StoryBoardC

Black and White.

Just give me some Hambly rub-ons. American Craft Thickers. Making Memories Paint. Black and white color scheme. Textured white cardstock and a G-2 pen. I can confidently work out my insecurity on the page. And going with my continued theme of no pictures.It is kind of liberating.

I also last night finished another installment of Mon Livre D' Espirit mini book. Featuring my dear Grandma, who passed away four years ago on the 4th of July. There isn't a day she doesn't cross my mind. Lately I have been craving her being around. I miss her so... I wish I could talk with her and sit with her one last time. Hear her voice and listen to her unfaltering faith. I miss how comforting she could be during difficult times. This week has been a hard one. My mother, her daughter is facing a difficult time with some unanswered health issues. We will hear the results of these tests on Friday. I just wish my Grandmother was hear for my Mom. There just is nothing like the love and comfort of a mother. 

 

I love this picture of my Grandma. I loved how when we would go visit her, she would greet us with her trademark warm smile and sometimes a lovely bouquet of handpicked lilacs. like here. I can just hear her unique greeting of Hello Tweety, replacing the s in sweety with a T. She adored birds and loved tweety bird.  My book of Spirit would not be complete without her.

I used some hambly cherry blossom pattern paper cut with a exacto knife. I pulled out Kals Inspired colored pencils.  I love how art can be so distracting and calming. 

Work in Progress.

Before I started scrapbooking, Long time ago, I used to make these books called Mon Livre d' espirit (my book of spirit).  They were a collection of poems, favorite quotes, prayers, pictures, postcards, stories and journal entries. They were nothing fancy, just plain sketch books filled with things that I did not want to forget. Reminder of my spirit: the people, places, words and things I love. Over the years I have referanced them, when I am feeling uninspired or just needed pick me up on what really matters. A cheer leader for the creative spirit:) Recently I have gone back to this idea again, now well stocked with new material and cool stuff to adorn the pages with.
I used 7 gypsies envelope mini book, some Tim Holtz Ranger crackle paint and white pen to doodle the trim lines. The titled letters were from some old magnet word french kit, I had laying around. I covered it with Mod podge to give it a little gleem.

I am still working on the books inside, I have a few pages done. This one. Shadow artist no more. It is a picture I took at inspired. I did a technique I call photo trashing. Did a a little  journaling: ode to  getting a handle on creative insecurity. I am gonna fill the envelope with quotes and whatever strikes my creative fancy. 

This is a project not meant to be finished right away, like me it is a work in progress:)

La Livre d'espirit

I Adore quotes. Since I can remember, I have always been jotting them down. I came across recently one that has been a long-time favorite. It was originally found in the second edition of The Conversation of God book series.

                           "Come to the edge. We are afraid. Come to the edge and   
                            they came and he pushed them and they flew."                                                                                  Guillaume Apollinaire

It is beautiful. This is why I love words. Words by themselves mean little to nothing, but together they can make your heart soar. Years ago I came up with a solution to combine  quotes with pictures or short stories. I called it la livre d'espirit- french for the book of spirit. This is where I would put my pictures of people, places and things that meant something to me. They were simple:a picture, story, prayer or thought. I would read over it often to remind myself who I was, what my purpose was and dreams I have. It also was a gratitude journal. They were simple and to the point in the black generic sketchbook from Barnes and Noble.
    Then ten years after there creation. It was winter last year, I had stopped to get my coffee at Dunn Brothers and happened to have the day off and ventured in a scrapbook store thinking I would find women wearing kitten sweatshirts scrapbooking cutesy stuff. Instead I found a store filled with paper, pens and all other stuff. Yes, there was stereotypical stuff and people, but there was also cool things that spoke to my creative side and my lifelong obsession with paper and pens. I walked around found a beautiful rattan album with a black bow ( so classic that Jackie-o would of bought it ) and a book that caught my eye. Clean and Simple scrapbooking by Cathy Zeilske. I paged through it and instantly as Oprah calls,  had a  A-ha Moment. This  is what  I had been doing years ago. The scrapbooker lady kept on talking as I was checking out About Cathy Z. and how it was the last autographed copy. I told her I didn't know who she was and she looked at me with confusion. Then wished me luck with scrapbooking. I walked out the door with my album and book and went home not knowing that I had found a new way to old ideas. Life Art. I have created my own style thanks to the genius of Cathy Z., Simple Scrapbooking and reading these"life artists" blogs.
    Scrapbooking has changed my life. No I don't wear kitten sweatshirts and do cutesy lay-outs. But, I tell my story in pictures, quotes, prayers on really cool paper now and have awesome pens and supplies to do it.