March Journalling

I've finished my journal pages for March with days to spare (that's a minor achievement for me at the moment!).  I created four pages, each with a separate theme around the word "dream", as instructed - with mixed results.  Not altogether happy with what I've done, but there you are, never mind - it's all about the playing with colours and words, images and inks, getting messy and losing myself for a short while.  I hope that, as spring is upon us and we head off into summer, I might lose some of the gloominess that's been hanging around for far too long and have some fun instead.

Dream Definition

On this page we had to add a definiton of the word "dream" - I know what I was trying to do with this page, add random images all over to illustrate the bizarreness of our dreams, where nothing is linked but then again it is - I used water-soluble wax pastels, inks, Glimmer Mist, stamps, Stickles, Dimensional Pearls - ended up far more fussy looking than I intended.  Plus I'd written all over the page as well and toned it down with some gesso, but still not happy with how it shows through - I don't like my writing (must do better next time!)

Dreams of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

We had to add the words Dreams of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow to our page and then write about something for each one.  I began my page with a coloured background using the water-soluble wax pastels again (a new acquisition that I'm enjoying playing with at the moment).  I adhered some torn out sheets from an old diary to the page and blended the edges with more wax pastels; I could then write about the dreams on these.  Added some stamps for illustration and a silvery moon with a sponge dabber.

The Dreamcatcher

Ali asked us to create a dreamcatcher on our page plus add an image to represent the dreamcatcher.  I cheated a bit (well, a lot really) as instead of drawing out or beading my own dreamcatcher, I dug out an old earring I had in the shape of a dreamcatcher (the other one has also been used in another art journal I worked on).  I've been wanting to use this image for quite some time as she looks to be such a wise old woman and thought this was the ideal page for her.  I love the colours on this page.

Dream Song Lyrics

We had to choose and illustrate some lyrics from any "dream" song we liked.  I chose these words from "Dream a Little Dream" by the Mamas 'n Papas as they kept going round and round in my head - seems this has been a popular choice for several others too.  I painted the background with acrylic paints and I've tried to keep it very basic to echo the Sixties style.  I'm much happier with my writing this time, even though my spacing was a little out here and there.

For April, we're going to be working on seven pages to illustrate each of the Chakra energies of the body, so that'll be a bit of a challenge!

Mia loves being in the spare room with me when I'm crafting or on the computer (actually, she follows me virtually everywhere around the house - no use me trying to hide from anyone, they've only got to spot Mia to know I'm not far away).  When she's not curled up on a cushion on the floor or rooting behind the computer after a ball of paper she's pushed underneath it, she's sat like this on the windowsill staring out and chunnering at the seagulls sitting on the lamp-posts and rooftops.  It's so funny to watch her.