GPP Street Team

Crusade No. 52 ~ Seasonal Wardrobe

 

First let me extend a thank you to all who particpated last month, sharing an interpretation of Home.  Loved being able to get to know you a little better.  Second, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for all the friends, old and new, who have contributed to the conversation below.  If I ever begin to feel burnt out I will hop right back over there to read the encouraging words and thoughts.  You motivate me to carry on and validate my efforts.  I truly appreciate the love.  *group hug*

Before I begin let me apologize to our Southern Hemisphere crusaders - I refer to change-of-season and summer but I fully understand your temperature is declining while mine is rising.  The concept is still applicable, just slightly different.

As the banner states, I'm curious to know if you find yourself shifting your working palette and/or creative style with the change in season.  It seems every summer I deliberately select fresh new paint colors and brightly colored supplies.  I tend to think lighter and work looser.  I also feel like I see more - observations much more acute than in the colder months.  Is it because I am outside often or that I am hungry for new visual stimulation and seek alternative directions?  Establishing a new palette is more of a mental task...I adjust my viewfinders a little wider, latch onto a handful of concepts, and see how that all fits with my default ways of operating. 

 

 

To offer a comparison, here is my comfort zone palette that is utilized twelve months of the year.  It is a good thing to know what color combinations you default to especially when you are shopping for supplies.  Got it in red?  I'll take it.  Oh, you have black too?  I'll take two.

 

 

Last year I recognized that I make this seasonal shift.  Below is a journal page that illustrates that.  I'm falling under the same spell this year...

 

 

A few more examples to show that I am not a huge adventurer when it comes to color.  I find I get distracted by too many choices and limiting myself allows me to focus on composition and texture.  You'll see my defaults are evident, but personally I observe some influence from last summer.  Notice I eventually allow more open space and begin using organic images?  Probably sick of winter and ready for some daylight and bare feet.

 

 

 

 

 

  

This month, should you accept the challenge, make some observations of yourself and your work and notice if you have actual palette changes or mental shifts due to the transitioning seasons.  Maybe you paint less and knit more because you are sitting around a pool.  Maybe you sit in the shade and bead or carve stamps because you have more free time.  Maybe you have less free time and hardly craft at all in the summer.  Tell us about your seasonal wardrobe and support with visual evidence if you can.  For instance, compare a winter page with a summer page and if you can tell the season by the style of work.  Or, simply show us your current palette and remark whether it differs in the darker months.

I'm really interested to know if your artistic behavior adapts seasonally.  If you can't play along with a link we would still love to hear your report so leave a comment with your thoughts.

 

 

 

 

Archived links have been moved from sidebar to here.  Thanks for playing, and joining in with your posts, your comments, and your enthusiasm for building connections through creativity challenges.

Betsy Harting
Betsy Harting (more)
Carrie Gross Brady
Cath Sheard
Chris Miser
Dorit Elisha
Helen
Jacqueline
Jami Oscherwitz
Jane Royal
Joan
Karen Isaacson
Kimber
Manda Moore
Maria
Maria (C51)
Maria (C51)
Maria Day
Marie Johansen
Maryanne Gross
Melanie Philpott (C39)
Melanie Philpott (C51)
Michelle Brown
Michelle Ward
Nathalie Nayer
Pam Holladay
Paula Bogdan
Paula Bogdan (more)
Penny Stuart
Quinn McDonald
Regina Rooks
Sheila Jones
Viki Banaszak

here's what i'm thinking....

A few times a year I hear from new readers of this street team blog who thank me for the tutorials and inspiration.  That means alot to me!  In addition to the feedback from regular and loyal crusaders, these notes from the silent (lurking) audience make me feel like my efforts are worthwhile.

A few times a month I see crusaders who take on the monthly prompt and generously share their interpretation.  They go out on a limb to offer their perspective and by doing so they motivate us to plug in.  I am moved by the personal connection we have made with people around the world simply because we enjoy making stuff.

A few times a week I write down all the ideas I have that I want to share here and the possible ways to present them.  Some days I'm super fired up to invest my time in this site. Some days I look back and think about all we have covered and all who have passed through our doors.  Some friends popped in for a wave, while others sat down and really got comfortable. 

A few times a day I delight in what this street team has done - doors opened, friends made, art explored, self-expression validated, shyness eroded, confidence reinforced,.....but on occasion I wonder if this community I am trying to uphold is really there or just part of my imagination.

Participation ebbs and flows but has been on a steady decline.  Players are loyal, but few.  There was a time when each month had over a hundred crusaders!  While the number of teamers is less and less the hits-per-day to this site is on the rise.  Does that mean we have new visitors who are afraid to play along or do they just come by to take the free advice?   Not sure.  Not sure it matters.  Not sure where I'm going with this except I feel like I can talk freely here as it's my place and you choose to gather here. 

I'm thinking I will present one final crusade in the format we know and then I will consider how to move forward. 

I will never give up being a cheerleader for creativity.  I will never give up hope that we can make the world a smaller place by widening our circle of friends. 

Maybe it will only take me a month to figure out the new face of crusading.  Maybe it will take longer.  Send me your positive vibes so the right answer rises to the surface.

I'm playing hookie tomorrow so I will post Crusade No. 52 on Thursday.

EDIT:  Wednesday 11:47 pm, I hope you understand I am not fishing for compliments, nor am I whining about the work (because I LOVE doing it), and I am certainly not reprimanding anyone for lack of participation.  There are no referees here.  Just a coach trying to determine a game plan.  I appreciate being able to open dialogue since we are a team.  Thank you for your feedback...you make me feel energized!

Crusade No. 51 ~ Home Sweet Home

 

 

Thank you to the handful of crusaders who took on the last challenge and shared it with us.  It's always so fun to see how each of you interpret it.  I appreciate how much time it takes to complete the work and then blog about it - but in doing so you widen our perspective of how to work in a journal, AND we got to know more about you.  So thanks!

Since last summer we have been on a renovation spree at home.  We gutted and re-did the entire bathroom, and other rooms just got facelifts.  New paint in the kitchen, living room, and our daughter's room.  Seems we cycle through the house every five or six years.  With new paint comes a few other new things.  I have always kept a record of each new look.  I love revisiting pages I made that document the kids rooms from when they were alot younger.  It's part of our history and the visuals evoke many memories.

My challenge for you this month is to make a page or two about your home.  You can tell us about where you live now and how you have chosen to represent yourself within.  Or you can revisit all the locations you've lived.  You could start an evidence page of all the things that are important to you in the home, or you can share a simple story about the walls that surround you. 

The spread below shows how I recalled every address I once called home.

 

When we paint the walls I always brush onto some tags - these are not only great resources to carry with me when I am accessorizing, but one always goes in my journal as part of the story.

 

 
 

Look around you.  What can you capture - with clippings, or with photos, that could be inserted in your journal?  What do you want to remember?  As we know, things change.  Maybe things don't change that often at home as changing a room is different changing your hair color.  But someday you will be happy to have these pages. 

 

 

Above are some of the photos I took to use on the 2010/2011 renovations pages.  Below are pages done several years ago from our previous color scheme.  I included paints, clippings from napkins and tablecloths, upholstery, and drapery.  I even attached the "test" paper from some stamping I did on the walls.

 

My first career was as an interior architect/designer.  I worked on hotels and restaurants and had several residential clients.  Proposed plans for hotels would be presented on design boards for approval.  For my residential clients I kept loose files, and eventually assembled everything into this journal.  LOVE having all of it right there on the pages.  Not only a great resource, but fun to remember the event of designing someone's living place - filled with their personal choices.

Here are some of those pages, from the archives...maybe they will provide some inspiration:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beauty of *evidence* pages as they are records....documenting something of significance, and don't need to be polished and 'finished' so to speak.  Think about how you want to interpret this challenge.  Be literal and illustrate the details of your home - or go fantastical and makes pages of your dream home.  Or be sentimental and write about your childhood home.  These pages are for YOU.  Do not feel like you have to give up your privacy to participate.  To keep things sacred you sometimes have to keep them secret.  I get that.  Share what you are comfortable with....but make the pages as I promise you will love that you did....someday.

 

 

Archived links have been relocated from sidebar to here.

Cath Sheard
Cathy Cervantes
Daisy
Elena Nosyreva
Jane Royal
K
Karen Davis
Maria
Maria (again)
Melanie Philpott
Michelle Ward
Quinn McDonald
Rosemary Griffin
TJ
Viki Banaszak

CRUSADE No. 50 ~ In Case Of Emergency

 

LOVED seeing everyone's Forensic Self Portraits last month!  Loved that many of you included photos of yourself!  Fun to get to know you better through what you chose to share.  I hope that visiting the participants gave you additional ideas for how you can express yourself.  Lots of cool pages - thanks for sharing!

Since I limited the assignment to just YOU I am encouraging you to document your friends and family this month.  The people who are important in your life.  The ones who should be notified In Case Of Emergency.  Think about who is on your Go-To list.  Who do you connect with on a daily basis or who is the first to get a call when you have news to share?  We all have special people in our lives.  Some we depend on for love and support, others we rely on for friendship.

 

Create one or more journal pages about Your People.  You could simply write their names or initials.  You could attach images that make you think of them, or clippings from something they gave you, or even better - a photo.  If you don't have a photo of yourself with them then it's time to get one!  Personally, when I have a list of things I want to get down on a page I begin with a grid.  Everyone gets equal billing.  I will select a way to post their names and then, to keep my thoughts private, I will write them down and figure a way to tuck them in somewhere.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Some printable labels to get you started:

 

View this photo  Printable Labels, high resolution 300 dpi (right click and save or print)

Interpret the challenge however you choose - make a garden of flowers that represent the people in your life.  Make a family tree.  Print out a copy of your Christmas card list.  Write the names of the people you regularly text, call, or mail to.  Tell us about your husband, partner, or kids.  Write about your parents.  Your pets.  Your co-workers or classmates.  The list of who to contact In Case Of Emergency might be longer than you think!  Please know I mean emergency in a lighthearted way.  Who do you call when you need an egg?  an afternoon out for coffee?  an idea that you are so excited about?  when you want to vent, or brag?

 

Archived links have been relocated from sidebar to here.

Betsy Harting
Cath Sheard
Daisy
Lay Hoon
Marie Johansen
Marie Johansen (more)
Melanie Philpott (C49 & C50)
Michelle Brown
Michelle Ward
Rosemary Griffin
 

CRUSADE No. 49 ~ Forensic Self Portrait

 

We had some new crusaders join us this month!  Thanks to everyone who came to play along by showing us your special events - whether a fancy getaway or a simple stolen moment.  Love learning more about you, and love that you are putting this stuff in your journal! 

The focus of the next challenge in the Evidence Series is YOU.  Forensic science is part of our legal system pertaining to physical specimens.  I am using the term forensic loosely as I want you to record your characteristics, plus document your interests as they are right now.  You don't have to show us every detail - you can be stealth about it.  The point is to do it for yourself.  Think about what your favorite food or restaurant currently is or what music you are listening to.  What perfume are you wearing?  What shoes do you wear everyday?  What car are you driving, what is your address, what time do you wake up, what is important to you in this moment?  That kind of stuff. 

 

Start collecting your thoughts.  Make lists.  Gather your supplies.  Find and save evidence.  Take mental notes about everything that defines you Right Now.  Things change.  Two years from now you may listen to a different radio station.  Next season you may change handbags and switch out your heavy winter clothes for springy ones and you may never wear that gray sweater again.  It may seem silly but I promise you will love to look back on it.

 

Dare yourself to include a photo or two.  A few years from now you will have more lines on your face.  Maybe you'll change your hairstyle by then too.  Document yourself.  Just YOU.  Next month we will record evidence about family and friends.  Leave them out of this for now.  YOU YOU YOU.  ME ME ME.

 

 

 

 

To give you a jump start I made this - print and use it.  Find or make envelopes to enclose your lists and your evidence.

 

For a high resolution (300 dpi) version, click here and save.View this photo

In previous crusades (four years ago!) we visited evidence collecting.  Visit the links if you want some ideas.  Crusade No. 5 - Kiss and Tell, Crusade No. 9 ~ What's that Smell?

 

EDIT:  I meant to share this resource with you.  A fun and fab book that came out over ten years ago.  If you are digging the idea of collecting specimens from your life you will enjoy this.  Details at Amazon, see HERE.

 

That's it.  Make a page that documents YOU.  Show us that you did it.  You don't have to reveal all your lists and statistics.  Hide them away somewhere on the page.  Under a folded edge or attached flap, or in an envelope you have or you make.  Capture the essence of you, in this moment.

Don't forget to leave your comments for fellow crusaders!  It takes guts to share our work and getting a comment is validation that it was worth it, and is motivation to keep at it.  Last month we had 29 players so I would hope that each link would have at least 29 comments.  The reality was pitiful.  Let's change that this month.  I know it's hard to add your words of enthusiasm if there are already many kind words submitted before you get there - so let's aim that each crusader get at least thirteen.  Lucky 13.  If you are not participating, but click on a link for inspiration, your kindness and manners are still appreciated.  I wonder how to express a *wave* in words....like when you see your neighbor driving past....you give a quick and friendly wave.   Can't we do that online?  You pop in, look at the post, drop a quick line: *high-five*, *well done crusader*, *you inspire me*, *you motivate me*, or if you can stay a little longer, write a little more.  It's not just about sharing our work, it's about building and fortifying our community.  Some of you are faithful and loyal commentors...thanks for being a great example of how to be a fair player.  Thank you.  *steps off soapbox*

  

 

 

 Archived links have been relocated from sidebar to here.

CRUSADE No. 49

Chris Miser
Daisy
Daisy
Elena Nosyreva
Elena Nosyreva (more)
Hanna Andersson
Helena Andreson
Jane Royal
Jean Zoss
Jean Zoss (more)
Jessica Boctor
Karen Davis
Lay Hoon
Lenochek Neger
Maria
Marie Johansen
Melanie Philpott (C49 & C50)
Michelle Brown
Michelle Ward
Regina Rooks
Rosemary Griffin
Sarah Harris
Suzanne McCarthy
TJ
Viki Banaszak


 

 

CRUSADE No. 48 ~ Been There, Done That

 

High five to all who came to play this month!  Thanks for taking the time to share your work.  My favorite remark came from TJ who said she was 'tampering with her own evidence', as though the hoards of wrappings and tags was a crime scene.  I love that she tells us she was inspired by two crusaders, Lay Hoon and Hanna (2nd) (3rd).  Some great stuff girls - bravo!

This month's challenge is to chronicle where you've been and what you've done.  It can be a years worth of events, or just one special outing.  Record the physical evidence in addition to your thoughts and observances.  Things to include:  airplane tickets or subway tokens, matches from restaurants (or the menu you swiped), programs or brochures from an event or outing, a calendar page, ticket stub, badge from the museum, photo from a gathering of friends, an invitation, a postcard...you get the idea.

 

I'm having some computer issues (tried posting this three times!) and I haven't been able to upload photos of my new journal pages for this crusade so I dug up some older ones and will show the others at another time.  The first illustrates how I made pages following the recent HIM tour - included are copies of my tickets and the playlists from each night.  After that is another evidence page from a hospital stay - attached is the patient bracelet and messages from the delivered flowers.  These are two very different events but each tells part of my story for 2010.

 
 

If you are like me then you tend to collect alot of stuff - not just artmaking supplies, but things gathered because they will remind you about something. It is liberating to move items from your stash onto a page.  By doing this you not only give a stage for the event, you honor it by recording your thoughts along with it.  As the years seem to rack up and memory blurs out dates, it is fun to have evidence pages to reflect on where you've been and what you've done.

Try it!  Make an evidence page that chronicles a place you visited, or an event you attended.  Make a record that covers all of 2010.  Or create a layout that spells out details of an upcoming special date.  Include physical evidence if possible as the visual will assist in conjuring up your memories, plus it makes it interesting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:  Archived links have been relocated here.

Belinda Schneider
Chris Miser
Elena Nosyreva
Hanna Andersson
Helen
Helena Andreson
Ingrid Dijkers
Jackie Wood
Jane Royal
Janet
Jenny Doh
Lay Hoon
Lay Hoon (more)
Lenochek
Linda Tieu
Melanie Philpott
Melanie Philpott (more)
Michelle Ward
Nathalie Nayer
Quinn McDonald
Regina Rooks
Rosemary Griffin
Sarah Harris
Sheila Jones
Sue Roddis
Susan King
Suzanne McCarthy
Tammy
TJ
Verna Grant

 

CRUSADE No. 47 ~ It's A Wrap

 

Here we go crusaders!  A new year, a new series of journal prompts.  We'll begin with an easy one.  Grab those scraps of wrapping papers leftover from the holidays and chronicle what you used, or what came your way....and be sure to include your lists.  (Were you naughty or nice??!!)

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or skip over holiday and go with birthday.  It can be evidence of incoming or outgoing.

 

 

 

 

 

I still have alot more to record from the holidays but hopefully these samples from Christmas 2010 and Birthday 2002 will give you some ideas to get started with your own evidence pages.  Wrap up your thoughts, claim some of the remnants and debris from holiday gifting, and make a page or two.

 
 
 

EDIT:  Archived links have been moved from sidebar to here.

Belinda Schneider
Elena Nosyreva
Hanna Andersson
Hanna Andersson (mmmmore)
Hanna Andersson (more)
Helen
Helena Andreson
Jackie
Jane Royal
Jean
Karen
Kim Hutchinson
Lara
Lay Hoon
Lena
Linda Tieu
Marcia Beckett
Melanie Philpott
Michelle Ward
Mona
Regina Rooks
Rosemary Griffin
Sarah Harris
Sheila Jones
TJ
Trish Nonaka

extending deadline

 

Thanks to all who have shared their Hang-Ups so far.  Love seeing it and I appreciate that you took the time to create an entry and get us motivated!  I have heard from many of you saying you don't have the confidence to hang your own stuff.  What?  Shake that off.  Some of you have also said it is a busy time and you haven't gotten around to posting about your adorned walls.  I am not giving up on this mission to get you to hang your work, or to share what you have hung, so I am extending the deadline for another month.  I love what I had planned for December but will save it for some other time.  

So while you are out buying gifts for your loved ones, add yourself to the list and find a fun frame for a wall or shelf and put your art on display! 

In January I will begin a new series:  Evidence Journaling.   Hope you'll come play. 

CRUSADE No. 46 ~ What's Your Hang Up?

 

Thank you to all the crusaders who joined in this month to show us the various ways to use your color copies of painted backgrounds.  I know it was alot of work to do more than one page so appreciate that you took the time to share your work and your thoughts about the process.  I was thinking it might be cool to offer one of your background copies to another crusader, and see how they might use it.  Maybe we will try that sometime.

The participation always slims down at this time of year so I am making this an easy challenge.  It's something I hope you have already done ~ but if not, now is the time!  I want you to put your art under glass.  See what it looks like framed.  Hang it in your home or your workspace.  It can be a journal page, or a painted piece, or a color copy (or printed scan) of your work.  Or paint a canvas, just to hang somewhere in your home.  If you already have your own art adorning your walls then show us!  Let's motivate each other this month to express ourselves as the artists we are by hanging our cool stuff on our walls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above are evidence photos that show some of my own art hanging at home.  The framed journal pages sit on a shelf in my studio (there is no wall space).  I also have many pieces done by friends hanging throughout the home.  Let's see what you've got :)

 

 

Next:  a series based on journaling *evidence*

 

EDIT:  Archived links have been moved from sidebar to here.

 

Anne Gaal
Bev Baird
Dorit Elisha
Elena Nosyreva
Elena Nosyreva
Hanna Andersson
Helen
Helena Andreson
Jane Royal
Jessica Boctor
Julie Prichard
Kari DeSaulnier
Kari DeSaulnier (more)
Kathleen Green
Kim Hutchinson
Lenna Young
Marcia Beckett
Melanie Philpott
Michelle Brown
Michelle Ward
Mona
Nathalie Nayer
Nini
Peggy Gatto
Regina Rooks
Rosemary Griffin
Sally Turlington
Sandy Berman
Sarah Gardner
TJ

CRUSADE No. 45 ~ Back to Back

 

*High Fives* all around!  Some amazing pages were shared last month - love all that texture and color.  Astounding visuals, simply made with scraping.  I hope you played long enough to learn the value in laying down paint this way.  Thick or thin - it is a fast and easy way to build an interesting surface.  As I indicated earlier, you were encouraged to leave your page incomplete.  This month I would love for you to take a few color copies of a painted background and try finishing it several ways.  You may also take a page that has some kind of foundation on it already - like your text messaging, or torn scraps, then see what emerges if you have more than one chance to apply your finishing touches.

 

REQUIREMENT:  make color copies of an existing prepared background.  Finish two or three ways.  Show us your original, and the completed variations.  Tell us what you learned in the process.  Working on a copy is not the same as working on an original surface, but I hope this exercise will be an interesting experiment for you to explore new paths for adding content and playing with composition.

 

In my Roll With It class we spend an entire day painting paper using many different techniques.  Then, to prove that any background can be transformed from so-so to spectacular, I have prepared transparencies that I hold over the surfaces, illustrating how a page may look when completed.  There is no right or wrong way to determine the content you add to a page.  Often we have a default or go-to method in which we work.  Don't you think it will be fun to try other options?  Finish one page with what you are comfortable doing, then step it up and try something else on another page!  Maybe even leave a copy untouched to save as collage material for another project.

 

 

 

What to add to a page?  Sometimes the answers are right on your work surface.  I encourage you to look around to see the potential in all the evidence. 

 

 

At a loss for what to add to a page?  I love to encourage you to make your own tools.  This mask/stencil set is not only personal, it could be a means for making a commitment on a page, which can inform how to move forward - like being a stage for adding journaling within, or taking the opportunity to attach an item.

 
 

 

 

Sound like fun?  Join in and see what you come up with - there is so much to learn as we plug in and do the work, share it, and see what others do as they interpret the challenge. 

 

 
 
EDIT:  Archived links have been moved from sidebar to here. 

Allo
Bev Baird
Cath Sheard
Cindi Picou
Cindi Picou (even more)
Cindi Picou (more)
Daisy
Debra
Elena Nosyreva
Helen
Helen (more)
Helena Andreson
Jackie
Jackie (again!)
Jackie (even more)
Jackie (more)
Jane Royal
Jean
Jean (more)
Jenny Doh
Jenny Doh (more)
Johanna Goisser
Kari DeSaulnier
Kate Robertson
Lay Hoon
Linda Tieu
Lizbeth
Marilyn Rock
Marilyn Rock (more)
Michelle Brown
Michelle Ward
Mona
Pam Carriker
Peggy Gatto
Regina Rooks
Rosemary Griffin
Sheila Jones
Sophie
TJ