5 in 5 - October 2020 - Capturing the Place journal

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th

of each month I post 5 photos that I have

taken in 5 minutes.

Two years ago I went on a 3 day workshop run by Hilary Beattie, called Capturing the Place. It was held at Forge Mill Needle Museum and Bordsely Abbey, and it was a spectacular setting.  I had come home and put my journal and workbook away, meaning to one day finish it. Invariably I come home from a workshop with work to be completed, as ideas continue to develop and grow.

So I was frustrated a few weeks ago when my friend, who had been on the workshop with me, suggested we met up on Zoom and complete our journals together. A great idea in theory, except I couldn't find mine when it came to it. Then this week, it surfaced. And I was surprised and pleased to find that actually, it was complete, a part from the final page and half.  There was a feeling of satisfaction and achievement, and looking through the journal bought back happy memories. So I thought I would share some of the pages this month. It might spur me on to complete other unfinished work, rather than keep starting new projects and ideas. I took over 25 photos in the 5 minutes so it is difficult to choose ones to share, but a decision has to be made, so here goes:

I chose an A5 landscape journal and one of the first things we were invited to do was to go outside, and using water colours, paint a pallet of colours that we could see. That was interesting and something I'd not done before. It made me look more closely and seeing this page in the journal reminded me that is something I want to do more of.

I specially enjoyed making backgrounds for the pages. It appealed to my love of experimenting and being playful. This sunflower head was huge, and I am always fascinated by natures patterns. These seeds are part of the Fibonacci sequence and these are really visible when the flowers die back. 

This is another painted background and shows photos taken in the Forge Needle Museum. There is a beautiful collection of needle cases and exhibits showing how needles were made. As someone interested in sewing and the history of industry, I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and wished there was more time to explore.  

The blue background continues, and I like how it showed the photo of the fern. Being a water mill there was lots of ferns growing out of walls and around the mill race. There was also lots of rusty metal, another thing that draws my attention. I did rubbings of some, including mill parts, drain covers and grates. These made interesting backgrounds for other pages, an idea inspired by Hilary.

And this final photo shows how some of the pages were added to, allowing them to open up and reveal more underneath. Within the grounds is a ruined Abbey, and a small museum that displays relics. Part of these are a collection of tiles from the Abbey floor, spectacular designs and photographs of the floor when it was uncovered. I used a stamp to replicate the pattern and also carved small stamps that I also used on this page on the centre spread, and throughout the book.

I enjoyed revisiting this journal and it's accompanying workbook. And before I put it away I will finish the last page and a half, because I realise the satisfaction and sense of achievement when work is completed. 

Note to self: stop starting new projects and working on new ideas until others are finished! I wonder how many of you can relate this this?! 

Thank you for visiting and I hope that what ever you are doing, you are safe and well. As always I invite you to join in this monthly 5in5 photo challenge. It's very simple, and it offers a new way of looking through the camera lens and adding a spark of new ideas.

 So here's how it works: 

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a mobile timer for 5 minutes.

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool 

   You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos and if you want to know more about 5in5 there are details here. 

And one more thing - when you use the link tool, please click on your post title.  This will show the web address. Please right click, copy and paste this as your link.  This will take readers directly to your '5 in 5' blog page and be easier for them to find.

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Click here to enter

Learn Something New Every Day - New fonts and ways of printing

My creativity has been given an uplift since making a journal for the month of September, and each day brings something new. I am not planning, just seeing what the day brings, and yesterday I downloaded some new fonts for my computer as I was looking for something specific. Sometimes these small details can make a big difference.

This morning I was faced with a background page with typewriters. I knew some pages would be a challenge as I  prepared pages in advance so that I could add to them daily in a quick and easy way. But this background was serendipity because it reminded me of the new fonts I had downloaded and how I had changed the way I print small details!

Often I want to print a small amount of text or image and using the tray feed means I waste a lot of paper. So I have started to set my printer to rear feed when I want to print part of a page; I can cut off what I need and put the sheet back into the printer rather than seeing it as 'scrap'. It means I have to reset my printer to revert back to the tray feed but this simple task will save paper. That is always a good thing. 

I am also practicing imperfection, which is as well because day 5 page includes some smudges! I remind myself, this is not about being perfect, it's about recording memories and recalling lessons learnt. 

I wanted to add lots of journaling to the next page so the top opens and reveals extra space. Last month I focused on clearing paperwork and magazines and today I am celebrating success.  The clearing and organising is on going but I feel like I have climbed the mountain and it's lovely to make time for some creativity again.

A final page is to remind me of the lovely surprise video call I received from a friend. She just wanted to say hello and I truly 

value moments like that. Often it is the small things in a day that count and it made me think of the times I think about calling some one and don't. Another lesson learnt. 

5 in 5 - September 2020 - Learn Something New Every Day Journal

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th

of each month I post 5 photos that I have

taken in 5 minutes.

September is the start of a new academic year and in the past I used to enjoy marking this time by making a handmade journal. This was an annual class run online by Shimelle Laine and called 'Learn Something New Every Day'. Shimelle no longer runs this class, however, the idea remains and I decided to do it again using my own prompts and inspiration. 

 

First I made my journal. My favourite size for this type of project is A5, and I used white card to make it study, and sewed 3 signatures into a Kraft card cover. There are 36 pages in total, with space for a manifesto. I enjoyed a relaxed day covering the pages with background papers and designs. Often I do this as I go along so that the design connects with my journalling. But I want to fill pages quickly and easily have little excuse not to complete a page daily, so it will be interesting to see how some of these pages work. If necessary I can cover the page or add gesso, but I am hoping these random designs will add a challenge and spark ideas when the time comes. It will be an interesting way to work that I've not tried before.....

For the background pages I have used an eclectic collection including paper bags, scrapbook papers, my own printed papers, maps and pages from books and magazines. These types of books are often referred to as junk journals and I like the freedom and variety that these give me. Some pages will have pockets to hold journalling, tickets or photos and I look forward to finding out what the month will offer.

Here's the cover and some of the inside pages.....

 

 

The journal will hold memories, like the day I visited a friend. We'd sat in her garden chatting, and when I got home she messaged me.  It was out of context and I couldn't make a connection with what she was saying. However, I made sense of it thinking she had made a typo and this led to an interesting and very amusing conversation with us both confused and at cross purposes!  We had a good laugh once we discovered what had happened!  Lesson learnt!  Ask questions if it is not clear! 

 

Do let me know in the comments what you learn this month, or what projects you are taking on. 

 

And as always I in invite you to join in this monthly 5in5 photo challenge. It's very simple, and it offers a new way of looking through the camera lens and adding a spark of new ideas.

 

So here's how it works: 

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a mobile timer for 5 minutes.

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool 

   

You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos and if you want to know more about 5in5 there are details here.

And one more thing - when you use the link tool, please click on your post title.  This will show the web address. Please right click, copy and paste this as your link.  This will take readers directly to your '5 in 5' blog page and be easier for them to find.

5 in 5 - August 2020 - Upcycling Magazines and Mindset

Welcome to '5 in 5' where on the 5th

of each month I post 5 photos that I have

taken in 5 minutes.

I run a women's Facebook group that focuses on self development and making personal changes, so that we can live the life that we choose. During July I set myself a goal of practicing Pilates at least once a week, and it wasn't too long before that also included not using my mobile in bed and creating a better bedtime routine. That's because I had a habit of lying in bed scrolling through social media, often until the early hours, and then reaching for it again when I woke. I soon realised that in the time I had done this, I could have completed my mornings Pilate practice, and instead I had little to show for the time. 

It felt rewarding to make these changes and I felt a sense of achievement. Something else I have been tackling head on is my magazine collection, and the success in one area gave me added motivation. It is part of the clearing of my creative space which I have have mentioned before. This time though I am more tenacious. It has been a progressive project but it is building steam and speed and this time I completely cleared the floor. I bought all the bags and boxes into the house and even I was shocked at the number I had collected over time! I use magazines for vision boards, collage and art journaling so they have a purpose. The trouble is, do I really need that many?! It wasn't until they were gathered together that I saw the space they were taking! So, I have been going through them in earnest. Most of them are good quality magazines, and often unread because I simply don't have time and read books instead. If you are wondering why I buy the magazines in the first place, I don't. Some are membership subscriptions, and several collections are ones I rescued, because someone else was going to recycle them. I am not evangelical, but I do prefer to upcycle, reuse and reinvent before recycling. And these magazines are worth passing on to someone who will appreciate them. As I said, they are good quality magazines and some cost more than the price of a book.

So I am on a mission. Some magazines have gone into the recycling bag because I have cut and torn pages from them and they can not be passed on.Others are in boxes, ready to pass on. One lady seemed really grateful for craft magazines and another collected a box of County Living with another to follow. 

A local garden centre responded to my 'Would anyone like these magazines' post on Facebook. They will invite customers to take copies. 

Some I am keeping aside because I will continue to need a supply. Rather than keep the entire magazine, I have gone through some and torn or cut out relevant pages and pictures. That will reduce some storage space. At the moment I have one small box. I won't tell you how many I started with!

And here's an example of a vision board that I made, using magazine pages. I mentioned the women's group that I run. As part of this I invited members of the group to join me in a live Zoom meeting where we made a personal vision board. It was great fun, and this was my one. It sums up my month. I've been climbing a mountain for so long, but finally seeing the horizon. And it feels good.  

I hope your own month has gone well. We are always pleased to welcome new members to the women's Facebook group so if you are interested in knowing more let me know in a comment. It's a supportive space where we cheer each other on and work towards our own goals. And right now, my goal is to clear my mountain of magazines. It is creating psychological space as well as physical, and that's a good thing too, isn't it!

Thank you for visiting and I hope that what ever you are doing, you are safe and well. As always I invite you to join in this monthly 5in5 photo challenge. It's very simple, and it offers a new way of looking through the camera lens and adding a spark of new ideas.

So here's how it works: 

1.  Choose a location.

2.  Have your camera ready.

3.  Set a mobile timer for 5 minutes.

4.  Take as many photos you can until the time is up.

5.  Choose 5 photos to download and share by using the link tool 

   

You have until the 25th of the month to add your photos and if you want to know more about 5in5 there are details here.

And one more thing - when you use the link tool, please click on your post title.  This will show the web address. Please right click, copy and paste this as your link.  This will take readers directly to your '5 in 5' blog page and be easier for them to find.