Done, at last!

I made two more pages on the "Spooky Moments" theme, based on a poem I wrote some years ago. The page below is Theme 22, "Favourite Holiday." This was the only theme left to do, so I'm now up to date!

Catching up

I kept avoiding Theme 32, "Twenty Things to Do or Not", because the number seemed daunting. When I finally decided to "just do it," the twenty things came easily!

Theme 35 was "Spooky Moments". One more page--Theme 22 "Favourite Holiday", to do and I'll be up to date with the themes proposed!

Tag, You're It!

That's the theme for this week. At the end of the month, Tesse, the owner of the Blissfully Journaling site, will have a drawing to see which one of those who have done the four themes for this month will win the doll book she made for the occasion. Keep tuned!

Transportation and Balance

Here's a Transportation page with a more traditional mode of travel. The subject of this page is "All About Balance". I couldn't resist doing a tongue-in-cheek page on this topic.

This week's theme: Modes of Transportation

Maybe I bent the rules on this one, but when an idea hits me, I just have to go with it.

Three Pictures of Special Moments, (My) Hands, and Stripes of Life

What a mouthful that title is! I've done three more pages on the themes from Blissfully Art Journaling. The first of the three themes asks us to make a layout of three pictures of special moments in our lives, and add comments.

I've cheated on the second theme, "My Hands", because the hands on the page below are not mine. Someone sent me the pictures in an e-mail, and I instantly thought of them for this page. The art work is, astounding. Only paint has been added to the hands, no props used. It symbolizes for me what wonders our hands can express. We can use touch to love, injure, work, write poetry, novels or letters, and we can even make them objects of art.

Theme 30, below, is Stripes of Life. Instructions were to use a ruler to cut strips from magazine

pages, and use them to create a layout. Can you see the woman running for a taxi behind the strips of Dolce and Gabana perfume?

Weird and Wonderful

These pages are my takes on theme 25, Hidden Meanings, and on theme 27, Make an Anihu. What is an Anihu, you ask. It is an animal with a human head, or a human with an animal head. My versions do not adhere to this exactly, but I had fun with them. I can't take credit for the mermaid, she's from an ad for the Australian wine, Yellowtale. The Catfish, however, is all mine!

Have you ever wondered what put that barely-a-smile on Mona Lisa's face? Read the above.

Opposites Attract!

I finished another page today. The theme is "Endings", and Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" seemed most appropriate for the subject. I've used music to interpret quite a few of these themes. Music expresses our emotions as mere words cannot.

The Blissfully Journaling challenge for this week is to make a layout showing two opposite figures. Working from the other end of the list, I have 11 more challenges before I'm current.

Notes from the Past

Theme 21 on the Blissfully Art Journaling site is "Include a pocket on your page." The notes in my pocket are in French, because they are copies of real notes, written by my husband, which I found in my night table drawer some time after his death. I wrote a poem about this find at the time, and it's included in my pockets pages. Jean used to get up at 5:30 every morning, and since I'd still be sleeping, he would leave me little notes on the kitchen table, always signed with x's.

Confusion Reigns!

Well, it reigns at least occasionally. The title comes from a website I found by clicking on the title of another blogger. The result; serendipity! This is theme 20, "Confusion" from my Yahoo! Journaling group. It's always puzzled me that dictionaries use the word being defined in the definition. I was taught not to do that. No wonder I'm confused.

Skipping Ahead

I've now done 22 of the 36 weekly journal page challenges, but this page skips ahead to #36. Tesse, the site owner, has launched a monthly contest, beginning with November. Those of us who do all four challenge themes in a given month will have their names entered in a drawing. The prize will be an art doll book by Tesse, which she'll personalize for the winner.

This week's topic is "Betrayal", and here's my take on it. I plan to keep on doing the previous challenges. Can't wait to get caught up!

New Pages

Challenge 18 Wings
Couldn't resist making my own fairies for this challenge

Challenge 19 Up in Smoke
My first thought was the money and the health--the lives--that go up in the smoke of a cigarette. But I wanted to be positive, and this song from the Jerome Kern 1930's musical, "Roberta" came to mind. It's not super positive, but the lady has a positive attitude. When her friends tease her about her fickle boyfriend, she smiles and says, "When a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes."
The sheet music belonged to my mother, and has aged gracefully. Gotta love the '30's look of the illustration.