Proudly Canadian

Proudly Canadian

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Everything you need


HI all.  Today has been an emotional rollercoaster of happy and sad, and this page depicts my emotions today.  Seven months ago I lost my best friend, but he wasn't just a best friend.  We were in a relationship many years ago that took my breathe away.  The relationship didn't last but our friendship bond did and it only grew stronger as the years went by.  Not saying that we didn't have our volatile moments but we always bounced back because deep down that love we had for each other never went away.  When he passed away last year it was like the rug was pulled out from under me.  This weekend is my birthday, and I got the best birthday gift I could ever ask for.  Back in the day when we were together I was into tole painting, so I painted an amazing men's jewellery box for him.  During that time, I went on a road trip with him to California (he was a trucker).  On our drive, I was in the back sleeper while he drove.  It was quite late and during that time I wrote him a letter on his computer and saved it in a file for him to find one day.  Well, today his brother drove to my city to drop off this box that I had painted so many years ago for him, and inside that box was a copy of the letter that I had written him on his computer some 12 yrs ago.  He had saved that letter, and safely tucked it away in that box all these years.  It brought back memories and a wave of emotions, both of sorrow and happiness.  So, todays page says, "Everything you need is already inside" by Bill Bowerman.  I may have lost my best friend seven months ago but all those memories are inside me to cherish for the rest of my days.  Thank you Shane for having given me the inspiration for today's journal page.  You are so dearly missed. 

So to start I prepared my pages with Gesso as I always do.  I just picked up a few of the Prima face stamps and I decided to use one of them.  They don't have specific names on the packages so I'm not sure what to call this one.  So I stamped the image onto my page using Archival ink.  And colored my image with my Aquacolor crayons.  I bought this water color crayons such a long time ago without really knowing what to use them for.  I now have a reason to use them.  :)  Another reason to hoard and not purge because you just never know when you might need something you've had all along! 



 
 
 

 
Next, I took the water colors and started with white around the image like a halo and starting using tones of green to blue outwardly.  
 
 
 
The color darkens as you go further from the image into darker blues on the opposite page.  From there I took a Crafter's Workshop stencil mini wildflowers, Ronda Palazzari designs, and stenciled layers of the flowers and leaves using Wendy Vecchi archival inks in Forget Me Not, Cornflower blue, Leaf Green and Fern Green.  I heat set the inks and then I took some white gesso and a sponge dauber and painted the same images thru the stencil over top of the inks. 
 
 
 
I wanted a few colored splatters so I used my Lyndi Stamp Gang sprays to add some droplet effects around the page.  I used some scrap paper to cover the girl.  The colors I used were Aloha Avacado, Ocean Breeze Blue, and Caribbean Blue.
 
 
 
I wanted to lighten up the area around the girl again to bring out that halo effect more prominently.  I used my gelatos in white, acqua dolce, cotton candy and margarita mix.   Then I took my graphite pencil and shaded around the image to define her.  
 


 
 
 
Next step was to add some flowers to the greenery.   I took one of the small flowers from a Fiskars stamp set that I have had forever and stamped in black archival random little flowers around the layout.  With my Fabre Castell Big Brush Pitt markers I colored in the flowers. 
 
 
 
 
Time to add my words.  I stamped my Unity stamp onto white cardstock and cut it out.  I then used the same Lyndi sprays and colored the words.  I used gel matte medium to glue them down.  Next step once dry was to outline the words with my Uniball gel pen.

 
 
 
 
I added a script to the bottom on my girl image that says love.  I finished around the edges of the page with Gelatos to deepen the border color.  I think I am done.  I'm not really sure if I will do anymore to the page or not.  I might go back in and add a heart somewhere on the page and maybe outline the greenery with my Pitt pens but I'm not sure.  So for now, it is done. 
 
 

 
 

I hope you enjoy my page.  This page speaks to me more than any other page has so far, drawing on personal emotions to do my art journal page today.  Would love to hear from you.  Thanks for stopping in to check out my most recent post.  Have a wonderful day!  xoxo

 


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6 comments:

  1. Diane, what a beautiful way to remember a good friend. Even I myself did not realize the relationship you still had with Shane until now. How very thoughtful of him and his brother to bring this back to you for safe keeping. I remember this box you painted as we were together the weekend you did it.
    Your talent not only in scrapbooking but also in Decorative Painting is second to none! You inspire me more than you can ever know! Good memories are all we have when we lose someone special and you have made a memory on this page that will last a lifetime! Great job my friend. Luv Ya!

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    1. Thank you for your beautiful words GF. Yes, we didn't make a good couple but we made great friends. I was so blessed that he stayed with me for about 4 days last summer on his way thru to his sister's funeral. I knew then it would be the last time I would ever see him again. Getting that box back and finding that letter I wrote to him so long ago inside really took the stuffing out of me yesterday. So for that reason, I am so thankful that we weathered the storms and held onto that deep love we had for each other, even if from a distance. I let all my emotions out onto this page and with it the gratitude I have for having known him as good as I did, because with all the bad stuff there was a lot of really good stuff too! xoxo

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  2. So beautiful both your story and your page, Precious memories.

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  3. Diane, what a great story about your life and loves. The best kind. The gift you received when the box came back to you is amazing. The gift I received in the reading this is amazing as well. thank you so much for sharing.

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    1. Thank you Theresa. I am glad that you chose to share in my story. :)

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