Art Journaling: Little is as little does

Hello.

No small talk today ... I'm just going to come straight out and ask:

So how big are you then?

If you haven't yet shared your vital height statistics as part of this yet:

... fear not as there's plenty of time to join in before the month's out [click image for details].  And you'll be in illustrious company ...


At the time of writing there are:

• 8 contributions, alongside my own, now pinned to the 'Height of Summer' Pinterest board - thanks ladies!

I've really enjoyed is seeing the comments left on these posts by regular readers of those bloggers who've joined in. Because there tha've been sharing their own heights and height-related tales completely outside of anything to do with me!

It makes me smile to know there's lots of people carrying on the conversation!

There's also:

• 14 of us arranged on the height chart I'm making from all those who've shared theirs in a blog post or in my comments. For a sneak peek ... check out this image which I posted to my Facebook page today.

It's funny to see how all of our respective heights are measuring up [yes, I did go there. I did make that pun]! But I'm getting the feeling that this isn't going to be a scientific study!

• Apart from a few outliers the majority of those who've responded to my call are of a similar height to me [5'2];
• there's only one, so far, who fits into the 'average woman' slot [5'4];
• I'm thinking the responses so far have been a bit self-selecting and that I've touched an all-be-it-petite nerve out there;
• I'm wondering if I've started a movement in small folk ...
• I'm hoping I haven't scared the tall ones off!

You're all welcome to join in ... I'm non-heightist ... I want to be able [with the aid of the occasional stool / step-ladder] to look you all in the eye!

But, if you're still coy about revealing all  ...

... in my original Height of Summer post I reckoned that there are all kinds of creative ways you can join in WITHOUT HAVING TO SHARE A PHOTO OF YOURSELF ... so I created an art journal page to prove it!

It was inspired by my childhood animosity towards anyone who called me small [which I shared in this post] plus ... that 'Oversized' label which came attached to a t-shirt I bought last week! [How could I not make use of that?!].

And I decided upon the idea that 'Little is, as little does':

Because even us below-averagers can do big things!

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I've got a few more height-related journal pages and a scale-related scrapbook page to share before the series ends ... and I must dig out some more photos too.

And now it's your turn ...leave a comment, blog ... share ... whatever ...  and I'll add your avatar to the height chart and/or the Pinterest board.

Julie :-)

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt: the town centre edition

Hello, ahoy, greetings.

Here's another update on my scavenger hunt - [for all the details on it hop over to Gallo Organico to visit Rinda who is mistress of the hunt!]

If you remember my post a week or so ago about the day the fountains stood still then the town square featuring in today's post will already be familiar to you.

I did wonder if I'd ever find a suitable photo for this next category and then I remembered that, alongside the [dry, non-fountainy] fountain ... there's this ...

12. A maze, labyrinth or trail:

They're steel plates set into the ground which wind alongside the art gallery, law courts and Town Hall in all kinds of abstract designs.

Many a morning have I strolled across it on my way to my university job and it can be slightly treacherous on a wet or frosty day. [Walking across frozen plate steel I mean. Not the uni job!].

It's one of those kinds of trails that you do tend to follow along the shape of it as you walk, perhaps without even realising. Even though you could cut across the grass at any angle, you somehow get pulled along by the path as it's set out for you:

Frustratingly the small building in the centre of the photo [above] is a registry office ... you know ... where people get married ... which I'd have put good money, on a mid-summer Saturday morning would have had at least one happy couple milling around it!

But no. Not a one. Which leaves Number 16. A bride still firmly on my list of photos still to find!

This next one however, was easier to cross off the list. Seeing how it's been in the town square for precisely 100 years, I knew where to go looking for it ...

13. A library:

It's a Carnegie-built library currently celebrating its Centenary year ... and I really ought to visit its shelves more often.  A morning spent re-acquainting myself with its fine selection of literary novels  is on my list of things to do before Summer's out.

And finally ... but unsurprisingly not on the list ...

When I spun around from taking the photos of the library this is what I saw:

Sir Samuel Alexander Sadler, one of the founders of the chemical industry in the area ... avidly watching the Olympics live on the big screen from his perfect vantage point.

It's like they built the screen there just for him!

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Right then, I've only 4 more scavenger hunt photos to find now and I'm done!

And if I can find someone dancing while buying something from a roadside stand being served by a bride in a hammock ... then I'm golden!

Julie :-)

Scrapbooking + thinking about deadlines ...+ paradise

Hi, hi.

There's something to be said for deadlines. Without them, not only would I not get any work done ... I'd not get any scrapbooking done either. And we can't have that!

Today's project comes courtesy of it being my turn to post a Design Team project over on the 3DJean blog and so, after what fees like weeks ... I got back on the scrapping-horse during the crop last Saturday, to make this from a new range of papers Jean has in stock:

Someone asked about the little guy on the left - he's a 'Pointy Hat Chap' by Cathy Cullis

I shared this photo, of graffiti on a sea wall, here a fortnight ago, but I liked it and its quote "In this place I have found my paradise" so much I decided to scrap with it too.

And, naturally I found an appropriate old page to plunder - in this case it's an encyclopedia entry on Michelangelo which mentions David:

[Seen here in Bermuda shorts which, I don't think he was wearing on the original marble sculpture ...]

Anyway, all this working to deadlines ... and scrapping ... and blogging ... and making paper packs ... and getting small business advice ... and planning a website ... and contemplating how I'll fit it all in once my part-time Uni job kicks in again soon ... and, just tonight, announcing to a smiling and nodding James the very latest entry on my [long, long] Things I Love To Do And Would Like To Be Paid For Doing Them list ...

... all of it has reminded me of a piece of advice I read sometime ...

It went something like: that to identify your passion, the thing you ought to be doing in life, the dream you should follow ... you should ask yourself what it is you do [or would do] willingly for free. And then do that.

[Disclaimer: I don't think sleeping late, wandering about in pyjamas and eating cheese all day counts. More's the pity.]

So, I guess I'll just have to start a new list titled: The Kinds of People Who Might Just Pay Me To Do That Thing I Love To Do ... and see how far I get!

How about you?

• Where do you find your paradise?
• What do you love to do ... and wish you could make a living from? and ...
• Have you ever dressed a statue from classical antiquity in modern swimwear?

Let me know ...

Julie x

Guest designing for Stitching on Paper

Hello, hello.

You know my long time internet pal Clair Rigby, right? Well, if you don't, you should ... because all throughout August [while I'm messing about trying to get you to blog about your height] she's actually offering paper-crafters something useful ...

Clair's creates a free 'how to' class, full of tips, step-by-steps and inspiration all based around stitching on paper which she's called ... Stitching on Paper. Because she's sensible like that.

Her tutorial yesterday - which you can read and download here - was all about incorporating stitching with stamping ... and, as I was one of the guest designers for this topic here's a closer look at my contribution.

'Essential Summer Wear':

The most basic stitching on the page is the frame around all four sides. I stitched this in two different shades of thread:

And no ... the stitching is not perfect, or neat, or enviable in any way ... but, it does follow one of the cardinal crafting rules that I live by:

• Do something wonky, splodgy, splattery, smudged or just plain wrong once ... and it's called a mistake.
• Repeat it, do it again elsewhere on the page ... deliberately ... and then it's called a design element. 

I reckon that's how Jackson Pollock started ...

Anyway, back to the stamping and stitching.

• I stamped several different decorative borders on to different patterned papers and vintage book papers;
• then I trimmed around them and put a tiny scrap of tape on the back, just to hold them in place on the layout;
• I then ran the whole page through the machine using a contrasting top thread:

I have a few approaches as to what to do with the ends of the thread once I've cut them free from the machine.

1. If there are two loose ends close to one another I sometimes tie them together, in a knot. It's what I've done in the top left of the frame design on this layout [as seen in the 2nd photo ^ up there];
2. If I'm after a neater finish I push/pull them through the paper and hide them on the back;
3. But more often than not I just trim them down and leave them on show:

As well as using stitching as a means of layering-up stamped border elements, I also added some rows of thread to use a line guides for my stamped title:

And for my journaling:

And, what page of mine would be complete without a spot of plundering some old pages to create an appropriate phrase:

... or two:

Fortunately I haven't had to use my rain mac in anger very much at all since making this page. But sshhhh ... don't tell the weather that I said that .... just in case.

Don't forget to head over to Clair's to read more about Stitching on Paper and pick up a few tips and I'll see you soon.

With another layout.

I know ... they're like buses ...

Julie :-)

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Supplies:
Papers: Papermania 'Happy Days' stack
White paint: 'Picket Fence' Distress Stain
Journaling block: Studio Calico 'Take Note'
Label sticker: Jillibean Soup 'Soup Labels'
Stamps: 'Summer' is stamped in a lovely set by Kars called 'Bold Alphabet' - which also has tiny number stamps in it ... the Holy Grail of stamps for me! 
Vintage papers: from my shop [for 10% off your order use the code: GOODTHINGS10 at the checkout until 17.08.12 ]

The Height of Summer: A truly tall tale

Hi you.

When I blogged this photo of me last week - as part of The Height of Summer series - I joked that, after discovering I was a quarter of an inch taller than I thought, ... I might have grown.

Well ... I say I was joking ...

For all you know I might actually have sent off for the [rather dubious] 'Height Increase System' after spotting an advert for it in this 1957 Blighty magazine:

Here it is ... see if you're tempted:

My favourite lines:

• Be taller and see what a wonderful difference it will make to your everyday life.
• You will no longer be overlooked by taller folk.
• You will be noticed and admired by both sexes.
• You will COMMAND attention.

How much more attention do you think my new found 1/4 of an inch will let me command?

 

Maybe I shouldn't be too quick to dismiss this as a con though ... someone who left a comment on that earlier post grew an inch through practising yoga. Maybe that's all this magic 'Height Increase System' was.

But seeing as the ad's now 55 years old, I think I'm a bit late to find out!

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If you've got a tall tale or a short story of your own to tell [or if you're looking for ideas on how else to join in] then just click the image below for more details.

If you're still debating whether to join in in some way let me try to twist your arm:

• I think it would be a bit of fun but not just because you'd be joining in and linking up to me and my blog ...
• but for all those people who know you through your blog.

Even while you're linking to me and I'll be pinning it to the Pinterest board for all to see:

• ultimately it's your readers who you'll be sharing the post with.
• and it's your personal blogging community who'll get a kick from hearing whether you fit that image they have of you in their heads!

I am still collecting and collating the profile photos + heights of those who've shared theirs so far with me! We currently range from 4'11 to 6' ... and you're welcome to throw your own in the mix any time this month - either in a post of your own - or simply in a comment below.

I'll see you soon.

 Julie :-)
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p.s: The sun's been shining and I've had a good week so I'm in a good mood ... all of which means I'm celebrating with 10% all orders in my shop using the code GOODTHINGS10 at the checkout.  [Until next Friday 17 Aug 2012]. Enjoy :-)