It's Friday and it's time for another journal page. I've been proud of myself for getting one page done every week. Life is always interesting and I'm now on a deadline at the museum for some work I'm doing for the new Arts of India Gallery. I hope I can keep up with the journal page a week.



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This was fun. I did things I don't normally do. I have some Fiskar Texture Plates and started with rubbings of the leaves. Then I rubbed some different green inks over the rubbing, cut some of the paper into squares and tore some of the paper. The background page was brown. Then I plopped (artistic term!) and glued the pieces of paper on the background page. (I sometimes use golden matte gel medium, but I have mod podge left over from a project I made ages ago and have been using the mod podge to glue.) Then added the two pictures (me) and the woodpecker. The right hand page I did separately. I used a sponge (ordinary household cut down to about 2"x2") to apply different green acrylic paint to the page and then stamped both pages with a feather stamp. Have I told you before that I love smushing (another technical term) paint around? The sponge was fun -- almost as much fun as fingers!



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This is the finished journal page with the writing. I have to have a story -- no fun without a story! I found a book at half-prize books (you are going to think I spend my life there -- just a visit once a week) titled The Secret Language of Birds. It has all sorts of myths and stories about birds including signs of the zodiac with their assigned bird buddy. I'm a Gemini and my bird is the woodpecker. The writing is about Gemini and the bird and at the end of the page is a list of other birds that a Gemini might be drawn to and I thought it was very true for me -- Jay, Crane and Vulture. I love that a woodpecker (like the one in the picture) is pecking away at near by trees right now!

I normally post about The Next Chapter and The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women on Friday. It is time for Chapter 8: Selecting Empowering Partnerships and Alliances. When I went to look at my notes, I didn't have any!!! Not even a quote I particularly liked! I know I read the chapter, so I guess that's that! I do have some empowering alliances with friends who like my crafty side and a good buddy who is an art teacher and every now and then invites me to her class to paint along with the class! New techniques!

College baseball season has started and we have three days of baseball -- 3 games a day -- at the College Classic at Minute Maid Park starting today. Some of the top college baseball teams will be playing the next three days and the Dragons are ready for some baseball!

Have a wonderful weekend filled with only the things that make you smile!