Soar too high

Hello all, I'm here with an entry for this month's theme at Art Journal Journey.  The fabulous Yvonne, a.k.a. Meggymay, is looking for Words and Numbers.  I thought I would have joined in before now, and had hoped to get quite a few pages done (as I did last December), but it hasn't quite gone according to plan.  But I'm here with my first page earlier in the month than I've usually managed this year.

I promised myself I'd manage at least one page per month for AJJ in 2019, and I've stuck to that, even though it has only been one each time.  But I'm going to try and finish with a flourish.  With a theme like this, hopefully I'll manage a couple more before December is over.  It's not like there's anything else to keep me busy!







Today's page is done in the same kraft journal as all of last December's twelve pages, and shares quite a few features with them, but it's not strictly seasonal, as all of those definitely were.

I started out with some wide tissue tape strips... already getting some words into play as you can see.















I used a palette knife to smear on gesso and then some of Dina Wakley's Medieval paint (a Black Friday purchase).















It's a wonderful metallic pewter colour with a fabulous sheen.

I spattered the leftover silvery paint along with some Snowflake Fresco paint...















... and that was the background done and ready to play.













The next task was to flick through the seasonal Paper Dolls to see if anyone wanted to come out to play.

As soon as I tried this dapper chap in his opulent furs against the background, I knew he was the one.  But there was something just a bit too cocky about him for this to be a straightforward celebration.














I found myself reaching for the portrait of the older man (I think it may be from the Regions Beyond paper stash) - his father or grandfather, perhaps.  Somebody who built a company up from the ground through sheer hard work...















... leaving this chap in the financially advantageous position he is today.  But not having had to work hard for his wealth, he's been squandering it on expensive clothes, fast cars and high living.  What will there be left to pass on to his son in the end?














I think the stamped numbers and scribbled words I added must be from those early days of the hard-working grandfather - coming up with ideas, working hard and investing wisely, treating his workforce well in order to build the company.

They're stamped in Watering Can Archival to tone in with the Medieval Pewter in the background.












But the tangled thread weaving around the figures and notations shows the chaos that our current managing director has been creating in the company by letting things drift, preferring to spend his time on wild parties and long holidays.












The raven is perhaps an ominous sign of trouble ahead.  (He was left over from my Sunrise, Sunset book cover... no room for him there, so he's been hovering around the craft table, and now he's here to cause trouble.)












The words are from my PaperArtsy EAB11 Wings & Flight set, stamped in Archival and embossed with my favourite Liquid Platinum powder.













He's been soaring high on the proceeds of his grandfather's and father's work, rather than on his own hard graft.  If you've done the work, built the wing muscle, you can soar as high as you like, but otherwise...













Hopefully he'll heed the warning of the raven's arrival and turn things around before it's too late.  He needs to think of his son and what he'll be passing on.

(I like how the Liquid Platinum gives us another metallic gleam to echo the paint in the background.)













There are letters and numbers, scientific formulae perhaps related to the work his grandfather did all those years ago, built in to the tissue tape shadow our current chap is standing on...












... and there's a film strip running through the whole spread - maybe another sign of the glamorous life he's been leading...













... or perhaps a reminder that things are being recorded and remembered for posterity, another nudge for him to turn his attention to his legacy.












This, after all, is the time of year for miraculous transformations (I'm looking at you, Ebenezer Scrooge!).

Time to review, refresh, and reform his life for the better...  he'd better start doing some work on those accounts to make sure the numbers start adding up again!










I was quite surprised when things took the dark turn they did, but that's what often happens when I'm playing with the Paper Dolls or with the Photobooth photos, come to that.














They start to tell me stories and I just have to follow their lead.  Still, let's all hope that a Scrooge-like alteration is just around the corner and that all will be well.  Turns out the page is somewhat seasonal after all!










Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you're finding a bit of crafting time in between the Christmas preparations - or at least a bit of time to put your feet up occasionally.  See you again soon, either here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland.

It is our own thoughts that hold the key to miraculous transformation.
Marianne Williamson

I'd like to share this in the Words and Numbers challenge at Art Journal Journey.
At Moo Mania & More they are playing Anything Goes