The Skype's the limit

Hello all, I hope you're all okay, and I'm very sorry I've been such a poor visitor lately...

I'm planning some catching up this weekend, and looking forward to seeing what creative journeys you've been taking during these strange times.

Like many of you, I've found my mojo is an elusive creature in these circumstances, flitting in and out of reach.

Last Sunday, Nikki, Brenda and I gathered for another Skype crafting session, and at the start I was drawing a complete blank on what to make.  (I was also in a bit of a grump that day... for no good reason, just moodiness.)

But by the end, I'd found my way to this collaged journal page which I have to say makes me deeply happy.  (We're in the large Dylusions journal again - last seen on my Daisy, daisy (daisy) painting.)










We've applied various route-maps or rules for our past Skype sessions (either following the same steps, taking it in turns to offer the next instruction; or working with limited selection of ingredients; or with a time-limit), but this time we played with no rules.












(Cards on table... I said I was feeling too grumpy to follow rules!)  It was really just a chat-with-crafting-friends-while-crafting affair.  The only limit was our imaginations (and mojo-cooperation).












As with my lavender Suffragette, I haven't really got any process photos to share.  At first, I wasn't taking pictures because I couldn't get into the swing and didn't really want to record what was happening.













And then all of a sudden it turned a corner, and then I was too much in the flow to be stopping and taking photos!

This was a topsy turvy process for me.  Usually I start with background layers, enjoying myself tremendously until it comes to trying to work out what's going on top of it all - when things generally slow down quite a lot.











This time, it all started with some of the uppermost layers... a simple collage of a trio of Idea-ology journalling cards, a strip of Photobooth photos and a Paper Doll, and the film strip ribbon (still determined to curl which is why I'm having to hold the whole lot down).

I only took this photo because I knew I'd have to remove them all to do whatever I was going to do in the background and I wanted a reminder of the positioning.












It's fairly easy to see what went on the background - as a whole, the page is not complicated.  I did some stencilling over the gesso'd page with a Finnabair script stencil and some Watering Can Archival ink.











There was some Pumice Stone Distress Ink on the sponge already which is why you get a slightly variegated tone.  (Oh, how I wish for Pumice Stone in Archival form!)













If you look through my recent creations, you would think I only own one stamp (not the case!).  These Rubber Dance tendrils from the Weed Love stamp plate have been twining their way over rather a lot of my work lately.













Here they are stamped in Olive Archival - best to use Archival, as I really didn't know what else might be going to happen at this point.













There are a couple of Crafter's Workshop stencils also in action, this time with some texture paste (probably my favourite way of using stencils).














I'm pretty sure I used the Finnabair artbasics Plaster Paste for this.  It has a nice rough-hewn look to it, and a soft white colour tone, rather than out and out bright white.












On a separate piece of cardstock I did some dipping and dabbing with Distress Inks and Oxides so that I could cut a few Wildflower Thinlits stems.















My guess is that Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint are in the mix, and maybe a touch of Old Paper.  I wasn't concentrating very hard, just reaching for what felt good.















The stems hopped around the layout for a while before I settled on their final positioning.














One of the delights of this page for me is that strip of Photobooth photos.  I very often use these little snapshots on tags and pages, but I think in the past I've always gone for just one at a time.

But this time the long vertical line of film strip (which I do use quite frequently - it was a vital ingredient in my Winter Journal pages a while back, and since then it puts in regular appearances) demanded another strong vertical element.













This trio of faces just seemed to be right for the purpose.
















It's also rare that a whole strip appeals to me.  But here, every single one of the three faces seemed to be speaking to me.














Together the film strip and the photostrip give the whole page a really strong spine for everything else to hang off.














I love the filmstrip for its transparency - love to see what's behind - and of course for its light-capturing glossiness, but of course film is all about storytelling too, and that gives it such a strong connection to my day-job (more about that at the end of the post).













It's stapled in place.  I did that quite early on, as it was annoying how it kept rolling itself up, which meant I then had to slide everything else in and out from under it from then on, but it all worked out in the end.












Oh, I almost forgot the other person who was involved from the beginning - this fabulously intense Paper Doll.

She's actually from one of the Halloween collections, but I love her just as she is on this springtime page.  Such presence and force of character.














And she has a firm footing in the world too, courtesy of some tissue tape fragments.















I'm quite sure that she will keep on exploring, as the Quote Chip suggests...














... and that she will keep careful journal notes about all the curious things which attract her attention.












There's a butterfly perched ready for flight.  Yes, it's back again.

The butterflies are a definite motif at the moment, appearing all the time, like those tendrils seeking a place to put down roots... symbolic of where I'm at in my life's journey - about to take flight and create a new home (as soon as I'm allowed to leave, that is).












Funny how I've only just realised what those repeated vine-stampings and butterfly-embellishing are probably about.  That's the subconscious for you.














I suppose the tangled thread is maybe about the tangles and obstructions getting in the way at the moment... or maybe I just like how it looks!












Nearly there... I roughened up the edges of the journalling cards with the blade of my scissors before sticking them down.

And right towards the very end I added the delicate splodges (splodge isn't a very delicate word, is it) of ink around the edges.












It works nicely to highlight some of that texture as well as adding to the overall greenery.

So from a very grumpy start, this conversational Skype crafting turned around my day into something far lovelier... big thanks go to Nikki and Brenda for that, and to my mojo for turning up in time.

This flowery page can also serve as some extra inspiration to come and play along with the Beautiful Blooms challenge at A Vintage Journey this month.






I hope you'll be tempted over to see what the other two got up to during our limitation-free Skype session.  These two sneak peeks ought to whet your appetite.  You'll find Nikki's project here at Addicted to Art and Brenda's here at Bumblebees and Butterflies.

Well, that was another photo extravaganza!  But there aren't many words on today's project (if you discount all the vintage script, which you can't read so that doesn't really count) so I've got an alternative focus on words for you if you fancy it.

If you'd like to know a bit more about what's involved in my "day job" as a theatre text and voice coach (or if you're just curious about what I look and sound like!), then you'll find me in conversation here on youtube, talking about my passion for voice/breath/imagination and Shakespeare.  If you think I talk a lot here at Words and Pictures, just wait til you see this!!




Thank you as always for your company on the journey.  Now more than ever these online connections we share are such a force for good.  As I said at the start, I've set some time aside for some Craftyblogland visiting and I'm looking forward to catching up with you all over the next few days.  For now, stay safe, stay well and I'll see you soon.  Happy crafting all!

If you're not in the mood, you can't do that stuff right.
From The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.
Bruce Garrabrandt

To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.
Kurt Vonnegut

I'd like to share this at Art Journal Journey where the subject for May is Flowers
I'd also like to play along with the 60th Anything Mixed Media Goes theme at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog
Still no pink, I'm afraid, but it is optional at the More Mixed Media Challenge where this month Anything Mixed Media Goes + Optional Pink
I'd like to share this with the Anything Mixed Media Goes theme for May at the Bleeding Art Challenge