Wednesday 29 August 2012

Art Journaling: The Heart of a King

Hi, hi.

Before I share another size-related art journal page .... a small warning ...

If you wanted to see your smiling face on the Height of Summer height chart I'm putting together - to see where you measure-up amongst all those who've joined in so far - you only have one day left. Today in fact [or early tomorrow, depending on when I get up and how busy my Thursday is!].

I'll be closing The Height of Summer and blogging the finished height chart on Thursday [30th Aug 12] to make room for Friday's Month in Numbers and clearing the decks for a new month ahead. So - if you want to be on the chart, but don't have time for a post, just leave me your height in the comments.

Of course, if you liked the idea, and planned to post something at a later date, I'll still swing by to admire your stature / sympathise with your lack of it.

Now let's move on to the arty bits where today's size-related quote is one I'm certain you'll recognise:
The woman illustration is from the size chart in the back of a Gudrun Sjoden catalogue. Much like with Jack Wills I [a] love the clothes; [b] can't really afford them but [c] adore the style of the catalogues and frequently cut them up for my journaling instead!

I used [very old rub-ons] for the titling and the floral elements:
While the washi tape is from Hobbycraft's new decorative tape range - which I was pleasantly surprised to find in there last week. [Oh, before you think that this is an advert, let me assure you it isn't! I'm not paid to tell you about their tape. I bought it with my own money. Wait .. no ... that's a lie, James actually treated me. But he really did buy it with his own money!].

The patterned paper is available from 3DJean  [OK, that is something I didn't pay for it ... it was in my DT package this month!]
The 'This order has been checked as correct' sticker must have come from a parcel I've received ... I can't remember! And the snippet about 'stateliness' came from a vintage architecture book which has come in very useful when looking for phrases about size and scale during this series.

And here's the finished effect:
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Click to visit the Pinterest board filled with everyone's contributions.
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I know this post has already got a touch unwieldy ... but I just need to sneak in some extras before I go ...
 
I want to answer a couple of questions left for me lately - both on topics I could [and maybe should] elaborate on at a later date ... but I didn't want to leave them hanging until then ... so here's the short version of my answers:
  • Q: How long does it actually take you to find appropriate bits of text from real actual books? 'Cos I love the way you do that and I totally want to steal - er, I mean, be inspired by - the idea, but when I tried to find one particular word I got bored and fed up after about 40 minutes of flicking through pages. It wasn't even a tricky word.
  • A: I don't often sit and try to find a specific word. It's usually the other way around: I'll browse a few books [possibly chosen as I know the themes are similar] then see if anything leaps out at me. Like I said above - I flicked through an architecture book to find a quote about scale. I rarely have the finished phrase in mind when I begin - I like to let what I find surprise me!
And:
  • Q: When you use vintage ephemera on your pages, do you worry about the archival qualities of the elements you are using, or isn't it really a big deal? I have a few older items such as dictionary pages I would like to use, but wonder if they will stand the test of time. Maybe it isn't much of an issue? I'm curious what others think.
  • A: As I sell vintage paper I guess I need to have this as a Frequently Asked Question section ... but until then here's the condensed response. In short: it's not a big deal to me at all, I don't mind how my pages will fare in the future, my main pleasure is derived from the 'making' rather than the preserving for the future aspect. I consider it my hobby / creative activity in my 'here-and-now' and so, my attitude toward archival issues is entirely laidback.That said - all the photos I use are prints - so there's nothing precious there to deteriorate.
I hope I've at least addressed the basic principles behind those questions ... thanks for asking them. They've given me lots of food for thought on future topics to tackle!
 
Right, I really am clearing off now ... see you tomorrow.
 
Julie :-)

9 comments:

  1. Now that is one of D's favourite shops too. I'm not going to get a chance to post about height so if you want to include me I'm 5'6" :0)

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  2. Love the woman illustration :) Glad you mentioned the timeliness of the Height of Summer post. I had planned for mine to post Friday (12:00am eastern daylight time US) Off to find those epics I have had in my head for weeks :)

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  3. Love your arty page - and good to know that Hobbycraft do some washi tape.

    I managed a blog post here today for HoS, which is just as well or I'd have been telling porky pies if I'd just posted my height here in the comments!

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  4. Fabby :) And thanks for your answer to my question! x

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  5. Another inspiring page, Julie - I do so love your figures... Perhaps you could run a series for us all, in which we attempt one (with instruction from you, of course)? Perhaps on a theme, or to show some aspect of ourselves we don't normally get to reveal ... Like an alter ego (or one of them). Just thinkin' aloud, sister. :)

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  6. What a fantastic page! Looking forward to your Friday post.
    Rinda

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  7. Might have made it just under the gun or quite possibly a tad too late, here's my Hgt of Summer post http://beglorious.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-height-of-summer.html

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  8. I am sad that I missed out blogging a height relates tale! I am meant to be 5'8.5" but haven't measured myself recently!! Thanks for the HOS as I have laughed out loud at many of the stories xxx

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