Altered Art Journal

new blog

2009-08-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

My new blog cn be found here

finished

2007-12-31T01:54:00.000-08:00

all the cards together

cant believe we have actually finished this I am so pleased that I managed to do thi although i didn't always keep up

week 50 prompt was greatest gift life imediately sprung to mind

week 51 prompt was saw this and thought of you. When I was younger I shard a bedroom with my big sister she completlely covered a wall with pictures of David cassidy sadly my sister is no longer with us but when ever I see picture of david it always makes me smile

Week 52 prompt was art I used mine to say a great big thank you to Em for such a fantastic year.

I have really enjoyed doing this thanks everyone for looking

Val

Ideas

2007-12-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

This weeks prompt was ideas, any thing to do with ideas. I always have my best ideas when I am near water whether it's being by the sea, doing the washing up or even sitting on the toilet

Week 47

2007-11-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

feel like I am back on a roll week 47 prompt is what's your happy place. I have lots of happy places but I guess one of my favourites has to be Portland Bill I love to just sit there and look at the waves crashing on the rocks. It makes you realise what a small part we play in this vast universe of ours. As a family we love to spend time there although we can't get there to often as it is quite a long way away.
My husband would love to retire to that part of the country.

whoo can't believe I have been away so long

2007-11-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

finally caught up with all of my journal cards I have been doing bit's but just haven't got round to posting on here so what have I miss

funny ha ha

A programme called still game about a group of old scots whish just makes me howl with laughter

Strength

A pic of my nephew and my great nieces hands

a beautiful life

pics taken from my little world journal that I did with shimelle

draw something

a selp portrait based on the work of beryl cook

I wander

I wander where Ill be if I listen to my dreams

someone spesh

my work colleauge and very good friend

how is it not any more

I don't have my mum as my hairdresser

magic carpet

if I had a a magic carpet I would fly to weymouth

a greatful week

scarey

my fear of heights didn't stop me climbing mount snowdon

home is where the heart is

what have you discovered about yourself

I am bloody good at my job

rejuvination

crips country walks in frosty leaves

phew caught up and now emily inspires me to do some thing else
http://embers.typepad.com/e/

Quiet and 10 minutes

2007-08-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Week 32's prompt was quiet one of my sons favourite memories of his grandad was when he used to shout quiet as loud as he could at the dinner table when we had all got a bit noisy there used to be quite a few of us at family get togethers. Funnily enough it used to terrify me when I was little don't know wether my dad had mellowed a bit or that my son just got the joke better.
Week's 33 prompt was to spend 10 minutes creating from the stuff around you I'll be honest and said mine took twenty minutes but I really like the effect

What don't you regret

2007-08-08T00:25:00.000-07:00

week 31's prompt is what don't you regret eversince i have been singing Je regrette rien by Edith piaf so this weeks card is a picture of her. I have no regrets everything i have been and done is what has made me the person who i am today and actualy I am quite happy with her.

Caught up finally!

2007-07-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

the last photo shows all thirty cards together

finally caught up with the last five weeks wont go into to much detail will let the cards speak for themselves

must catch up

2007-07-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

I have one card to scan and two (by tommorow to make) must get back to it

A photo that is special to you

2007-06-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Emily is away this week following a move so this weeks inspiration prompt was provided by
Tara http://tarawhitney.typepad.com/ and involves using a photo new or oldthat is special to you. This weeks card shows a photo taken at my nephews 21st showing four generations of my sife of the family. The only member who wasn't there was my beautiful neice and he photo is shown on the back. it is very rare that we get so many of us together so it is a very special photo for me. Thanks for the prompt Taras

Remember when?

2007-06-18T22:56:00.002-07:00

this is what he looks like now

week 24'sprompt is remember when this card shows hubby when he had long hair it was longer than that at one time.

Thanks Scrapdolly For The Fab Link

2007-06-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Srcapdolly from ukscrappers posted a link which led me to this isn't it cool

Right Now I Am

2007-06-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

week 23's promt is where are you right now well I am busy at work both with the union and my main job, I am very happy with how my life is, I am becoming more confident every day, I am swapping stuff with people all over the world and i am being a mother to my children and probably to my husband at times too, here is this weeks card I would like to thank Kay for her instructions http://www.atcards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7229 I had great fun making it.

Learn Something New

2007-06-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

Week 22's prompt was about what new thing would you like to learn as a nurse where I live we have a lot of Italians and with their dementia a great deal of them revert back to their native tongue it wouldbe so good to be able to help them better, I have wanted to learn to play the guitar for such a long time but can never be bothered to go through the pain in my fingers.

Qualities

2007-06-02T00:28:00.000-07:00

Week 21's prompt (how did we get here so quick) what are your qualities. Ever since i was about 15 i have been someones auntie Val as in agony aunt. People have always come to me with thier problems. I would say that is because I am a good listener, tolerant, supportive, creative, caring and friendly. Equally these some of the qualities that help me to do my job as a psycaitric nurse.

you cant tell from the scan but the card is made of mirror board so it reflects me when I look into it.

Change

2007-06-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

I am usually very positve about change and was going to write embrace chage it is always for the best on my card for week 20's prompt. Then I had to spend the last week supporting staff, as a union rep, whose community home had closed down. An order had been placed on it to close by magistrates at 9pm Thursday and by 7 pm Friday it was closed and the six clients with learning difficulties had been moved to different homes some a long way from relatives. I really couldn't understand how this change could be for the best so I decided that my card should read embrace change it is always an experience.

Suprise

2007-05-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Week 19's prompt was suprise simple as that, when the children were little we never told them when we were going to stay with my Mum we would say we were going shoppping they never did realise even though my mum lives 150 miles away. We knew when they were growing up when they recognised Lincoln Cathedral and we couldn't lie to them anymore, once we even told them we were going out for chips we were only in Cleethorpes not Bedford. They loved going there then and they still do now.

An acrylic a day for the month of May

2007-05-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

Taking part in this http://www.atcards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6671 but not keeping up too well finally managed to do these three first paintings I have done for ages, oh and by the way they are atc size abd based on the work of georgia okeefe

Nature

2007-05-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

week 18's prompt was nature I have been tidying up my garden this weekend and putting flowers and veg in pots planted sweetpeas which I haven't done for a couple of years forgot how much I love them. They are in a pot outside my back door and i can't wait to see them grow and smell thier stunning aroma I love to pick them a put them in tiny vases.

My Bedroom

2007-05-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

well week 16's prompt was my bedroom, my bedroom when I was a teenager was full of black and red furniture. I thought I was so chic. The bed was great though it pulled out into a kingsize and hosted many a sleep over sometimes sleeping five people. Oh if only that furniture could have talked what stories it would have told possibly just as well it couldn't

a little help from my friends

2007-05-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Can't believe how long it is since I have posted but have been so busy catching up with stuff and as Em's prompt for week 16 was to get a little help from my friends it took a little while to collect the flowers for my card I'd like to thank those who contributed including work colleauges and crop friends

Your Parents

2007-04-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

This weeks prompt first thing that comes to mind when you think of your parents easy for my mum it's her art she loves to paint and has recently rediscovered pottery and is making some really cool stuff. My dad died a few yeas ago but my mum and I were talking about him at the weekend and how he always used to buy pick and mix sweets on a saturday night, the only problem was if you asked for one he would say "Those who ask don't get and those who don't ask don't want so they don't get either" not sure how we ever managed to eat them. He also used to buy us all a packet of Walkers crisps but you couldn't have them until match of the day started even if you were tired and went to bed as soon as you ate them. Never did work out why you would have thought he would have been glad to see us in bed wouldn't you. So my card this week is double sided with no journaling, sweets for my dad and art for my mum.

Birds

2007-04-09T13:32:00.000-07:00

So week 14 and we have the prompt Birds funnily enough this ties in with the Shimelle project that I am doing and forms the basis of the next page in my when I grow up book. When I was a little girl I used to sit for hours drawing pictures of birds in the garden making them into little books. I can still remember now the feeling of absolute belief that what I was drawing was an absolutle replica of the bird in front of me, I thought I must be the most fantastic artist in the world. I'd love to see those little books now I am sure I would be quite amused to see what I had really drawn. Isn't sad how we loose that belief in ourselves along the way, I've kinda got a little bit back in that I have absolute faith in my ablity as a nurse and my belief in person centred care but oh for a bit of what I had as a child as far as my creativity is concerened.

When I Grow Up

2007-04-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

This is the front cover and the first two pages for my childrens book inspired by Shimelles class

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Valerie.

Everyone wanted to know what valerie would like to be when she grew up

But Valerie didn't know

When I Grow Up

2007-04-04T13:18:00.000-07:00

As you can see form the button on th side of my blog I have signed up for Shimelles new class, when i grow up. Shimelle has challenged us to talk to others about this subject. Today at work I was asking friends and colleauges if what were is was what they had wanted to be. The admin staffs wanted to be a medic and an archeologist, the social workers wanted to be a comercial artist and medic (work with blood to be precise) The nurses wanted to be a physiotherapist and a helicopter pilot (too tall) and me well I wanted to be a nun until later on when I wanted to be a bride and realised the two just didn't mix. None of us are what we thought we would be. If your reading this I'd love it if you left a comment about what you wanted to be when you grew up, I'd love to know whether any of you are what you have always wanted to be.

What's on your mind

2007-04-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

This weeks prompt is what's on your mind, thats easy for me this week it has to be time I have so many deadline sto meet and time just keeps on wizzing by. I have a cj to finish, atc's to complete and send housework to be done bofore a number of kidscoming for sleep overs this week oh and I have to go to work too. Can't believe we are in April already I'm sure I still have some left over Turkey in the fridge!!!!!!!!!!!!anyway this is this weeks card TFL oh and by the way the journaling on the back is the chorus to Got The Time by Joe Jackson

I believe

2007-03-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

This weeks prompt is I believe, what do you believe in big or small. well I believe in love at first sight true of the first time I saw my darling hubby, the day they handed me my new born son and the day they handed me my new born daughther. I instantly fell in love with them all, last but not least our is our beautiful rescue dog Frankie, we fell in love with a photo and then had an anxious week waiting to see if he was ours. A year on he fills our heart with more and more love each day. I definitely believe in love at first sight.

My Initial

2007-03-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

This weeks prompt (week 11) was your initial well heres mine never did like my name when I was growing up, although it has grown on me in recent years. No one really calls me Valerie mostly it's Val. The old ladies and gents I look after all like to call me valerie for some reason they can't understand the concept of Val. Doing some research on the internet I discovered that the latin of Valerie is strong and the french meaning is brave, there is a town called Valery in france and there is 1 Valerie with the same surname as me in the whole of the United States.

Note To Self

2007-03-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Can't believe we are at week ten already, this is really helping to look at my life in a different way. My first thought was to do a card about tidying my house creating an oasis of calm but that is something that will take nore than a week, so what I came up with was note to self "Take a minute to smell the roses." Some days like today my life is just one mad rush and I don't always notice the everyday miracles that surround us all the time. So my vow for this week is to take a few minutes to really see what is around me and try not to take life so much for granted.

The front of the card was made using foam shapes, glitter glue and a huge bit of bling.

What inspires you

2007-03-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

Em'sprompt for this week was who/what inspires you. That was an easy one my big sister who introduced me to this wonderful world I find myself which has lead me to meet a whole host of other people who inspire me and enrich my life. Funnily enough she feels the same way about me http://knotjustknitting.blogspot.com/

Art doll

2007-03-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

I made this for an altered art swap on ukscrappers it's the first altered art doll I have done and I am really pleased with it. Love the idea of doing some more

What I Miss Most

2007-02-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

There are lots of things I miss most, family members, friends and bits of my life that no longer exist, like listening to music as loud as possible like I did when I was a teenager without caring about the neighbours. The thing i miss most though has to be the sea living in Bedford is about as far away as you can get. As a family we love to visit Weymouth and in particular it's next door neighbour Portland and it's light house Portland Bill. The coast line is really rugged and the sound of the crashing waves washes the stresses away. The picture on the front of this weeks card is based on two lovley photos that i found on the web one with a beautiful rainbow http://www.uklandscape.net/Roger-Holman/Portland%20Bill.jpgand one with a whole bunch of pink flowers http://www.portlandbill.co.uk/images/bill_flowers3.jpgmakes me wish I was there right now.

Shoe's

2007-02-19T14:40:00.001-08:00

Well mine are more boots than shoes, the front shows my families walking boots. we like to get out into the country whenever we can and these boots have taken us to some glorious places that we wouldn't have seen without them. They have been knee deep in a peet bog way up in the Peek District and they have climbed to the summit of Snowdon. They help keep me fit and allow me to treat myself to that little bit of chocolate and a lovley glass of wine on a saturday night. Nothing beats coming home from a cold winters walk to the smell of a casserole slowy cooking in the oven. It's not a hobby I ever thought I would have chosen when I was a chubby teen who hated exersise or after I had had the children and was really aneamic but having found it I would find it really hard to give up plus it gives me great photo's for scrapping.

Love Love Love

2007-02-12T15:18:00.000-08:00

This weeks prompt is Love Love Love in honour of valentines day, I chose this picture because I really love it and hubby is definately my valentine. I didn't realise how much stuff you can get on 1 little card. Most of the embelishments came from a swap on ukscrappers (thanks Kim) and are stuck on using diamond glaze (my new fave product). Thanks to Em for another great prompt and be sure to check out the rest of the blogs in the altered journal ring at the side of the page

Ephemera from your week

2007-02-05T23:21:00.000-08:00

My nephews girlfriend gave birth to a little girl on Sunday and he is over the moon. He has had a rough time loosing his mother (my sister at quite a young age) and he has really missed being part of a family. Apparantly he is over the moon. She is called Daisie and wieghed 6lbs 13oz. My ephemera is the reciept for the card I bought them the picture is a scan of the card

Altered book

2007-02-04T00:49:00.000-08:00

I have recently made an altered book for a cj that I am in the photos aren't great and it is now in the loving hands of someone else, but let me know what you think. I ripped out pages, glued pages together cut out a niche and painited it all black. I painted the cover pink and then covered it with embelsihments and mesh on the front and aged it with ink on the back. All in all I had great fun making it.

Oh and if you are wandering the cj is about loosing weight and the LO explains how I got here, marmite loads of lovely butter spread onto doorsteps of fresh bread might explain how i am not a sleek size eight

A symbol you love

2007-01-29T05:31:00.000-08:00

I hadn't really though of a symbol that I love until Em posted this weeks prompt, I had a think about it and thought of a hot ctross bun, to me it symbolises family traditions and how we all want everything yesterday. Although I would call myself spirtual rather than religious I grew up in a Catholic home and Easter was an important part of our lives. Now you can buy hot cross buns anywhere and at any time of the year, then you could only order them from a bakers and you could only get them on good friday. My mum would heat up the oven and Dad would go to the bakers to collect them, smothered in butter they didn't half taste good, not quite the same when you can have them whenever you want. So I have decided that I will make my own this year and only eat them on good friday and wait to savour good things.

I am

2007-01-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

This week's prompt is "I am" My card says I am happy in my own skin. At the age of fourty two I am finally happy with who I am. Being part of this wanderful challenge and enjoying all the other creative things I do is helping me to be greatful for everything I have. The big me on the back of the card was plain white coloured with a touch of nail varnish (thanks Lou). Thanks Emily for inspiring me.

Flowers

2007-01-21T23:26:00.000-08:00

As people seem to like the flowers i used for Shimelles class thought you might like to know they were from a tacky bunch from pound land which when I took then apart looked fab

Shimelles free class

2007-01-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

These are the inside pages for my I must confess book from Shimelles free class

http://www.shimelle.com/ I had a great time maiking it this is how it reads

I must confess I love maiking cakes but not as much as I love eating cakes.
I must confess I love a large glass of red wine after a hard days work.
I must confess I love sucking a piece of chocolate till it melts.
I must confess i am on a diet.

Thanks Shimelle for the inspiration.

What is powerful for me

2007-01-15T14:07:00.000-08:00

Here is my card for week two of Emily's challenge, my family and I go on lot's of country walks we even climbed mount Snowdona couple of years ago. I love the tranquility of the countryside, and see miracles everywhere. It always makes me feel glad to be alive no matter what the seasons have in store. Hope you like the card, thanks for looking

2nd prompt is up

2007-01-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

Just realised the second promt for the altrered journal has been posted already, what is powerful for you. I was wandering how I could wait till sunday now realise I don't have to. Looking forward to getting home from work so I can get started.

my first card

2007-01-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

Here is my first card for the altered journal challenge. I really enjoyed doing it. I am very proud of my family including sibling's, in-laws neices and nephews especially the children mine and my bnieces and newphews who despite having rather a motley crew of parents really aren't turning out too bad. Thanks for looking feel free to leave a comment

inspiration

2007-01-14T01:05:00.000-08:00

I have been inspired to start an altered journal following this inspirational link http://embers.typepad.com/e/2007/01/join_me_on_an_a.html, decided to do a blog to go with what a fab way to remember the year