Monday 2 January 2012

Dancing in the Rain

Here is my January page for Kate Cranes art calendar challenge


As you can see, it looks quite different from yesterdays photos which were really just to illustrate the background technique I had used.

All my little squares were cut from scraps and boy did I have to rummage for those. I did learn that I generally don't use or buy lilac and purple shades of stash, I really delved into the depths to find enough to finish the page.

But, as it clearly is not a colour I generally opt for, I immersed myself in the challenge of making it work for my pages.

I originally planned to do those quirky images people are using all over their art journals, but if I am completely honest with myself, I don't really like crows on heads, pointy hats and mismatched body parts, they really aren't me, I am sorry, they look fine in other peoples books, Dyan Reavely and Kate  make them look absolutely amazing, but when I do them they look like scientific experiments gone badly wrong - ooooops !!!  

So I am going to remain true to myself and allow my own style to furnish my calendar.



The girlie started out as a black silhouette and initially she was holding the brolly over her head, but when I laid her out onto my completed page she looked wrong and far too dreary, so I paper pieced her and removed the brolly to position over the right side of the page.

I actually love the way the repositioning of the brolly worked out as the page now fits the quote really well.

The quote along the right hand side page reads :

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it is learning to dance in the rain

So she now looks like she is wantonly flinging her brolly and dancing in the rain (although I did have to perform a little reconfiguration of her feet to make her look like she was dancing)



The days of the week and the quote were computer generated and inked to blend in with the other elements

My daily journalling squares were daubed with white paint lightly to blend in a little better with the background and also to make the eventual journalling stand out more, I added numbers to each day with a journalling pen

The title and year were created with letter stickers.



And so the art calendar begins - I wonder if I can keep it up for the whole year. 
I hope so. 
I LOVED completing these pages - thankyou for the inspiration Kate.
 It is not too late to join in the fun, Kate's website is linked in my sidebar if you fancy giving it a whirl ! One of the really wonderful parts of this project is that I am also doing it with some of my closest friends. Anita, Nicki, Margaret and Marie are also joining me, we plan to meet up and work on the calendars together throughout the year.

Sketch 365


Today I practiced 3/4 faces for my Lifebook class ( more on that later in the week)

The photo above is just a really quick basic outline, I was trying out shape and proportion mainly. I have been happy sketching faces front-on for a while but profiles and slightly offset angles are something I really need to work on. I am awaiting the delivery of my new watercolour paper so I won't be completing the actual piece until later in the week, but it is good to practice.

I promised yesterday to talk a little more in depth about my "One little word"

This is a project started by the amazingly talented Ali Edwards, you can find her blog HERE

The word I have chosen for the year is POSITIVITY

I am not a negative person generally, in fact, I am pretty optimistic most of the time, but positivity has so many nuances, I aim to explore them all through the year and return to the word to inspire me in my journalling, blog writing, creativity and personal life, I will share these on here as I go along.

Blogging took place pretty late last night, in fact I was still messing with photos and sketching ideas until 4.30 in the morning, naughty me!  In doing so, I totally forgot to add the 'afters' of my operation  - CLEAR CRAFT AREA


You can scroll down through a couple of posts to see the 'befores'

I emptied every single paper tray and drawer and sorted through their contents, most items were tidied, sorted into like groups and replaced in a tidier manner, a few objects were trussed in groups and sorted for donation ( mainly to Amy for her art and textiles coursework). So I did manage to rehome a few items.



An empty desk and a visible printer ( previously buried)



Completely clear window sills, floor and tidy drawers !!!

AJ said "Well done mum ! - are you going to keep it like that ?"

I had to admit  "Noooooo it will probably last about 3 days !"

Oh well, it CAN look tidy.

36 comments:

  1. Love your calendar page, wonderful. Your craft space is so tidy!!

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  2. A fantastic calendar page, it is my favourite of all the January pages on Kate's blog so far.

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  3. Love your calendar pages:0)

    Wow!! How tidy is that craft space now???

    Nicki.xxx

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  4. Ooh this is luvverly :-) love that you are doing it in your own way, and it looks fab! Thanks for joining the challenge and good luck with the next 364 days!

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  5. Your page is so beautiful, the soft colours look fab! And purple is a difficult colour (for me at least!) so an extra 'wow' for using that :) It's good that you've stayed true to your own style with your page as the end result is stunning!

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  6. Love your page and I'm green with envy at your tidy room.

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  7. Your journal page looks fab and I'm so glad you are keeping true to yourself its just perfect looking forward to seeing each month oh and a fab craft space but can you find anything!!!! lol Chanelle xxx

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  8. What a beautiful tidy craft space, I must admit I like my craft room to be tidy I can't work in a mess.
    Your calendar page is wonderful,so delicate and pretty it's good that you are doing your own thing and developing your own style, looking forward to the following months.

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  9. I LOVe what you did with your calendar. It is so perfect! Can't wait to see more. I wish my area looked a fifth as good as yours. I too have a white carousel and mine is spreading all over the sides !

    Well done. Thanks so much for taking the time to say hi on my blog - much appreciated - consider it a good deed for the day !

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  10. Gorgeous Tracey.
    Well done on the mega tidying!
    Shhh, can't see it lasting long, lol.
    xxx

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  11. Well if this is an example of your own style I say a huge keep it up. It's wonderful, love the colours and the way you've muted them down with the white paint, your girl is terrific, wish I could draw like you. Can;t wait to see Febs page. xx

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  12. Fantastic calendar page, love the scrapbook style and your girl is great! LOVE your craft room, what an amazing space to create in x Thanks for stopping by my blog, I look forward to seeing more of your 2012 pages x

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  13. brilliant calender hun just love love your style,love your craft room too,happy new year to you and your family hugs cheryl xxxxxx

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  14. Love the calendar page-I'm new to this and it is great to see what other people are doing. Happy New Year!
    Margaretx

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  15. Love the calendar page-I'm new to this and it is great to see what other people are doing. Happy New Year!
    Margaretx

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  16. wow what a lovely journal page! everything works so well together, yummi! happy 366 journaling days!

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  17. Love the page and yes I agree I just can't get the crows, hats etc although i would like to see your medical experiments gone wrong! jo xx

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  18. Great January pages, I LOVE that background, brrrrrr!!!!

    Well done for sorting out your craft area - makes me realise how much mine needs doing!

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  19. Love your calendar pages, and your clean style. But I can't bear to look at your tidy craft room - heeeeeelp! Valerie

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  20. Love your calendar page -- especially the girlie and her umbrella :-) Enjoy the challenge and your word.

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  21. Wow Tracey... Loving the sketch for life book, and the Kate crane, and well everything! You really are such a talent to know. Love ya. xxx

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  22. u have such a cute and lovely craft space, mine is in a mess and things are everywhere and well I will need to tidy things up soon. By the way, do you want to swap and ATCs with me privately?
    Please let me know at yuzzyusof@gmail.com

    Happy New Year!

    Cheers
    yuzz

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  23. Hiya Tracey, Happy New Year to you x
    Absolutely loving your jan page, the girly on the side is just stunning, and i like that you added the days of the week too x

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  24. Wow! Fantastic page, love everything about it! BTW when I get a craft room in our new flat I have feeling it won't look as fantastic as yours does!

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  25. Just love the colors in your calendar page! And the girlie is so beautiful.

    Have a nice (creative) week! :-))

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  26. love the images and colours for january. your craft space looks too tidy! wish mine was!

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  27. Fabulous calender, cant wait to see your face finished

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  28. This is fabulous Tracey, I love your painted background, and your brolly girl is brilliant - it's all the better for doing your own thing. Your craft room looks amazing, I'm deeply envious lol x

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  29. I love your calendar page! The muted colors are so pretty and I love the contrast between the darker colors and the lighter elements like the text bits you used to make the year squares and lovely lady. It really gives it a lot of depth. Can't wait to see it all filled in!

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  30. I love the look of your page! Purple/lilac, etc are my favorite colours ;)and it seems to me you used Glitz paper. I love them!!
    The girl is gorgeus! I also took a look at your sketch below and it is amazing. I can tell you because I also try to draw and maybe it takes a day for me to achieve such a beautiful face! :D

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  31. Tracey thanks for visiting my blog and your lovely comment. I really like your January page, everything on the page works so well together.
    Big Love
    AJ

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  32. Great calendar page! Really like the girl!

    And...the craft room looks great!

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  33. oh I love your calendar - that sassy girl is perfect and the colors are divine! Yours was one of the links I looked at before deciding to join in on this fun! Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting! Let's hope we can keep this up!

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  34. I adore your calendar.. the paper pieced lady is fantastic! And your clean working area is a true inspiration. Loved finding your blog. Am off to be your newest follower...

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