Valentine Travel Journal - Graphic 45 Mix Media

 Love is our true destiny.  We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - 
 we find it with another.  Thomas Merton

Hey there from Nannyland,

Mixed media is one of those artistic expressions I absolutely love but really don't have much of an aptitude  for.  My precise brain just doesn't know how to playfully arrange elements in a loose, relaxed manner, no matter how hard I try.  I think that's the problem...I try too hard!

 

When my friend purged her studio and asked me if I wanted this fabulous Graphic 45 Journal Kit full of  travel ephemera and detailed instructions, I jumped at the chance to be guided through this jungle of lovely vintage embellishments. I completely relished the process, but something got in the way and the project ended up in my "to finish" box, which is usually neglected and sometimes forgotten. 

Then one day when I was working on some vintage tags on a whim, I came across my abandoned journal and knew it would be a perfect Valentine "card" for my hubby.  The travel theme and neutral colors were perfect to display pictures of us in all stages of our marriage, enjoying our many treasured travel adventures.  

It didn't take me long to print enough pictures to fill many of the pages and tags. Each picture brings back sweet memories and reminds me of our rich, vibrant 53+ years together.  There are plenty of spaces waiting for pictures of sagas yet to come.   

The pretty tags are ready to document the details of our adventures, but that is a task for another day.  It will be fun reminiscing with my sweetheart about the specifics of our odysseys together. 

He was so impressed with all the work I'd done and we had fun walking down memory lane, reliving some of the most cherished moments in our marriage.

I did confess to him that I had done most of the hard work on this journal years before. I think it was just waiting for the right moment to shine forth and celebrate our marriage with a panoply of exquisite memories.

I hope you had a fabulous Valentine's Day with the people you adore.

 

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit.  

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply

Tag, You're It!

      It's good as an artist to always remember to see things in a new, weird way.
Tim Burton

                           

                      

Hey there from  Nannyland,                                                                                                                                                             

I experienced a game-changing epiphany recently while watching a YouTube video of one of my favorite artistic superstars, Lort Holt.  I'm a dedicated groupie of this quilt designer extraordinaire and I love learning about her intriguing creative process.  She was asked whether she ever loses her "sewjo" and,  surprisingly, her answer was absolutely NEVER.  What???  I was stunned until she explained that the secret to this satisfying state of mind  is having a panoply of projects at her finger tips so she can switch when she needs a new burst of enthusiasm.  As I pondered this, I started mentally listing several of my favorite pursuits in addition to my usual quilting and card making.  Among them are machine embroidery, art journaling, crochet, genealogy, photography...and the list goes on.  As creators, I think we all have these varied and never ending lists. 

So, why am I posting pictures of tags while chattering on about tons of different crafting hobbies?  Well, here's the thing.  I got a little bleary-eyed this weekend making Valentine cards and just couldn't get excited about cutting hearts on my Cricut.  My left-brained  conscience scolded my right-brained creativity and whispered to me that I needed to finish the task I had started before going on to another. I know lots of people have oodles of UFO's in their craft spaces, but not me.  That would be very lackadaisical. 😀  But then I spied a box of paper scraps I had saved from a recent Graphic 45 purge. I decided to do as Lori suggested and take an inspired detour. I thought it might be fun to zhuzhe up one of these vintage cuties and make a tag to tie on my bff's birthday gift bag.  

I actually felt a little guilty working on something as frivolous as tags when I had so many Valentines to make, especially since all my supplies were strewn around the room,  openly mocking me. But then I thought...why not?  I'm just energizing my brain with some new artsy synapses.

So,  this is what happened when I allowed myself to throw caution to the wind and drift where my creative whim led me. I turned on an audio book and got out my glitter glue, some long deserted lace trim, sparkly sheer ribbon, metallic washi tape, my trusty gold and silver leafing pens and assorted gems.  I became reacquainted with my Crop-a-Dile that I haven't used for so long I forgot how to use it.  I had to scour my craft room to find eyelets and, in the process, I found some buried treasures I had long forgotten.  I didn't need to be stingy about using my abundant crafty stash.  It felt good to use my hoard for something useful.

I ended up doing some organizing with my Julie Nutting paper doll stamps and pads, as I was reminded how much I love making cards and tags with these darling dolls. I put all my doll-making supplies together and plan to have some stamped images on hand for coloring.  Then I'll have one finished and  waiting when I get ready to dress her for her card debut.  I also plan to cut out a quilt (or two) for some sewing diversion when I get in the mood for stitching complicated (and delightful) designs rather than gluing them.

                                            

I guess I've always been a believer in changing things up to light a spark of creativity when the flame starts to flicker out. How else would I have so many interests competing with each other?  I just need to give my disciplined self permission to come out and play, and allow some of my ducks to dance a little jig if they want to. It's possible to be organized and flexible at the same time.  Now I'm determined to  have some projects ready to go when my creative mojo wants to careen down a new uncharted path. One of the best parts of my weekend departure into La La Land was that I' found an unfinished project that I like much better for my husband's Valentine than the one I was going to cut out on my Cricut! I hope you will be inspired to expand your crafty horizons also, if you tend to get a little too stodgy and stuck like I do. I'm bursting with new ideas for future projects and all because I allowed myself to relax and mix it up a bit. And I have some schmancy new tags. to boot.  Thanks, Lori!

Thanks for visiting Nannyland.

I'll just be here blissfully creating until your next visit.  

Nancy (aka Pink Panoply