to heat set the ink.

I found two ladies who had long dresses on and decided that they could be sisters for the purpose of my story:

"Marie and the two little girls, Celine and Celeste, decided to spend the day looking out on the countryside and having the occasional little game of 'I Spy' to help pass the time.  At one point they were joined in the viewing carriage by two young women.  Sisters Germaine and Madeleine Martin who were quite well travelled having spent some time in England where Germaine had learned her trade, dressmaking.  In fact she had held quite a prestigious job in one of the larger stores in London where her younger sister had joined her some three years previously. 

They now were hoping to set up their own shop just outside Paris but first wanted to travel to Switzerland to see what Geneva had to offer in the way of fashion.  Marie and the little ones were delighted when they were shown some of the latest fashion magazines from England and, although they could not read the articles, Germaine and Madeleine took great pleasure in informing them what the magazines were saying - of course, the pictures were self explanatory.

The little ones thought it quite rude to discuss 'Chemise and Knickers' and it brought about a fit of giggles from both of them."

Tomorrow we have to begin rounding the story up as it must end on Friday - will Marie meet her own true love and will they live happily ever after?

Now to enter this into Art Journal Journey once more, if only I had found this challenge earlier.

Junk Journal - The Old Man

"It was late that evening, rain falling steadily, when the train made a stop at Villefranche sur Saône and an old gentleman boarded.  He was very well dressed and sporting the most magnificent moustache but what was strange about him was the fact that he had four young boys with him, all quite differently dressed.  Two of the boys, the youngest ones in fact, were obviously brothers as they were dressed identically but the other two were - misfits!

One of them, the eldest of the four, was much more poorly dressed and he seemed quite protective of the youngest of the two brothers as he constantly had his arm about him whilst the fourth young boy obviously came from a more genteel family.  He had the saddest of faces and looked quite close to tears.  Marie was fascinated and wanted to find out more about these five latest passengers."

For this page I chose to just use a coat of Gesso lightly over the black card and used a stamp all over to imitate rain.  I was trying to make the page look a little sombre.  Luckily I found a page from an atlas which fit in quite nicely and chose Villefranche sur Saône as the place for my stop simply because I liked the sound of it.  

Now where on earth is this story taking me?  To be honest I am not quite sure but I am enjoying myself and cannot wait to upload it and join in, once again, with Art Journal Journey - how I wish I had found this blog challenge at the beginning of the month.

Junk Journal - Breakfast

Continuing with our Junk Journal Lorraine and I were now ready for our second challenge which is to include a tag.  I took a manilla tag and covered it with bits of paper from a dictionary (read the story, the writing is supposed to signify the newspapers arriving on the train) and then went over it with some blue and some green Distress Inks.  Actually what was left on the Ink Tools was enough to just give it that little touch of colour needed to take the starkness away from the Gesso I had used.  I found some cut out Sunflowers in my drawer and added some beads for the centres giving them a thick coat of Glossy Accents to make sure they stayed well on.  A sprig with some leaves and a couple of figures from Tim Holt and we were ready to continue with our story of Marie and once more enter it into Art Journal Journey where Erika has chosen 'Vintage or Modern'.

"Marie woke feeling restless that first morning on the train having spent part of the night tossing and turning whilst she thought of her dear sister Emmeline.  She began to feel guilty that she was escaping the brunt of the war whilst those she held dearly were suffering.  Still it had been Emmeline's choice to do what she was doing but there were other members of her family that she would worry about for years to come.

Mamma had persuaded her to make the journey to safety because of her heart condition which made her a little on the delicate side, and Papa had promised he would take care of her mother until his dying breath.  She could only hope that the love she had with her intended was going to be as strong as that of her parents.

She made her way to the breakfast car, not glancing in any of the other carriages for fear of whom she might see.  On arrival in the buffet section she was seated across the aisle from a delightful family, the Bertholet's, who had the most enchanting two young daughters, Celine and Celeste.  It was lovely to have someone to chat with and after breakfast she and the two young girls watched through the window as the beautiful countryside with its bright yellow sunflowers sped by.

What was the future going to hold for those dear young girls wondered Marie.  She only hoped that they would all reach safety before too long.  News of what was happening in the war was reaching them via the newspapers that were collected at the various stations as they travelled on and it was not good news."

(I am no historian and my geography is weak so this is purely the ramblings of a Junk Journaller and not to be taken too seriously - Enjoy.)

Junk Journal - The Sister

Well I got a bit carried away with this and did another page - nothing to do with the list of what to include with Lorraine.  I just had a moment (sleepless one) the other night when I could fit it in quite nicely and so here we have Marie's thoughts.

The train she is on is a 'sleeper' and that first night, after embracing the 'glow' of the thought of being reunited with her love she began to think of those she had left behind.  Especially her sister Emmeline.  It had been heartbreaking leaving her family not knowing how her big sister, who was a nurse on the battlefields of Flanders, was.  

And so the story goes on and I am once again entering this into Art Journal Journey where Erika has chosen "Vintage or Modern" as the topic for November.  Just a week to go so I had better think of another page reasonably quickly for this to progress.