2014: A Year in Bad Portraits

Hello you.

So 2015's here [Happy new year!] and there's a lot of 'new year new you' type content doing the rounds online right now.

And while it may all be appropriate for those out there who are ready for something fresh, who have the energy for making plans and sticking to resolutions ... personally I'm still feeling some festive jet-lag.

So, just as I did this time last year, rather than share my shiny fresh new goals for a better and brighter me ... which would be both exhausting and quite probably utterly fictional [I have no idea of what my plans for this year are!] I think I know what we'd both prefer I shared right now ...

• Something to make us both smile.
• Something to demonstrates not everyone you visit online has it entirely together. Not even close!
• Something that you can read through while still working your way through the chocolate / alcohol mountain you stocked up on for Christmas ... without feeling any guilt.
• Something that has the comforting ring of recognition.

And if all that fails ... hey, you can just revel in the schadenfreude on offer, and have a good old laugh at my expense.  I don't mind ...

So here we go ...

I have a feeling that this retrospective of bad photos of me has already becoming A Tradition.

I blogged 'A Year in Bad Portraits' last January and all throughout 2014, whenever I spotted a horrific image in amongst my snapshots, I dragged it over into a folder reserved just for this occasion; and now here I am, ready to open up that folder to you!

[BTW: you're welcome to join me ... there are some rules at the bottom if you're feeling brave!]

I think that during this start of a new year, [which is also my birthday week], it's not a bad idea to look back over the previous 365 days with an honest eye and to move forward with a light heart. In fact, it seems almost as healthy a thing to do as all those detoxes and training plans those energetic people are blogging about!

So please, settle back with your violet creams and cherry brandy [just me?] and do enjoy this peek into my Bad Portraits file ...

January 2014: Start as you mean to go on ...
For the last few years James and I have taken a selfie shortly after midnight when the new year is just minutes old. Maybe in future we'll remember to check that we haven't got the full zoom on:

So yes, it's imperfect, and James has no eyes and I have no mouth but ... it's like I always end up saying: You don't get a second chance at a first photo.

[If this photo is familiar it's either because you've spent a lot of time staring at my nose or you saw this scrapbook page I made with it last year.]

May 2014: Why was there a 10 year old boy on our sofa asking for more wine ... oh , actually ... no, wait ... 

Yes that is me. On the sofa, in my comfies, with my hood up, wanting a top up of wine in a pose I'm calling: if Oliver Twist was a skater-boy.

I think it was the shock of the hood, rather than me asking for more wine [he's used to that by now], that caused James to reach for his camera to capture this stunning image. And yes, he did top up my glass, who could refuse that face?

May 2014: It could just be paper-snipper's cramp ...
Except ... it wasn't paper-snipper's cramp.

Back in the spring I was planning a blog post about how I construct my 'Snipped Tales' [short, short, stories / poems made from words snipped from old book pages] and I asked James to take some photos of me at work.

While I can't exactly recall what James had done to elicit such an ... expressive ... gesture from me I'm guessing this pose is something like: Stop trying to make me laugh because it'll blow all these tiny paper scraps everywhere!

It's typical that he usually takes forever to line up a shot and take a photo ... yet he managed to capture me mid-offence without any effort!

June 2014: Taking a moment to commune with nature ... and Bradley Wiggins ...
A sunny day, shortly after the Grand Depart of the Tour de France 2014 passed through North Yorkshire and I paused in front of an allotment to get a photo of me with a papier-mâché figure of cyclist Bradley Wiggins [on the yellow bike over my shoulder].

I'm either really feeling the moment ... or else the sun's in my eyes.

Later that day ...

Note to self: when attempting to take a selfie while eating an ice-cream ... maybe don't shoot from below:

Because nothing says 'Great British Summertime' like having ice-cream coming out of your nose ...

 

July 2014: And I wonder why no one's ever asked me to help them name a clothing range ...
While this isn't an especially awful photo of me it does give me the opportunity to share with you an item of clothing that I refer to as [look away now if you're of a nervous disposition] my 'condom coat':

No matter how many nice new clothes I buy for our annual break in Lincoln, no matter how many carefully curated outfits I take with me, there's always a holiday snap of me, at the airshow, either in the rain, or shortly afterwards [it's England. It always rains when it knows you're going to be outside all day] looking damp and stoic ... in my condom coat.

Why is it called that I hear you ask? You mean apart from the fact that it's a fleshy coloured waterproof barrier that no one is ever going to wear to procreate in? Yeah .. you see my point?

 p.s: It also appears that Elton John photo-bombed me in this shot!

And, before we leave the airfield how about another photo that you can guarantee James will manage to take of me several times throughout any given year. Here's his now-traditional: quick, while her mouth's full she can't argue shot:

 July 2014: If you look into her eyes you'll turn to stone ...

The thing about this photo is I really wasn't angry, or in a mood, or about to punch someone when it was taken ... I wasn't even doing 'that look' ... but you could certainly be forgiven for thinking I was!  It was the kind of shot that, after glancing at it on the camera display, caused James to mumble something like "Ohhh ... you're going to love that one".

Fortunately ... knowing that I'll have a 'Bad Portraits' post to compile at the end of the year I'm now less bothered about appalling photos like this one; after all where would a 'Bad Portraits' post be without any bad portraits? 

I'm considering it 'material' from now on ...

September 2014: A wistful shot of us looking out to sea ...
... is what this was meant to be.

Yet this first attempt turned out more like: A couple trying really hard to work out one of those 'Magic Eye' puzzles:

 Then the second attempt reads more 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers':

And - same day, different humiliation - there's the time I channelled my namesake's second-in-command while eating fish & chips:

More failed selfies ...

I occasionally use the camera on James's phone when I've not got my camera handy. And one day, any day now, I'm sure I'll conquer the front-facing selfie lens:

Or maybe not:

And while we're still in selfie mode ...

December 2014: Because it's not really like you can/should lose weight from your skull ...
On Christmas morning I may have felt rubbish [with the flu] but that would be no excuse for looking rubbish on what should be the sparkliest day of the year and so ... with my hair and make-up done and wearing my oh-so-splendidly-silver silver dress I decided to take some selfies while waiting for James to get ready.

While looking for a flattering setting on the camera [with all the sneezing and the switching between sweating and shivering I needed all the soft focus I could find ... ] I came across an effect I'd never noticed called 'Slim' ... and I took the shot:

It's basically just done a cut and shut job on my head. In fact, I think my eyes have even lost weight here. From now on I'll just stick to holding the camera above my head and looking up into it while thinking svelte double-chin-banishing thoughts.

And for my final #BadPortrait of 2014 ...

Cut to a few hours later, at Christmas lunch, when the sneezing and sniffling had taken a toll on my eyes and given me a nose to rival Rudolph's. Merry Christmas everybody:

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So, that was my year .. in Bad Portraits. No doubt there were more ... but I think you've seen quite enough for one day. But, if you're hungry for more  ... you could always share your own ...

I know what you're thinking: No way! Nuh-huh! Not ever! Count me out! And I know this because ... to my recollection ... no one took me up on my invitation to join in last time round!

But, for those brave enough [it is surprisingly freeing ... I'm just sayin'] ... here are the rules ...

#BadPortraits The Rules:

• Only share photos of yourself! It's only fair.

But, that being said ...

• Please only share photos of yourself that you can freely laugh at. This is a feature all about being in on and sharing the joke; setting yourself free from the pressures to present an idealised lifestyle. It's not in any way meant to encourage 'shaming' in any form.
• Please go gently on yourself - if the photo of yourself doesn't make you giggle ... don't share it.

If you do share your #BadPortrait [whether that's via Twitter, Instagram, your blog, my Facebook page or on a screen in Piccadilly Circus ... do let me know and I'll pop by to see! [And laugh!]

• So, here's to making 2015 a year in which even the bad portraits are good ones.
• And here's to meeting back here in January 2016 to share them with one another!

Julie :-)

My Month in Numbers 2014: December

Hello hello.

Just after Christmas is a tricky time of year to be documenting your days with numbers ... after all, you may not feel much like totalling up how much you spent on gifts, how many calories you consumed ... or how many days you had flu after being perfectly healthy the rest of the year!![For the record it was: 7 days feeling awful ... plus a few more feeling vaguely less awful!].

So I've tried to steer clear of all those statistics and instead focussed on the fun stuff that involved daleks and dolls and getting to see your heroes ... stuff like this ...

2 = the  number of Daleks that followed me around at the start of the month.
 Just after I finished work on campus on the 1st December I tweeted: "Just gone past an office which had 2 Daleks inside. ‪#‎Truestory".

And it was a true story. And a very confusing one.

"Maybe it was just a broken fan or something" my student had said when, after we'd walked past the office I told him what I'd seen. But no, as unlikely as it sounded, I knew what I'd seen!  Then, after we'd walked back that way again later on my student turned and said "Julie, I don't know much about Dr.Who ... but those are definitely Daleks".  Which was a relief really ... at least I hadn't been imagining things.

And then ...

3 days later I had cause to tweet again: "You know how I saw 2 Dalek heads in an office last week? Well now there are two dalek bodies in the stairwell!"

So far, so strange don't you think? I mean ... it's not as if there was any good reason that the campus should be over run with Daleks. Then a day later, with all thoughts of Daleks gone from my mind, 4 of us travelled 20 miles to Carmel College in Darlington where we had tickets to see Mark Gatiss.

Oh, yes, have I mentioned that we went to see Mark Gatiss, co-creator of Sherlock [where he also stars as Mycroft] and writer for Dr.Who etc, yes, that Mark Gatiss live, in the flesh? - well ...

... and yes, I did just mention that he's a writer for Dr.Who ... and yes, I already know what you're thinking ...

4 = the number of Daleks who were in attendance at the Mark Gatiss event!
They included these two in the foyer, which moved and spoke ... 

And then ... once we were inside the auditorium there they were! The two that had been following me all week! It turned out that the event planner at University [where I work] had also planned this event. Which is a rather mundane explanation really ... it's more fun to have thought, as my sister did, that I might just be the new Doctor ...

But, as interesting as all the Dalek sightings were ... this was the really exciting part:

It was a charity event for the local mayor's charities and, seemingly it doesn't matter if you're a famous writer and actor, when the mayor knows your Dad and asks 'Would your Mark come and do something for us?' ... you apparently come and do something! Hurrah!!

2 x very excited fan-girls:

Mark chatted with the editor of the local paper for around 1.5 hours about all kinds of things including, of course, Sherlock. At which point I had to do everything in my power to prevent me from squeaking with awe / standing up and telling him how I've watched all 9 episodes around a billion times. Give or take a few.

After the formal interview part there was an Q&A with the audience [no, I didn't ask anything ... I would have shown myself up!] and then  ... then there was this ...

Mark Gatiss reading out prize-winning raffle numbers = now there's something I never thought I'd hear.
Who would? As the event was in aid of charity there was also a raffle and he got to pick and call out the winning numbers.

A moment which is going on my 'Well, I've seen everything now' list.

£5 = my pay-out in a cake-related bet.
In case we got peckish in the car on the way home from seeing Mark Gatiss [did I mention that we saw Mark Gatiss? We saw Mark Gatiss. Yep, we did.] I took with me, in my bag, some slices of Christmas cake. And when James had asked why I was cutting so many slices of cake he bet me £5 that there was no need for me to bother as my sister wouldn't want any.

In amongst the Mark Gatiss excitement I told my sister I had cake in my bag ... yet I didn't mention the bet. But on the way home, she said unprompted: "Where's the cake? I was promised bag cake!" ... and I let out a cheer knowing that that £5 was now mine!!

Considering how many Christmases I've spent with my sister ... and how many slices of Christmas cake I've witnessed her eating ... James was a fool, a fool I say! to have made the bet!

3 = the number of vintage dolls who came to live with me this festive season:
One is called 'The World's Smallest Baby' which I haven't taken a photo of yet .. you'll just have to imagine it. If you're trying to imagine its scale ... there's a clue in the name!

Then there was this one who, like James said when I opened her, is in need of some TLC [But aren't we all?]:

Her stringing elastic has gone, her hair's been chopped off and her jumper's unravelling ... and yes, of course, I cried when I saw her! It's what I do!

 

Meanwhile I bought this festive fairy for myself from a box of vintage decorations. She's currently having a pose-off with the little ceramic figure on my sideboard:

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 And that's where I'm going to leave my numbers for this month and for this year! and, if I'm honest, it was almost forever ...

I wasn't sure if I was going to continue documenting my Month in Numbers in 2015, after all I've been doing it for 5 years now! 5 years month in, month out, without fail! But. it's hard to let go ... so I'm going to keep going ... and see where my statistics lead me in 2015.

As always ... you're welcome to join me, if not this month [goodness knows there's enough to fit in already!] ... but next year? Maybe? What do you think? New Year, new start, new number-crunching adventure?

Trust me, if you do, in 365 days time, you'll have a whole host of stories and moments to look back on. And if you keep going for 5 years like I have well ... that's ... erm ... 5 times 365 which is ... now ... did anyone get a calculator for Christmas ...

But, whether or not you decide to count your moments... here's to 2015 bringing you moments that count!

Julie x

Bang! Crafting with Christmas Cracker novelties: a round-up of ideas

Hello you.

Consider this your 5 day warning ...

Every time I've blogged a project I've made using the plasticky nonsense you get inside novelty Christmas crackers someone says they'll try to remember to save some of the novelty gifts 'next Christmas'.

So I thought I'd remind you again so that on Thursday you can make sure to hunt beneath the discarded paper hats, wipe off the gravy and brandy sauce, and rescue all that odd tat from your crackers!

And as if that wasn't an enticing enough prospect ... here's a re-cap of the projects I've made with them over the last few years:
Things like pens and small toys make unique, fun embellishments on cards:

• You can find more about the car card here;
• And the card featuring the mini pen is here.

And then there's all those mend-bending maybe-if-I-hadn't-had-so-much-Sherry-I-could-manage-this  puzzles you get; just divide up the pieces and you've got yourself a set of intriguing focal features:

Find out more about these puzzling cards here, here and here.

And, finally, here are a few ideas for putting those mini tape-measures to use as a trimming:

See more images of the tape-measure cards are here, here and here.

So, remember: Christmas Day, grab all the discarded novelty gifts, secrete them into your crafty stash and use them to create some cracking good cards in 2015! [I know ... bad pun ... but not as bad as some of those cracker 'jokes' ... surely?]

Oh yes ... for those of you who haven't experienced the joy of the Christmas cracker then here's the Wiki on them ... and here's the description I came with up last year when asked what they were:

'They're something like a party favour ... but with added gunpowder'.

And who wouldn't want to celebrate the season with one of those?!

Merry merry festivities to you all!

Julie :-)

Warm Wishes: my 2014 Christmas cards using 'Precious Remembrance' stamps

Well, hello there, season's greetings to you, your hair's looking great today, here, have a mince pie.

Forgive me. But, alas, there are no mince pies here. I'm actually just buttering you up because ... chances are ... I haven't sent you a Christmas card this year.

Don't be offended ... I've actually only sent 1 card so far, and I've only written out 4 more. And so, if you haven't got one from me ... you're not alone ... and it's nothing personal!

How about - as a way for me to wish you all the joys of the season - you take one of these [virtual] warm wishes instead?

The focal point of my cards this year is the fun take-out coffee cup - from the 'Coffee Love' stamp set by Precious Remembrance:

It's not actually a Christmas themed stamp set [you know me .... I'm  not a big Christmas crafter once my magazine commissions are out of the way by August!]. I bought the set, back in October, as it had some nice general sentiments and, of course, that fabulous cup design.

Then it was while I was trying out stamping it on different papers that it dawned on me ... if I just used Christmassy papers ... then it could easily look like one of the festive style of cups the big coffee shop chains use at this time of year. And suddenly, I had myself something rather festive and cosy:

The look is really easy to achieve - it's just a simple stamping/paper-piecing technique -  but just in case you're wondering, let me show you how to recreate the look:

1. First ink up all of the cup design and stamp it on to a festive patterned paper.
2. Next just ink up the middle-section, the cup-holder shape, and stamp it on to kraft cardstock.
3. Better still, stamp it on to ribbed card to mirror the corrugated card that's often used for cup holders. [The ribbed kraft cardstock I used is by Woodware].
4. Cut around this mid-section and glue it to the patterned base.
5. Finally, ink up just the top of the stamp, the lid section, and stamp it on to white paper/card. Trim around it and glue on to the cup base.

Precious Remembrance is an American brand of stamps but if, like me, you'd like to get your hands on them in the UK then try the Sprinkle Twinkle shop. That's where I found the 'Coffee Love' set while I was hunting down a UK supplier. [I don't know about you but, as a first port of call, I prefer to trawl around for UK suppliers rather than risk customs fees ordering direct from the US!]

[Product disclaimer: None of the links in this post are sponsored. All products were bought and paid for by the contents of my own bank account!].

Once I'd made all my festive cups I decided to keep the rest of the card fairly simple, to not detract from the main feature. So the backgrounds consist of just a few strips of paper, a tag shape, some twine and the occasional charm.

I found that, despite the stamp set not being intended to be Christmassy its 'Warm Wishes' sentiment translated perfectly on to a festive card:

 As for my papers the majority came from 'Fa La La' the 2012 Christmas range by Lawn Fawn, but I've also made a few with different splashes of colour. Such as blue and black:

And not to mention yellow:

And unlike many festive stamps sets at least this one will come in useful year-round for more general greetings cards.

But for now those are my 2014 Christmas cards. And while I can't make and send one to everyone who's stopped by to visit me here this year ... I really do appreciate your companionship and comments and so ...

... please consider this post me sending you the same sentiment.

Warm wishes to all!

Julie x

Experimenting with abstract collage [while playing with your favourite papers!]: Part 6 of the collage adventure 'Fortune & Geese Favour the Bold'

Me again. Hi.

As this is really the second half of our discussion about filling up those altered book pages [the first half is here] how about we dispense with introductions and dive straight back in between those book leaves?

These were the collage styles I identified from my own book:

1. The figurative or narrative aspect of the page. These are the parts of it which feature a figure / a character / a clear theme which a viewer could connect with; it's the parts which tell some sort of story or which at the very least a viewer will attempt to interpret into a 'meaning'.
2. A more abstract form which is more concerned about creating a general mood rather than a specific 'meaning'. And also a form which simply celebrates and puts centre-stage your favourite scraps of paper. [Because it is possible to have favourite scraps of paper isn't it? We've all been there ...].

So let's leap straight to part 2 ...

2. Experimenting with abstract forms, layering and colour to create a general mood.
What? No, hang on ... if this all sounds a bit too 'arty' for you, a bit too highfalutin, pretentious or not something you feel that you should be dabbling in ... then let me stop you right there!!

For one thing ... there's nothing wrong with indulging your inner pretentious artiste occasionally, just stop worrying, get your smock and beret on, and just enjoy the moment why don't you?

And for another thing ... but don't tell anyone this part OK? OK. For another thing this method really boils down to doing nothing fancier than chopping up bits of paper, rearranging the snippets, and gluing them back down again. Seriously; so don't discount it just yet.

And, do you know what? As basic as that method might sound at first it can actually lead you to produce pages which are not only aesthetically pleasing to others, but which are also extremely satisfying to construct too!

Chopping up, rearranging and gluing is effectively all that really happened here:

And, far from feeling basic, childlike or too simple to bother with ... I find this style of working really enjoyable, freeing and inspiring. Let me explain why ...

Using your favourites & killing your darlings:  
Throughout this series we've been discussing having a PURPOSE in mind when sitting down to being a project like this and, in the previous post, I talked about how using figures in your collage can help if your purpose was to tell a story, to document an emotion or to pin down a feeling and so on.

Yet, equally, your purpose may be nothing more than to spend time playing with beautiful papers and creatively arranging some of your favourite supplies.

That's really all it need be; enjoying the materials you're using and seeing how you can show them off on the page.

And here's where I believe that, as you're focussing solely on the loveliness of the materials in front of you, you might as well use your favourite of favourite supplies. Like how a chef can make a really simple dish taste delicious by using only the best of ingredients!

• Just because this style might use lots of small scraps and snippets it's not the same thing as saying you should be using the old papers in the back of the cupboard which you don't like! No!
• Use up all those scraps which you've saved, cosseted, protected, called 'Best' and stroked like a lover's hair. [Don't lie to me ... we all have scraps we love a little too much ... ].
• This is the time to use your favourites, your 'one-day-I'll-find-the-perfect-project-for-that' items. Why not make your next project that project!
• And don't worry about using lots of them in one project because when you keep them all together in one book [like the altered book I've used to house all these collages] then all those precious scraps will take on an accumulative power.
• They'll build into something with impact rather than have then spread thinly across lots of different projects where their effect will be diluted.
• Many of the papers I used in this project were gorgeous bookbinding off-cuts gifted to me by a lovely friend, and although I initially thought they were that ridiculous thing of being 'too nice to use' ... I came round to the idea that I'd really be serving them better if I turned them into a nice project I'd be proud of!

Plus, cutting into those favourite of items can be good therapy: it's a great cure for preciousness!

A lecturer on my English degree once repeated the old writers' phrase that says to do the work justice sometimes you need to "kill your darlings" when you're writing. Meaning you shouldn't get overly precious about any of your personal favourite lines in the text. Sometimes the text as a whole might benefit from you editing that line ... or getting rid of it altogether, no matter how much you think it's perfect!

Which is something I try to keep in mind while convincing myself to take the scissors to a 'best' piece of paper: let go of the favouritism, don't waste time trying to protect your 'darling' just cut it up and make something better from it!!

OK then, now that we've manoeuvred your darlings over to the chopping block ... what are you going to do with the bits you slice off?

[Wow ... this collage-adventure has taken an unexpectedly dark turn hasn't it?].

Combining simple abstract scraps + snippets.
Some of those scraps, strips and images you've collected can be combined on a page purely to look good; they don't need to 'mean' anything or refer to any theme or overall story at all.

Take this page for example, the journaling at the bottom refers back to something I'd thought about after watching a film ... but the items on the page don't necessarily reflect that.  For a start ... the film wasn't about a flying coconut:

Instead I chose the individual items as they worked together.

• The shape of the coconut balances with the ovals on the gelli-plate printed paper;
• which matches the colours in the old stamp
• and the thin strips of paper along the bottom / side simply mirror the colours used elsewhere on the page.

It doesn't all 'mean' something; but together it works - think of it this way ...

Have you ever heard a song and, because it was so catchy, or feel-good, or it gives you goose-bumps or whatever, and you just fell for it? No questions asked. It just gets to you.

And then, one day, you actually make a point of really listening to the words ... and you realise ... it doesn't make any sense! You just can't fathom the meaning. Or else the lyrics don't say anything at all! And yet ... the overall effect, the finished piece, still somehow works.

[Case in point:  'I drew a line, I drew a line for you. Oh what a thing to do. And it was all yellow' from Coldplay's Yellow. I love the song; I've never been able to work out what it means - Why's everything yellow? And why does it sound like it must mean something deep and moving ... yet it was just yellow? But I don't care: I like the overall effect!]

Well, that's how I think of this style of collage. You just play around with materials until it just feels 'right'.

There are no rules to abide by but here are a few ideas to guide you when you're combining these abstract shapes to create a mood with no particular meaning!

1.Colour:

• Look for interesting combinations of colour, texture, print, surface pattern.
• If you've chosen a colour palette for your altered book, then that will narrow down your focus and you can experiment with just those shades and prints which fit the theme. 

Example: The key to pulling this page together was finding more than one scrap of red, and more than one scrap of green to create some balance and harmony between the quite random elements:

2.Materials:

• Try mixing old and new supplies to create contrasts of fresh modern prints and old images and treasures!

Example: The page contains: scraps of fairly recent scrapbooking paper; a snippet from a vintage children's book and a vintage encyclopaedia page about semaphore - both of which I had indeed been saving for one of those 'special' projects!

Example: Here I combined a paper I made at a gelli-plate printing class [with Kate Crane] with a bright pink tractor illustration from a 1960s children's' encyclopaedia:

3. Composition:

• In your composition think about using a mix of harmonies [where things flow, line up, match, coordinate] and tensions [where something might overlap, float off on its own, hang over an edge, look awkward or out of place ... for me .. this is where the magic happens!]

Example: Here I overlapped several layers and didn't line up any of the edges. Then I stapled that tiny little scrap on the right 'just because'!

Example: As I had 30 collages to make to fill the book I was trying to push myself to change things up a little occasionally - so this page [below] was me trying something new with my composition! I arranged the elements in the four corners of the page, which I don't thing I've tried before:

It's a bit odd, and even I'm not entirely sure what story I had in mind when I was making it [I don't think it was to do with a windmill, a cow, and a tomato though ... I'd have remembered that.] ... but, to maintain some sort of harmony while experimenting with the form ... I worked with a simple and harmonious colour scheme.

Finally for today ...

4.Attitude:
As you can probably tell by now:

• this style is very loose and free ...
• and it's full of wonky lines and higgledy-piggledy edges!  
• and these collages have never been near a cutting mat, a ruler or paper trimmer ... everything is just hacked into with big scissors or torn to size!
• then it's glued down with any old glue ...
• using a plastic glue-spreader as I never want to clean out a brush. So there.

If you're a perfectionist this will either set you free ... or make you ill. I can't anticipate which ... you know your proclivities better than I!

But, if you're someone without such exacting standards, someone who can bear to be parted from straight lines, symmetry and measuring ... someone who just wants to give something new a try ... then go for it!

Example: Here's part of the negative / outer surround of a shape I'd die-cut with my Bigshot ...

And I used it because no leftover or scrap is safe no matter how uneven or odd! And it helped to make what became one of my favourite pages in the book:

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So, what can you take away from today's collage adventure?

How about ...

• If your pages don't have a particular purpose as such, if they're not meant to tell a particular tale ... then just allow the process of playing with paper to be your purpose.
• Just cut, rearrange and stick down for its own sake. To relax, to practise your craft, to feel creative, to nurture yourself ... to avoid housework. [Find me a better reason!]
• Treat it like a meditation. Only ... treat it like a meditation you do with your eyes open. Because you'll have scissors in your hands. And using them with your eyes shut is just asking for trouble and probably won't relax you at all.
• And use your favourite supplies and scraps!
• Treat those papers less like hoarded treasures locked in a vault and more like seasonal vegetables. Use them while they're at their best, while you love them ... before they go off! Or rather ... before you go off them!
• And when you're shuffling them around the page have fun experiment with the composition. Most of the time just go with your gut instinct, trust your own eye and make what looks good to you. Then, occasionally, push yourself a little and try something new, something which at first you think won't work. And glue it down!!
• If you hate it - no problem - nothing's going to go to waste.. Just chop up the entire page and re-use the scraps!
• But equally ... you might just stumble across your new favourite way of working!

If you're enjoying the collage journey please do consider:

• leaving a comment to let me know
• sharing any work you make based on an idea you picked up en route
• pinning one of my pages to Pinterest
• or sharing a link to the series via your 'go to' social media.

I love offering tips and ideas here on my blog ... but it's even better to know when they've made their way to someone who finds them worthwhile!

Julie :-)

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'Fortune & Geese Favour the Bold' is an altered book and collage adventure which you can catch up on [for free] in the following posts:

Part 1: Prep notes and supplies list

Part 2: Introducing a themed focus into your altered book / journal

Part 3: Turning an old book into a new home for your collage

Part 4: 101 alternative crafty supplies ... and where to find them

Part 5: Using figures to create a narrative in your collage