The Depths of Winter

Hello all!  Isn't it grim and grey and horrible?!  Appropriately, I've got some more wintry journalling for you today.  It's number three in the sequence (see Winter Growth and Winter Recovery if you've missed the earlier ones - it's definitely a series), and maybe my favourite so far...  We're picture-heavy today, but not too many words alongside!!

When the weather is this gloomy in the early days of January, with so long still to go before spring, this is when you really have to dig deep not to let it grip you.

It's fine to feel blue occasionally I think - if this grey dingy dampness didn't affect your spirits, I think there would be something very strange about you - but I, for one, can't afford to let it seep too deeply into my insides.













I need to pay attention to the demands of my body for rest, for kindness, for a little indulgence every now and then.











So yes, I can dig deeper into my safe hibernation mode, but I need to fill that hibernation with warmth and pleasures, and not feel I'm buried in the cold earth.











The heat of the underground colours here really excites me, as does the crackled texture - sharply articulating the reflections of the light off its shiny surface.







(There's a Gerard Manley Hopkins line rising to my tongue as I type - all about the shine of a newly-turned furrow of earth - I'll include it as today's quote!)

The sky, just tinged with rays of winter sun, is another part of this which gives me great pleasure.






It was completely accidental - the colours from the earth seeping up into the paper above...

(You can see the earlier stages here - crackle and paintwork in place below the earth; starting to shape up the paper collage; and playing with the paper bubbles - a more defined version of the ink-lid stamping which has formed the bubbles so far.  The bubbles are becoming more substantial!)













... but I embraced the accidental seepage, and loved how it became the sky at dawn - or is it dusk?  Your call...













The tree branches are stamped with a new purchase, though I've separated the stamping of the two halves of the original image to fit my wider landscape.











And I added some extra pen work to extend the grasses a little on each side.












The bubbles journey from under the earth...














... carrying the fermenting ideas generated in hibernation out into the world.

Again I've used a tiny tag, wired up with rusty wire, to carry the words which fuelled the page.

And I couldn't resist including some of my other favourite texture on this page - this is the reverse of a coffee cup holder... I love the fine corrugation.











There's even some of my favourite Artistic Stamper script stamp in amongst the crackles.














And within the layered papers.











So yet another wintry page for you...  I think they're changing as we go, so I hope you're still enjoying the journey.  I am!

Thanks so much for dropping in today, and I'll see you again soon - either here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland.

No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,  Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.

The last three lines of probably my favourite Gerard Manley Hopkins poem (which I think I've probably quoted in full elsewhere), The Windhover

With lots of old favourites - book pages, corrugated card, crackle - and playing with the Golden paints which are new to me, as well as my first Penny Black stamp for the trees and grasses, I'd like to play along in Make New Friends But Keep The Old at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. 

Winter Recovery

Hello all!  I had hoped to share this with you last year (!), but things got a bit crowded towards the end of December, so now the January challenges are under way (catch my Artistic Stamper Past and Future ATCs here and my Country View Challenges Velluminaries here) I thought I'd share the second of my wintry journalling pages (you can see the first one here if you missed it - they're definitely part of a series).

As I said in that post, these are the first chance I've had for ages to just sit and play with no external theme or deadline involved... and I'm very much enjoying where they're taking me.  There's still more to come, and I think they're developing too.

We're back in the blues and browns and, as I mentioned, this one takes its inspiration from the Paul Theroux quote I left you with at the end of Winter Growth, the first page:

Winter is a time of recovery and preparation.

I couldn't agree more!  I'm very inclined towards hibernation at this time of year, resenting anything which requires me to leave my cosy den and engage with the wider world.












It's a time for conserving fuel, replenishing my energies, and processing the whirlwind activity of the last few months, as well as allowing new ideas to germinate, ready for when I emerge again in spring.











Of course, you have to keep a few tendrils reaching out into the world, but they have to be sturdy and strong, and well protected.








Again, just a few reminders for myself... if I'm hoping to turn this into a series of canvases, I'll need to know a little bit about what I was doing!

This one started with stippled Gesso, then Weathered Wood Distress Ink embossed mainly in clear, but with hints of white embossing powder in places.












Pastel pencil for the dividing line, and then Raw Umber trickled from the line towards the spine, then a cloth to knock it back. 

Love the texture that developed from the textured Gesso underneath.













Smalt Hue again for the other half of the page, applied with a wide brush and plenty of water, building layers of colour.












Added a much thicker line of Raw Umber to intensify the divide.

There's some Vintage Photo Distress Ink wiped on from the opposite edge, to create a reflected colour tone.











The difference between the two parts of the page - the retreat and the preparation.















Stamping in Coffee Archival (or Sepia?  No, Coffee I think), and some more lids inked with Archival Cobalt and/or Potting Soil.










Tim Holtz grungy stamps for more blottings - Potting Soil/Black for the stamping.














Layers and depth of colour building up.












Distressed layered papers and ephemera, again washed with Smalt Hue to tie them in, and lots of pastel pencil and Big Brush Pen shading around the layers.










Prepped the tag with washes of the same colours used, and stamping etc, and then the little Hero Arts set to stamp the Paul Theroux verbs.














More rusty wire around the tag, and through the top.














Dylusions spatter, dark and light.











So that's page number two in the series... number three will be with you soon.  It's also been ready since last year (!), and we'll just have to wait and see how many more arrive.  At the moment, they're still bubbling in my heart and in my fingertips, awaiting some non-DT time at the craft table.

Thanks so much for dropping in, and I'll see you again soon either here or elsewhere in Craftyblogland.

I'd like to enter this in Blue is the Colour over at the That's Crafty Challenge Blog.




I prefer Winter and Fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.
Andrew Wyeth

Brenda Brown is offering a Visual Journey Link Up Party to share the journey of creative experimentation. See all the details here at Bumblebees and Butterflies, but this seems the perfect page to be sharing.

An InLinkz Link-up

Velluminaries!!

Happy New Year!

For the second time today!!

Yes, the new Artistic Stamper challenge started at midnight (check out my Past and Future ATCs here), and I'm already back with the next one...  Talk about kicking off the New Year with a bang!

Artistic Stamper want to see New Beginnings, and the new theme at Country View Challenges - which is what we're here for now - is to Use Something New To You.  Are you spotting a pattern here?!

I know it won't be new to most of you, but I've never played with vellum, and I finally got my hands on the Tim Holtz Wallflower Vellum pack.

Well, you know me... give me something translucent and my thoughts turn to candlelight.  We have to have something to lighten the dark days of January.

(I always think it's a shame people have lights up already in November and then rip them down straight after Christmas.  It's in January and February that we need the illumination, when we haven't got the fun to look forward to!)

So here I give you my vellum luminaries.  Or shall we just call them "Velluminaries"?!










Rather than going for the full-on, layered, mixed media look (if you saw my Destination Inspiration luminaries you'll know what I'm talking about), I've gone for a sleek, minimalist style with these.

And we're starting the New Year with some recycling too, which always feels good.










The two smaller holders are plastic - they were the pots from some Chai Panna Cottas (I didn't like'em!).

And the large luminary is a simple glass vase.  It can still be used as a vase, of course, since I've sealed the vellum with multi-medium (and anyway, the idea is generally to keep the water on the inside of the vase).










Nothing complicated about the making... some measuring and cutting, some sticking and some trimming.











I haven't quite managed to get a completely smooth finish - especially on the glass one - but with the natural motifs of the design, the wrinkles look like tree bark, so I'm fine with that.  Next time...













I know the big one will go down very well with my small nephew who is fascinated by bugs of all sorts at present (he thinks leeches are "cute" - I can think of other words for them).












And the flowers and vintage adverts on the smaller pair please me greatly.













Two short(ish) and sweet posts today... could this also be the beginning of something new here at Words and Pictures?

Don't bet on it!










We'd love to see you Use Something New To You, so come and play along this month at Country View Challenges, and you could be in with a chance of winning the prize generously sponsored by Country View Crafts (and shopping for more new stuff).

And if you've time to check out my Past and Future ATCs, maybe you'll be inspired do the double with the Artistic Stamper theme.

And suddenly you know: It is time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.
Eckhardt von Hochheim, known as Meister Eckhart

Past and Future

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It's just gone midnight.  It's a brand new year, and time for a brand new challenge at The Artistic Stamper.  We're looking for projects with the theme of New Beginnings - and you can interpret that in any way you like - so come and play along.  You don't have to use Artistic Stamper stamps, but if you do you'll automatically get two entries in the prize draw - and you can play as many times as you like!

I've created a pair of ATCs marking what's past and what's to come, complete with some rusty bells to ring in the New Year.

I seem to plunge into really vivid blues and greens in January and February, and these ATCs take full advantage of that.





The backgrounds are from the Family Values plate, and are the perfect size for ATCs.

I applied lots of Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Broken China are all definitely in there, plus maybe some others - direct to the stamp, and then clear embossed the resulting image.

I also added some Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder around the outsides, over some Versamark ink brushed directly onto the edges of the ATCs.












The months and years come from Katy Leitch's Dates set, and are stamped in Vintage Photo and clear embossed.

I then cut them into tiny tags and arranged them with some of my rusty jingle bells to ring out the old year and ring in the new (yes - an echo of the current Vintage Journey challenge theme there, and more than a few echoes between these ATCs and my offering for that, Ring In The New!).

I couldn't resist adding a bit of my favourite rusty wire to the mix.










And the Chitchat stickers capture some of my thoughts and feelings about the year going out...










... and the year coming in.

So those are my New Year's ATCs on the theme of New Beginnings.  I hope they'll inspire you to come and play along at The Artistic Stamper this month.

I'll be back later in the morning with the new Country View Challenges theme...  Until then, don't drink too much champagne (is there such a thing as too much champagne?!), and Happy New Year!!




Remember tonight... for it is the beginning of always.
Dante Alighieri

Artistic Stamper stamps used: Katy Leitch Dates, Family Values