My Rule Number Three for Me

One of my many artistic quirks is perfectionism.  Insert scary da, da, DAAA!  here.  Oh the dreaded perfectionism.  

 When I get caught up in the evil binds of thinking a project has to be absolutely perfect or not at all....doing it not at all usually wins.  Therefore, "Baby Steps".  I have to keep taking baby steps in whatever new skill or task I'm trying to learn.  Thus began the theory for Rule #3, "Baby Steps".

Does it always work?  No.  But I have to be kind to myself.  I have to tell my own self to "don't be a hater" when it comes to what I create.  Sometimes I have to say this several times.  And then I keep moving forward.  

I was really happy with the way that these two pages turned out.  I wanted quirky colors, an odd version of pink and blue.  And the paper doily pocket above holds a small inspiration/journal tag.

With a picture of, of course, a baby!  Just another way to remind myself that I would not expect a baby to run a marathon the minute it first starts walking, and I should not expect marathon results from myself, when I've just begun creating.  That makes baby steps, rule #3.

ok, more journal pages

birds of worry page by cindy mayfield

Oh good, I'm glad you are not too bored.  Because pages are all I seem to want to do this week.  That and garden.  I'm beyond thrilled that my lettuce and arugula are coming along nicely.  I think they are the easiest things one can grow.  

Birds of worry page by Cindy Mayfield

I am a worrier. I worry. Not the wringing of hands, must take to my bed kind of worry. But I do let stupid things sometimes keep me awake at night. So, ever since I saw this quote, I've loved it.  Felt that it spoke to me.  This is the second time I've created a collage page with this quote.  And I LOVE the way the colors turned out. This was a previous page that I had started ages ago, so I finished it today.  Holy cow...how did I ever collage without a sewing machine?  LOL.  Yes, that's a big hunk of vintage lace sew onto the bottom of the page.

trio of journal pages by Cindy Mayfield

I did three pages today. Again, all existing pages that I just went back and "added to". I'm learning. Its good for me to step back. I very often get so excited to finish a project that I don't "step back". I do that in my art work, as well as my (merchandising) work. Stepping back and getting the big picture of what I am doing seems to help me work better. Helps me to see what needs what and where. This was something that they often talked about in some of the art classes I took. Sometimes I just find it hard to do. But, I'm learning.

Page Layering for Journal

Learning.  I want to learn more.  For me, classes seem to be the way to go.  I'm not really an explore on my own kinda girl.  A class that I can take in my pi's, with a cat underfoot and coffee in hand, sounds perfect.  On-line classes are the way to go.  One of the classes that I signed up for ages ago, but am just now doing, is Teresa Mcfayden's, "Journal of Interest".  

Vintage ledger, sewing pattern, and book page glued to card stock.

Layering is something I want to get better at, not only in my journals, but in other aspects of creativity as well.  I have a tendency to want to make every element of the page important.  And that does not make for good art.  So, I want to learn how NOT to do that.  LOL.  My first page started out (above), layered vintage pieces of paper elements, glued to card stock.

Ranger Inks added some details at top and bottom page, as well as random color overall.

Teresa used watercolor, but I was too lazy to drag any out, inks were on the desk, and that seemed like a great sub.  Here I just began to smear inks (shutter, sugar and straw) in a random fashion.

More collage elements were added, ticket, butterfly, paper scraps, label, wash tape.

Once dry, I began to collage on some paper elements, vintage and new.  A label and a little washi tape.  I also lightly stenciled some clock faces and numbers as well.  And then I began doodling.

Doodling, swirls, hand-writing elements were added.

I doodled around elements, boxes, onto some of the collaged elements and filled in my box that would become my book page.  I also added the cool ex libris I cut out of an old reader's digest.

White highlights and Prisma Pencil added a little more interest.

I wanted a little more color, so I began to add some Prisma pencil.  Dots at the bottom of the page, scribbles under the roses, etc.  I also added some highlights with some Copics.

Stitching for texture.

I stitched around the page, just to finish it off. I also took some of the ink pads and just built up some inks in some textured areas (mainly on the sewing pattern).

Stencils on the left added a little more depth and finished the page.  

White dots added some highlights.  And I added some damask stenciling on the left hand side to add a bit more depth.  At this point, it felt finished.   Thats one of the hard calls for me to make sometimes.  When is it done?

Writing detail

With so many great classes to choose from, easy to find something to work on.  

Page two is done in copies and inks only.  

This is the second page.  Done with inks and Copics.  Stencils and doodles and stamped wording.  I think my journal is going to focus on the theme of "happiness".   My favorite part of this page is the light word "happy" stenciled on the right.  All of the info on the page above came from The Dennis Prager show.  


I look forward to creating this journal, and hope to learn as I go along.