Ponder

pon·der

pändər/

verb

think about (something) carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion.

Stressful times and too many responsibilities have made me keenly aware of how, under these circumstances, I lose my patience and control and can be down-right mean to others.

I took a desperately needed day off yesterday to ponder my situation and produced a journal page that was very therapeutic. I can't change my ways overnight but plan to make a real effort to manage this. 

Click for larger, lightbox view

I enlarged a photo from the collection I inherited from my great aunt Esther (that's her on the right) and cut out the background. The image on the left was found on the net. I tore it into strips, pasted it down then tinted it with colored pencils. I finger painted the background of the page, added some stamped masking and washi tapes and journaled around the border.

It felt really good to have this time to play and I can't wait to get back to the quiet and solitude of my studio. It's a luxury I cherish more than I ever realized.

Turning Point

Today I am pleased to share some exciting news (for me, anyway) along with a journal page made from magazine scraps.

It features a photo, taken at a drinking fountain in a park in Chicago at the turn of the last century, of my two great aunts, Esther and Ada, and some girl friends (click the photos to see a larger version).

Collaging scraps from magazines really triggers my creativity--there are so many odd and interesting images to be found and I highly recommend it when you need a little "play" time. I use a glue stick as it works well to keep the thin pages from wrinkling.

I've enjoyed paper crafting for quite a while now, stamping, pasting and coloring but the world of die-cutting was never a part of it.

However, the introduction of some mixed media thinlits by a famous craft designer has finally compelled me to enter this arena and I've ordered a Big Shot machine and some dies!

Thankfully, the craft blog world is full of fabulous tutorials that I plan to review because I don't know much about die-cutting but I'm very excited just the same and hopeful that the pleasure of using them will be worth the investment. I'll keep you posted... ☺

Legacy

Every book has a story and this one began when I pasted the pages together and cut-out its center.

Its final chapter ends with a stint in the Tim Holtz Idea-ology booth at the 2016 Craft and Hobby Association Convention in Anaheim, California (CHA).

Photo Courtesy Paula Cheney via Instagram

It features three of Tim's new Idea-ology products for this year--a Vignette Box,

some Gilded Accents Remnant Rubs and the Dapper Paper Stash (cigar box strips used along the box front edges).

I also used some old favorites like the Wallflower Paper Stash, a rather famous Found Relative, some Thrift Shop Ephemera and Letterpress.

My idea for stamping onto the letterpress faces came from some artwork by Paula Cheney that's featured on Tim's packaging for the new Framed Panel. If you haven't seen The Flamboyant Mr. Albert (and Paula's great tutorial) here's the link.

The vintage postage stamps are courtesy of my Great Aunt Esther who was a collector and left them to me. One is from Argentina and the other is Belgium.

It was a thrill to be asked to contribute artwork for Tim's booth display because (as so many of you know) working with his products just invites creativity. To see my other CHA projects, here's a link.

Photo Courtesy of Mario Rossi via Instagram

So that's the story with the following epilogue: This book will soon return to anonymity and never again be seen in such magical surroundings!

- The End -

Cultivate

I've made a lot of nature-inspired tags lately so why stop now? Prompted by this week's SSS Monday blog challenge "family" theme, I found this excellent photo from my great aunt's collection.

I don't know their names but my relatives lived on a farm in Nebraska and I think it's fun that all the boys are barefoot and wearing bib overalls. In the original photo they were standing on a front porch.

With stalks of corn and advice taken from a gardening manual, this tag was made by creating a background with distress inks, cutting and pasting a copy of the photo, drawing and painting the plants, and hand-lettering the text.

Esther, Magda and Ada

From left to right, allow me to introduce Esther, Magda and Ada. Esther and Ada are my great aunts and Magda was their friend. The original photo had them standing in front of a train, ready to depart on their next great adventure.

They were all spinsters who worked full-time, saved their money to take nice vacations, and they went everywhere! I have inherited all their photos and postcards of places they visited and know they were very well traveled.

Born at the turn of the last century, they lived far away from me and I only had the chance to meet one briefly (Esther). Whenever I go through my collection, I always wish I had known more about them.

I chose to use this particular photo for the Monday blog challenge at SSS where this week's theme is faces.

It's just a simple cut and paste, with some ink and paint markings to embellish. The background paper was distressed with sand paper and Picket Fence stain.

As I post this I can't help but wonder if they would appreciate me sharing their faces on the internet. I think not.