One (WO)Man's Treasures ...

(click image for original event details)

How does one decide which is trash and which is treasure?

I'm fairly certain it's all a matter of perspective ... so, these are the treasures that I chose:

Stump Pass State Park (FL) Part 1

(Click above for original blog post dated 2.10.08)

Soul Journal - Days 7, 8 & 9 ... Plus a Charmed Sneak Peak

(Click above for original blog post dated 9.04.08)

... and no, this one is not a reference to cranes ...

&

An Earlier Retrospective ... of sorts

(Click above for original blog post dated 11.11.08)

Thank you for stopping by to see what I unearthed! I hope you enjoyed your visit.

I'm off to do some treasure hunting myself ... if you happen to see the girl with the cheesy ear-to-ear grin looking a bit giddy it's probably me. :)

(Click above to be directed to Seth's post ing of crazy good treasure hunting

A special note of thanks to Seth for his terrific idea!!

Soul Journal - Days 7, 8 & 9 ... Plus a Charmed Sneak Peek

Did you think Sadie and I had thrown in the towel on our Soul Journals? Nope, just put them on pause for a bit.

Day 7

We were instructed to journal (in small writing with a ball point pen) on two pages using the prompt, "I forgot to tell you". Once done, we covered the entire two pages in tape (Sadie and I used plain masking tape, blue painters tape and duct tape). Somehow I forgot to take a photo at the completion of Day 7 ... oh well.

Day 8

We sanded the tape to scuff the surface, put a light coat of gesso on and then painted (with a dry brush) and wiped off the paint - I used yellow and pink to make some sort of seriously Easter egg-ish washy finish. After the paint dried, we sanded the pages some more. This is how mine ended up:

oh! we also picked a flower and pressed it somewhere in the book ... hmmm ... wonder where it is.

Day 9

Time to revisit the pages started on Day 6 ... we were to add a lighter color (I actually chose three - magenta, a really light powdery blue and a glitter paint) - wiping and dabbing along the way. Once the paint was to a point that we liked, we had to grab a pen or marker and write: 8 words describing your pictures, circle one picture, draw a messy square around four, draw a dotted line around two and draw a broken "stitch" line around one. Work them till satisfied ... I started off with my handy dandy fine point Sharpie. I thought I was done when I finished the prompts ... UNTIL ... I saw the white Uniball that Sandy had sent along with the Mad Hatter Winning Package of goodness ... oh, I do believe that I am in LOVE ... ok, here's Day 9 fini:

and a close-up to boot:

... and it should also be noted that Sarah asked how many of us found and put together the word "ART" ... uh, guilty (yes, I have been known to state the obvious on occasion)

And for the Charming sneak peak

... this is where I am with the Michelle original designs/glass/Sculpy prototypes that I am working on for possible inclusion in Amber Dawn's latest Black and White Charm Swap:

Not so easy to photograph ... If they don't end up working out (or making the cut for the exchange) I know that I can easily turn them into little tiny magnets ... something about them appeals to me.

... Remember ... you can click on any image to see a larger version ...

... and all Large Itallic words (except these two) are actually links ...

Here's hoping all is well in your little universe!

Soul Journal - Days 2 thru 6

Sadie and I have been spending the last few nights working on our Soul Journals. Once we had finished our writing (today I feel ... ) we covered all the writing in a fairly thick coat of Gesso. Some of the words were still visible, but it didn't matter ... the next step was Claiming Our Journals. On the first page we wrote "This Book Belongs To" and our full names over and over and over ... I can't say that I am pleased with mine (makes me feel like I have a muddy mess of a soul ...), but I'm taking one of those brave steps and sharing it just the same ...

(it helps to remember that the pages are not set in stone. I can revisit, rework, add, modify, and/or change the pages anytime I feel like it ... I seriously think it needs some sparkle and at least a little less random kindergarten scribble).

After marking our territory, we built some Soul Armor. I like the direction this one is going. I do want to add some color ... fear seaps in (ok, completely soaks me to the marrow) ... step away from the book! I added words, written a whole bunch of "I choose" statements, added a touch of pink ... more color can wait (anyone want to give me a crash course in color?!?)

Here's the 2 page spread:

Sadie was ready for the next step, so on we went. Sarah provided a list of 24 things (a smile, a hand, an eye the same color as our own, etc.) that we were to find in magazines. We spent some time pouring through a bunch and called it a night. The next day we painted a dark wash over two pages (previously collaged and Gessoed - is Gessoed a word?). Once this step was done we cut our pictures into 1" squares and attached them in grid patterns ... eyeballed. Sadie opted to do a modified design; her pages look great! I added six more images (30 total) so I could have five rows of the pretty little pictures.

Here's where we are:

and a couple of details to check out:

Click on any image to see a larger view

For more information or to get the actual promts we are following, please visit Caspiana - she starts talking about the Soul Journal project on July 13th in a post titled "S. Journaling".

Good for the Soul ... Journal, Anyone?

A while ago Kathryn from Collage Diva celebrated a milestone birthday - she turned 40!! - when she discovered that this year I celebrated my 40th too, she wanted to send me a little somethin ... look at the sweetness that I received this past Saturday:

The lovely collage is printed on Chinese Dupion Silk.

The gorgeous lighthouse photo of Marshall Point Lightin Maine

is a Kathryn Antyr original photograph.

AND

The little moo card is simply adorable! - click on any photo to see more details.

Then today I came home to another piece of mail love:

How sweet is that packaging?

- uh, not the flowers ... I added those to keep the address's private -

Inside was a print from Elizabeth Beck of e.beck.artist

:

She had a contest (check it out here) & I lucked into being one of the winners (for asking the most questions - lol). I was able to pick out one of her prints - to see the set, visit her Etsy Store here - and have it customized ... I asked for "happy is as happy does" ... you know something ... I'm glad I did. When I look at this print I'll be riminded of that simple thought and who knows ... maybe I'll just do more happy.

Here's a detail:

(remember, you can click on any image for a larger version)

Finally, Sadie and I have taken the plunge and are making our very own Soul Journals.

First a little background ... Kathryn had mentioned the soul journal project and then within a day or so I saw it again on Grrl+dog's blog ... they had come across Sarah from Caspiana and were joining her challenge. Part of me wanted to jump in, too, but I resisted. The next thing I know nearly a month had passed. Well, I recieved just the nudge I needed (in the form of - "do it anyway!") ... so, I am ... and Sadie is, too. I went back to Sarah's original post ...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Soul Journaling-

I’ve been dreaming about a project I’d like to do with you all for quite some time. It is part journaling, part mixed media or visual journal. I have been mesmerized by all the visual journaling that I have come across lately. I have lots of trouble starting projects like this…the ever feared blank page and not knowing what to write. In good old fashioned creative writing they use prompts to help you get started. So why not start there? I’d like to give you daily prompts to journal along with me. There will be both writing and mixed media prompts. You can choose to follow me exactly or break free on your own and just use my idea as a starting point, it’s up to you. So without further a due… I’m challenging you to start a Journaling journey with me!

Sadie and I went out and bought our books (Sadie has given me the OK to talk about her part in things, but I am not allowed to show the pictures of her progress). She picked out a red crocodile-looking-leatherish book and I picked this one:

Once we had our books picked out we were supposed to glue random Dictionary or book pages to the first 3 pages in your journal. They could be ripped or hanging off the edges or neatly trimmed. We don't have any old dictionary's or books to use ... instead we printed a bunch of random stuff and collaged the pages (how does one count the pages? is front one, back two, next three? or is the spread considered a page ... after this first part, I beleive each side is a page on its own ...). Here are my three (double page spreads) collages:

I thought it was interesting that Sadie and I gravitated to a lot of the same stuff.

Next: start writing on the first page over your dictionary pages. Start with the prompt: “Today I feel…” Write for at least 5 minutes and circle or rewrite any words that catch your eye in your text that describe how you are feeling. If you run out of things to say, just say what’s in your head…”today I feel stupid for listening to Sarah about this whole journaling thing…” Rewrite the prompt “today I feel…”every time you get stuck or start a new thought . Write for as long or on as many pages as you want.

so, we did ... here are two of my pages all written over (double page spreads):

That was it for the day. The next prompt is to gesso over all the written pages and to CLAIM our books (we're already there, but I don't have photo's at this time ... and am not really sure that I am quite done with the first attempt at claiming my book - Sadie, on the other hand, has claimed hers and it looks REALLY terrific). Tonight we'll be starting on Day 3. As soon as I post this, we'll be picking out our armor!

If you've ever found yourself wanting to work on an altered journal, but didn't know where to begin, this just might be the thing for you ... in case you didn't click the link above, here's the first Soul Journal Post from Sarah ...

... happy is as happy does!