Going Around In Circles

Hello all and happy New Year!  It's time for the first challenge of the year at A Vintage Journey, and this month we are Going Round In Circles with our wonderful host, Brenda.  Circles, bubbles and dots are always lovely to play with, and I ended up exploring the idea in my small journal.

Going around in circles is something I try to avoid in life - I like to be heading somewhere new, with a learning curve for sure, and not stuck in straight lines either, but certainly not going around over the same old ground time and again.

But then there are definitely cycles in life, energy which swoops you upwards and onwards at times, and then other periods where you swing back down again into hibernation and recovery.

That was the theme of some of my turn-of-the-year journalling pages at almost exactly this time last year, and funnily enough circles played a major part in some of those spreads too, like The Depths of Winter.














There's something about the enclosed, protected shape which somehow connects to hibernation, preserving resources.














But there's also a positive energy, an uplifting buoyancy to the bubble shape; the circles rising and moving around the space of the page.













And as long as your circles continue to expand, to orbit new territory, perhaps there's power in going over that ground again, making it your own and then growing your experiences from that secure centre.















For this spread, I used my Movers and Shapers Sized Circles to cut some book page bubbles and hoops (by cutting the smallest circle out of an already cut medium circle).












I glued some of them onto my roughly gesso'd pages (this is the tiny Moleskine journal, 5.5 x 3.5 inches when it's closed) and added more gesso over the top.











Next step was some stamping including some Bo Bunny postmarks and the lovely musical advertisement from Pink Paislee's London Market set (spot the accidental upside-down one!).

Then I tried out Andy Skinner's page-ageing technique shared in his Quick and Easy Media Techniques video.












Over that, I added another round of book page bubbles on which I used Distress Crayons to create some dimensional shading.  (We're working by lamplight now, it was such a gloomy day).















From there, I just followed my fingers...















... adding accents and splatter...















... and shading around the edges of the pages.
















Oh, and of course there are some words for the New Year..













... a positive message to take forwards into 2017.














The word stickers are by 7 Dots Studio (just for a change from the Idea-ology word stickers!).















I used pastel pencils and the Distress Crayons again to add the watercolour shading drifting around each phrase.















Around the edges at various points, I added some straight lines of Titanium White with a plastic card.














There was something not quite working until I added them.















I think it needed them to echo the straight lines of the phrases amidst all the swirls and circles.















And I love the texture they add.














These are some circles I wouldn't mind going around in again.  It's such a pleasing shape to work with, and it holds so many meanings and possibilities.







I hope you'll hop over to A Vintage Journey to see the brilliant inspiration on offer from my lovely team-mates.  We'd love to see how you end up Going Round In Circles too this month.

And on Monday I'll be making the first stop at Destination Inspiration for 2017.  I hope you'll be able to join me then but, for now, have a wonderful weekend everybody.

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
Albert Einstein

Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen,
die sich über die Dinge ziehn.
Ich werde den letzten vielleicht nicht vollbringen,
aber versuchen will ich ihn.

Ich kreise um Gott, um den uralten Turm,
und ich kreise jahrtausendelang;
und ich weiß noch nicht: bin ich ein Falke, ein Sturm
oder ein großer Gesang.
Rainer Maria Rilke

I live my life in ever-widening circles
which spread themselves out over all things.
I may not complete the final one
but I will make the attempt.

I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for thousands of years;
and still I don't know: am I a falcon, or a storm
or a mighty song.
(translation - Alison Bomber)

I'd like to share these pages at Art Journal Journey where the guest host Erika has chosen Every Journal Page Tells A Story as her theme.  This story doesn't have a beginning, middle and an end - it's about the cyclical journey I'm on, travelling, I hope, in ever-widening circles.
And at Stamps and Stencils the theme is Swirls, Whirls and Flourishes - what could be better?!