Winter Journal III

Hello all!  It's almost like the good old days here at Words and Pictures, with posts popping up daily.  (In fact, back in the early days, there were sometimes multiple posts in one day!)  It's been considerably quieter in the last year or so, but I'm determined to keep December creative, rather than let it get lost in a rush of preparations, baking and shopping and decorating.  So I'm back with page 3... (Winter Journal I and Winter Journal II if you missed them.)

This Winter Journal is not the only thing happening here.  There was my Matchbox Poetry at PaperArtsy a couple of days ago, and there's a Vintage Journey project due any day now, but both of those projects were made a while back.  So the journal is really the only active thing on the craft table, and I'm having a wonderful time playing in it.




A reminder - it's a kraft journal, 8x8 inches square... from Paperchase, if I remember rightly.

I accidentally put the staple through two pages when I was making Winter Journal I so, since then, I've been gluing two pages together as I go, to create a sturdier substrate, but they're perfectly fine as individual pages.













This page is full of the hustle and bustle of December.  These two friends are hurtling from shopping expeditions to exhibitions...














... to theatre trips.















They have invitations to respond to...














... and in between all of that, they are busy wrapping and sending all their Christmas parcels through the post.














There's some Tim Holtz tissue wrap way in the background, behind all the ephemera, but it's almost entirely vanished.
















You'll see there are common elements appearing here... the snowflakes...

















... the film strip ribbon, the metal embellishment...













... and of course the Paper Dolls themselves.

So although there are slight variations in ingredients from page to page, so far it's really nice not to have to make too many decisions about what I'm using.  Instead, I'm letting the stories take shape, led by the characters who are centre stage, and just enjoying the journey.











The words on each page so far are certainly deeply connected with the behind the scenes activity going on in my life at the moment, so there is clearly something bubbling up from underneath as I go without me really noticing.






Thanks so much for stopping by today.  As I say, it's A Vintage Journey up next, so there'll be a slight hiatus in the journal posts, though I'm happy to say the next couple of pages are already done... I'm definitely inspired by this self-imposed challenge and since, so far, each page spread has taken well under an hour, there's still time in the day for all the hustle and bustle too.

I hope you're finding time for some creativity in these busy December days, and I'll see you again soon.

You will never find time for anything.  If you want time, you must make it.
Charles Buxton

I'd like to play along again at Art Journal Journey for the double theme of My Favourite Season/Tis the Season
And it's another Winter Wonderland to share at Try It On Tuesday, though a more urban wonderland this time