Sunday, October 28, 2012

Taking a Chance

I went with the headline prompt to create my second piece for Fall Fearless and Fly at Artists in Blogland.  

Taking a chance:  
I thought this was a timely choice of words since the news last week was all about Fearless Felix who fell 128,000 feet from the sky at 833.9 miles per hour and captured several world records. I immediately thought of the Graphic 45 steampunk man so I wanted to incorporate him (talk about a leap of faith flying in that contraption!).  I also thought of the Websters' Pages balloons.  And then there's Dorothy and Alice, both of whom did their own falling fearless.


Headline Prompt:  Taking a Chance:  When did you take a chance or a leap of faith?  How did it turn out?  What did you learn?

My answer before I made my page-  I've taken several leaps of faith--going off to college, moving cross country, believing my dh would safely return home from two deployments (which thankfully he did) while I survived by myself in a city far from home (it was all a big adventure back then), changing jobs, climbing Indian ruins in spite of a fear of heights, putting my papercrafting out there through blogging and being on design teams.  What I learned is that I have an inner strength to persevere in these great leaps of faith and, after managing to (gratefully) survive the experiences, I have a sense of satisfaction that I am able to fall fearless and fly.  Perhaps it's my inner Dorothy and Alice.

My answer now that my page is done- the biggest leap of faith is doing this art cleanse.  When I look at the other entries,  I feel  I am out of my league.  I'm out of my comfort zone.  I'm a papercrafter learning to art journal.  Jumping in with both feet.  I'm so new at this art form and know that I have so much to learn to get better at it.  It just is what it is.  My tenacious personality will have me continue on this journey because I love the prompts and love being part of this project, seeing such amazing talent displayed by the rest of group.

What did I learn from this particular assignment?  My thick paper didn't hold up well to lots of water from the acrylic paint wash.  Pithy and wrinkled, I kept on, covering with products that reacted to the paper.  That was quite a lesson.  Next time, I'll be using canvas paper or  manila tag.  Throughout most of the process, I didn't like how the page was looking.  In the end, I think it's acceptable to me and reflects the theme I was going for.  Even though it's the second prompt, I've made it my journal cover.  I will place inside all the pages from this art cleanse.  And in the end, I will click my heels like Dorothy, and say I made it home from one incredible journey.

Materials:
Webster's Pages:  Your Life Beautiful  6x6 background balloons  (keeping to this size for all the prompts)
Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante (image of woman on worldly balloon and image of man flying)
Ranger Picket Fence Distress Stain and Adirondack Cloudy Blue washed over the paper to tone down the balloons
Eyelash trim covered with Adirondack Juniper and Peeled Paint Crackle
Dyan Revely stencil to create my own yellow brick road, Delta creamcoat: Old Parchment; Ranger Distress Stain: Tarnished Brass
Graphic 45 Cling rubber stamps by Hampton Art:  Magic of Oz2 ; Copics E50 and E31, Prismacolor PM 198
wings from Heartwarming Vintage Crafty Secrets Altered Fairies page
blue text from Pink Paislee She Art paper dolls collection: She felt like she could fly.  She decided to leave her fears behind.
American Crafts Thickers for letters FALL pounced with Ranger distress ink in Worn Lipstick and stamped with Ranger distress ink in Faded Jeans using Rogue Redhead Designs background from Relish Reading stamp plate
Tim Holtz Ideaology Plain Alphas used as a stencil for the word FLY

computer generated words; black markers, white Sharpie

This prompt features Ronda Palazzari who is giving away her book to one lucky participant.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh I just love your entry. Dorothy and Alice are both such heroines and I'm so glad you referenced them. I love your composition, especially the way the letters that make up "fall" are falling down. But your girl is unfazed because, with her wings, she can make a quick getaway. Thank you for joining FF&F!

Netty said...

Loving your terrific page and enjoyed reading about all your leaps of faith.
Canvas paper is definitely a much easier medium to work on. Annette x

Carolyn Dube said...

Wow! I love all you've got in this! The Graphic 45 man, the hot air balloons, the winged girl, the grass, the way you did the title - so glad you shared this with Fall Fearless and Fly!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

A wonderful creation, great details.

Shari said...

I am glad that you are joining in the group and I enjoyed reading your post. I too am sorta new to art journaling, I've only been doing this for about a year and not consistently. I've heard that the more you practice the more you learn. I also know that eventually I will find my "style" and it will be more comfortable. I too am glad to be a part of the group and to be able to learn from all the wonderful artists out there in blogland!

Jenny Grant said...

I really like your page and your blog! To be brave and do other art forms and joint a group like this is really adding to my creative development and fills me with energy and inspiration and it sounds as if you have had the same experience. Looking forward to your next entry!

Blog Archive

Family Heritage Album