Love, marriage ... and handcuffs: a 'snipped tales' collage.

Hello hello. 

Before I begin properly I'm totally taking the opportunity to suggest my book of Snipped Tales as an alternative Valentine's Day gift.

If you order a copy soon, and you're in the UK or Europe, then it should reach you in time for the 14th. (UK 1-2 days / Europe 3-5 and US 5-7 working days. Each copy comes gift-wrapped with a one-of-a-kind gift tag. For the full book details visit here, and for images of the book scroll to the bottom of this post.) 

And I'm not bragging when I say:

•  giving the gift of a book of thoughtful, funny and sometimes (almost) rude word collages certainly beats flammable red nylon underwear. 

(Now there's a quote for the back of the book.)

I made this collage (which is not from the book) a while ago ... I think it was in response to a Philip Larkin poetry collection I'd read when I used to go to a book club (if I remember rightly it wasn't particularly favourable to marriage/women). And I just wanted to tilt the balance against the old fashioned 'ball and chain' notion: 

And a closer look:

I'm planning to put together paper packs of graph / square / ledger backgrounds (I'll add them to my Etsy shop once they're ready) as they're one of my favourite backdrops to work on for collage.  :

 And - I'm pretty sure that the 'handcuffed' snippet originally came from the same children's story as the one I cut up for 'Ties that Bind' - one of the stories in my Snipped Tales book; the story which led to Kirsty Neale illustrating a pair of handcuffs for me:

Which I assume was the first time she'd ever been asked to do that. But, hey, what do I know ...

And here's a closer look at names of the other stories which focus on love/romance and slightly seductive sauciness ...

To read more about, and to buy, the book visit here.

Right then, I'll see you back here soon and every day over on Instagram @withjuliekirk 

Julie 

Instagram ~~ Etsy ~~ Facebook ~~ Website

The Exercise Book of Unexpected Collage. [OR The month long project I'd forgotten all about] Part 2. Days 16 - 30.

Me again. 

I'm back to share the remainder of my 'unexpected' collages. They're unexpected as, ever since I'd completed them - as part of the Learn Something New Everyday project - I'd entirely forgotten I'd done so and they'd been languishing in a box full of paper scraps for 4 months. 

[Although, in the scheme of things drifting away into obscurity while covered over by paper scraps isn't such a bad way to go. And if I collect any more I may well end up experiencing that first hand.]

If you fancy catching up with pages 1-15 then you can hop back to my previous post here.  And thank you for your kind words you left for me about them, both here and on Instagram @withjuliekirk. You're lovely for taking time to leave an encouraging comment. 

To re-cap .. each page is a response to a 'lesson' [a thought, an idea] that struck me during each day in ~September 2015 [for more information on the Learn Something New Everyday project visit shimelle.com]. And I don't think there's a need for me to do much explaining, they're either pretty self-explanatory or ... it's been so long since I made them their exact meaning has drifted away. And perhaps that's no bad thing, it places you and I in the same position of seeing/interpreting them with fresh eyes, I imagine I can read a new meaning into each one that would be just as valid now as the day I had the original idea. 

As for supplies:

• The book is an empty old school handwriting exercise book.
• I bought the calendar date sticky notes and I'm sorry ... but I can't remember the brand. And I typed directly on to them. The fact that I only had one note per day is the reason that there are many errors in my journaling; I didn't have a second chance to get it right!
• The papers are from my vintage paper collection plus snippets of regular patterned/crafting papers.  

And here's how that all hangs together ...

Day 16: 

.... and yet, six months later you won't be able to remember what on earth it was ...

Day 17: 

This was amid my attempt to leave 300 Blog Comments in 30 Days  where I attempted to reach out to a new set of bloggers but quickly realised that a lot of bloggers were discussing things that I just couldn't muster a comment on. Face contouring, breastfeeding and drinking gin. Possibly not all at the same time. [I could've managed to comment on that if I'd seen it!]

Day 18: 

A lesson learned after a meeting at work.

Day 19: 

This was after having a mild but utterly unexpected panic attack* over having to choose a new phone.

[*I don't say that lightly, I've experienced more serious panic attacks in the distant past and wouldn't use it as a joke. Well, actually I probably would ... I find humour protects me in many situations ... but you take my point. Only, here, I'm not joking. Glad we've got that clear.]

Day 20: 

How many pairs do you have to have broken before it becomes a 'problem'?

Day 21: 

Something to consider when you're stuck with the thinking about fitting into a niche...

Day 22: 

So what that everything's already been done, there's nothing new under the sun, but all the old stuff has never, yet, been done by you.  Love this!  I think this was something I heard on the Elizabeth Gilbert Big Magic podcast.

Day 23: 

Day 24: 

Bathing in that warm 'Yay, you didn't know if you could do it and then you did it!' feeling.

Day 25: 

Another response to my 300 Blog Comments in 30 Days challenge, this time it was related to how so many of you spoke up to say you  were still reading my blog despite me not always being aware you were there!


Day 26: 

Well, when you find 2 vintage Jaeger shirts, in amazing prints, that fit you perfectly, for just £5 each, you don't leave them on the rack.

Day 27: 

Day 28: 

Day 29: 
Here's where things go a bit awry ... I seem to have forgotten to write down a lesson for the last two days of September. And so ...

*Insert Your Own Lesson Here*

* And Here*

And with that, my unexpected collages fade to end ...

Again, if you didn't catch the earlier pages you can do that here.

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If you want an instant boost of papers to use in a similar project then I have Collage Scrap packs available in my Etsy shop alongside lots of other vintage/reclaimed papery treasures.

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Before I go ... 

... as I mentioned in my earlier post my good friend and collaborator Kirsty Neale and I will be exhibiting a new collage-based project on Instagram starting next month and continuing into the summer months.

You can keep up-to-date on that by following our collaborative Instagram account  @thecopyandpasteproject 

And for those who don't know ... The Copy & Paste Project was a challenge and inspiration blog Kirsty and I co-hosted between 2009 - 2011 where we took the same starting point as a catalyst to creativity and then went away to make and share two completely different projects. [You can expect a similar approach in our new works].

BTW: if you fancy something to read while you're mooching around Blogworld then Copy&Paste also hosted some great guest contributions including one from comedian Alex Horne - now on 'Taskmaster' on the Dave channel - and also from writer Jack Thorne - now writer of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'. And look ... I'm not saying we put them were they are today ... but at least we didn't ruin their careers either. So I think we can congratulate ourselves for that if nothing else.

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Thanks for dropping by today.

Julie