Miniature Journal Round Robin

I was invited to join a private Miniature Journal Round Robin through Teresa (Treez), who happens to also be a member of the Advanced ATCs UK Yahoo Group.  The participants of the round robin are:  Alison Brandist (UK), Valerie Brincheck (USA), Joni Owens (USA), Suze Urquhart (UK), Sandra Zengler (Scotland), Treez Malyon (UK) and of course myself all the way Down Under in Australia.  The journal is the smallest canvas I've had to work on to date, with a tiny size of approximately 2" x 2", with another inch as the border.

I managed to finish all my pages this weekend, so they will be sent all over the world tomorrow and here are the themes and the person I'll be sending my page to:

MY THEME IS CHILDHOOD

Each participant must create their piece with a picture of at least their head as a child.  My piece has a picture of my head as I sleep.  The background is a scrap piece of baby wipe with leftover paint on it ... I love it when I can recycle items.

VALERIE - BIRDS

I received the background piece of a dictionary or encyclopedia page with definitions of the Eagle from someone I traded with in the past, I used Tim Holtz stamps and added the image of a bald headed eagle and a feather attached with a small stapler.  This is quite a simple layout, but I just love it.

ALISON - PAST TIMES

Ali wanted her Past Times theme in Tim Holtz Style.  Now I don't know Tim Holtz' style very well, so I figured if I use Ranger products and stamps, I'd be on my way.  The image is a real tin type gem photo that I picked up on eBay recently.

JONI - BEACH / SEASHORE

The blue background is a leftover piece I created using the credit card technique and I think the vibrancy of the colour is just perfect for this beach scene.

SUZE - WINGED TIME

I have wanted to use this paper with the clocks all over it and Winged Time was the perfect medium.  Again another simple layout, but I felt if I added more to the piece the simplicity of the message would be overpowered.

SANDRA - CATS OR DOGS

I decided to use a picture of my beautiful Beau when he was a little puppy for Sandra's theme.  I adore my pooch and he's still just a cute, just a lot bigger.

TREEZ - OLDE WORLDE

A treasure map where the X marks the spot with a pirate, is pretty Olde Worlde.

When I've received all the pages for my miniature journal and I've finished the cover, I'll be sure to post again to show you how everyone has interpreted my theme.

"No matter how small and unimportant what we are doing may seem, if we do it well, it may soon become the step that will lead us to better things."
~Channing Pollock, Actor, Writer and Composer~

Magazine Reduction Challenge

The uber-talented Jade Adams ran a challenge/trade on her blog for players to try a technique created by Vivian Young McDonald called Magazine Reduction.  I decided to play and here's my creation and Jade's piece.  I learned a few things, like, more ripping, less glue and I had to be careful not to go through the final magazine page layer ... it was fun though and I can now use it as a digital background for something else I create in the future.

Rouge Reduction - Magazine Reduction technique by Diana.

Sea Magazine Collage - Magazine Reduction Technique by Jade Adams.

"We turn not older with years, but newer every day."
~Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, American Poet~

Arting, crafting and getting away ...

I don't know how you all do it, I've been working full-time for the past 2.5 weeks in a temp contract after not working for 3.5 years and I honestly believe you need to build up your stamina to work full-time ... so I decided to let the agencies know that I wasn't available for 2 weeks, 'cause I needed 2 weeks to recover ... LOL!

Anyway, there has been some arting and crafting in that time, I just haven't posted about it all, so I'll start with my latest ATCs and then I'll finish with the fantastic weekend I just spent in Hervey Bay ... so grab a cuppa, this post might be a long one, but I plan on adding pictures more than words.

These ATCs were made for a local swap in Helensvale where we meet face-to-face at a local shopping centre.  Usually a theme is set and also no theme.  Last month's theme was Vintage Baby and I didn't make them so I did for this month's swap.  This month's theme is Winged Things and the Double Trouble ATC is for the no theme component of the swap.  I didn't actually attend the swap, so the lovely Kyla swapped my cards out for me.

Double Trouble, inspired by Jade Adams with the doodling around the images and the images from Itkupilli.

Winged Things ATC, image courtesy of Valerie Brincheck.

Vintage Baby ATC.  Kyla and I got the matt-board frames made ourselves by our local framer, how cool is that.

The reason I didn't attend the swap on Sunday is because I'd booked in to do a Journalling into Fun workshop with the gorgeous Nic Hohn who I met at the Creative Soul Retreat in March this year.  I decided to make a weekend of it, so on Friday after work, my husband Ferg and my pooch Beau jumped in the car and made the 5 hour journey from Brisbane to Burrum Heads (near Hervey Bay) with one pit-stop for food and for Beau to stretch his legs too.  Our little apartment at Burrum Sands was approximately 20 steps away from the beach and it was the most perfect quiet place to bring a dog away for a holiday.  On the Saturday we went for a 3.5 hour walk on the beach and boy did my calves feel it the next day.

The beach after high-tide as it's going out.

Beau can play ball forever.

A little downtime under a mangrove.

Low tide ... where's all the water gone?

Burrum Sands view from the Beach.

Nic in teaching mode.

My Creative Footprint - my first ever journal page ... I love it.

The facing Page.

and here's the real thing ... the foot that is.

Splat Girl - paint and magazine images.

Created with marbles.

Hard at work.

The lovely Nic and me.

All of us with our gorgeous art journals.

And to top of the most perfect weekend, Nic presented me with a handpainted canvas as a gift for travelling to her workshop .... Paper Bag Angel ... and I just adore it.  A big thanks to Nic for not only being a fantastic teacher, but also for sending me some photos through for my blog ... my camera ran out of battery

The End!

"Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it."
~Jesse Owens, 1913-1980, Gold Medal Track Athlete~