Goodbye to another year...

I've been creating monthly Calendar Art Journaling pages thanks to the amazing Kate Crane now for almost two years. I'm not always a person who sticks to things so I love that this is pure enjoyment for me. I love diaries and I love art journaling and this way I can enjoy both worlds.
Each November, the month of my birthday, I create two separate pages, one for the days prior to my birthday, and one for the days afterwards - it's my "new year" - when I say goodbye to those things I no longer want in my life and look forward to welcoming all the things I want and need.
This year I chose to use my two favourite colours to represent 36 and 37. Age 36 has been a very dark and difficult year, struggling with my own depression and ME and trying to cope with my husband's personality disorder and all the darkness and pain that can bring. I'm literally tired of struggling and so I'm saying goodbye to that with this page - in purple.

The main image at the top holds a deeply personal meaning to me, she is my struggling soul to whom I'm wishing good-night.

"November" was stamped onto old book paper with Darkroom Door stamps. The quotes are from Lisa's Altered Art on Etsy

I used Mod Podge to roughly transfer this printed image, to me it is a ghostly apparition of a lady with her back to me and it says, "softy, I end my song". This represents the ending of Song/Year 36 wrapped softly in purple velvets and put down to sleep.

And soon I will move into my 37th year. I used turquoise to represent everything about this, turquoise is my idea of freedom, soaring through the air, the ocean - alive, free and able.

The quotes say, "My art is the song my soul is singing. This is my song" - Song 37. The Stampotique figure here is a representation to me of someone not conforming to social standards of "beauty", someone being themselves and having every right to exist no matter how they look/who they are.

The metal numbers are Finnabair, the quote Capture the Magic was from a quote sheet on Etsy and the main image it sits on was a piece of scrap I had in my drawer from years ago from practising ink blending and stamping.

The gorgeous glitter is Cosmic Shimmer Texture Paste, the flowers are Prima and the metal embellishment is Finnabair again.

These pages are deeply personal to me, I don't know that anyone else will understand them, but as long as I do that's what matters :o)

Thanks for looking

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Happy Halloween

The September Card Swap on UKS hosted by the lovely Mags is all about Halloween this month, I don't celebrate halloween as such but I do love the art and crafts surrounding this time of year.  Here's my cards:

The images are from the Octopode Factory. I stamped on purple card using Finnabair's Vintage Vanity stamps and then made some gelli prints using orange, purple and green paints and cut strips for the background.

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Junk Journal 3

The lovely Rebecca has set up another Junk Journal swap so here's my third attempt at creating one:
The cover was made with gelli prints, paints, texture paste, stencils etc...

Altered tag...

Scrap...

Scan of a vintage ledger:

Painted page with gold texture paste and an image that I had that seemed to match it!

Scrap... 

Dina Wakely inspired painting over scrap paper

Scanner didn't want to scan entire pages but I collaged book pages and painted randomly on watercolour paper here:

random doodling on watercolour paper...

 

it didn't want to scan this one!

piece of my favourite paperartsy paper that sadly they don't make any more :(

More paint, stamping and texture paste

more Dina Wakely inspired pages, painted over some black and white paper I had...

Scraps...

Large piece cut down into four. Created with paints, stamps, inks, sprays, stencils..

and finally - the back cover...

Can't wait to see what I get back

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