lara

I can't believe i've found a way to take art journals further! hahahahahaha
So, it's what i'm calling an Art Journal Pre-Journal. If anyone has a better name let me know!

But the premise is is that it is all made of envelopes of different sizes, shapes and some have windows. You use it to put your little art journal collagy bits in! And possibly organize them. And on some of the pages I've put scrap paper which can be labeled, and in the middle is a set of post-it notes. The only thing I wanted to do but didn't have time was find a pen i could attach somehow.




Done with Glimmer Mist and chipboard alphas as masks. Also throughout the book are little things I've gotten in kits - a lot from Gauche Alchemy, actually, but other things i've collected along the way too. The cupcake brad is from GA and I believe the "shine" bead is too.



The back cover is the palette i used for the paint when i painted the book. I did it on a plastic file folder for durability :) Also each envelope hole is reinforced with grommets :) The glitter chipboard i am so in love with. My chipboard alpha collection is WAAAYYY getting out of hand people!



A couple of inside detail shots.
I put on my favorite quotes for inspiration - at least one on every envelope. Some envelopes have envelopes on them as well. Also, I put things into the envelopes for Sarah to find as she uses it (like collage images and other ephemera).







OK. So thats about it :)
I'd like to make another knowing what I know now - its definitely the sort of project you need to learn as you go. And Sarah's also giving me her invaluable input as she uses it. So i already know ways to make it better, or more usable perhaps. But, this project super invigorated me! Which is the point of creating, right?

This last spread is for the A Year in the Life of An Art Journal challenge. The letter L = Look. I used the technique from the Soul Journalling of writing from the heart then covering most of it up. The pictures are some of my favorite I've been holding on to.


This next spread is inspired by the letter K and the challenge blog A Year in the Life of an Art Journal:



It's quilty in that it's mostly fabric and ribbon! But since i don't sew it's just glued on :-p
And, yes, another Illustrated cut out from "the book," artist unknown.... (speaking of, man i feel like that's bad karma not attributing the artist!)

I've been working on a new journal for an online journaling group called "Soul Journal." It's a yahoo group run by Sarah Whitmore using these prompts from her blog.
Anyways, I decided to make my own journal to really "make it my own" :D

I got 5 of these blank book covers from Scrapbox last time i was there for 50¢ each! Imagine my giddiness at finding them!!!!



Here is the inside of the cover before I adhered the pages:



The base is dictionary pages covered with sewing pattern paper covered with paint and matte gel.

Inside cover after the pages were adhered:



This is the outside cover. It's a work in progress. But I didn't want to leave it just blank. I've discovered I like to do covers at the end of my journals! So I just took some paper I made last year in that collage class I took and covered the book and added a little paint and TONS of matte gel over it to protect it:



1st spread is the prompt "soul armour" - i.e. what protects my creative spirit:



Detail:



Photo from the Illustrated book :D The "Create" was done with Glimmer Mist on vellum. Background is dictionary paper, Gesso, tulle fabric glued on with Modge Podge.

two spreads in the Soul Journal, inspired by Sarah Whitmore's Soul Journalling Prompts:



This is called "Inchies." It's more of a visual journal page, than writing. Goal was to find images based on the prompt, cut them all into 1 inch squares and let that tell the story. It was harder than it looks believe me!!!!!!



This was probably the funnest and most therapeutic to do yet.
First we journalled on the spread using the prompt "I forgot to tell you..." then covered it up with tape and paint and sanded for effect. Knowing whatever I put down on the paper would remain a secret was really therapeutic. I added the photo as an after thought - something I did last summer in photoshop, but somehow i thought worked. Love the texture on this and will definitely be using the technique again!

Year In the Life of An Art Journal letter "H" is for Happiness. Look at me using bright colors :D :D :D




For A Year in the Life of an Art Journal - The letter I is for Imagine.
Went a little hog wild on the layers on this one - it was almost starting to turn shit brown! Sometimes it's so hard to just stop and walk away :)

Now J is for JUST!!!!



I didn't think this word would be so inspiring :)

Next Art Journal page in the A Year in the Life of an Art Journal series. G is for grow.

What a perfect word for the last 13 months of my life.

This page is near perfection for me.
It turned out almost exactly like i saw in my head (except the sunflower is too painty, but oh well).

I used a couple of gel transfers on this from photoshop brush patterns i printed out. Also the quote is gel transfer - i printed all the quotes from that HUGE list i've been keeping (udated almost daily btw), but i printed them in mirror image to use with the gel transfer, and let me tell you, it's a bit of a challenge to figure out what the quote says when it's backwards! LOL




A couple of months ago i won a "paper pack" from an Etsy shop of cool found images - the cut out dress is one from that. The shop is http://onegoodbumblebee.com/ and i highly recommend their "piles of paper" for inspiration!




This came out of a learning and growing experience me and my two best friends just went through. It blows my mind how the paths we've all chosen to go down are so different yet our friendship is still always there!



I think my handwriting ruined this page, but ... oh well ...




And yes it's a U2 lyric :-p

life is not about finding yourself it is about creating yourself
-george bernard shaw
emains dark and grungy, at least i'm super energetic about just creating stuff.

art journal F page for the A Year in the Life of an Art Journal.

Lots of paint and stamping and melted tissue and my first try at a gel image transfer. That's a photo of my grandmother from days of yore. Gel image transfer is a cool idea but kind of a pain in the ass?

I love the colors of this page :)

Got my "E" page done for the A Year in the Life of An Art Journal blog.

This page is one of those times when you step back when you're done and can't believe that that art came out of you. It doesn't happen often, but it's a pretty amazing feeling when it does! I love paint. Really Really love it. Took me 37 years to figure that out... :)

There is journaling under the blue flap - I bought a magazine last weekend from Somerset Studios about Art Journals (ya how serendipitous is that?!) and one of the techniques was using flaps and frames to hide journalling to make it more interactive and/or private. So, there you go.

so, i did something i've never done before - i tried to transfer a scrap page i did first digitally to paper.
i'm not sure i like the result - maybe because i feel it lacks some sort of creativity since i had somewhat of a guide to go by? It's why i don't like to use "sketches" or "maps," i feel like they stifle my process because i have to conform to something.

i love these fabric thickers so much, i've bought, um, 3 packs. I haven't seen them in other fonts though?



OK, and this is the original digital page:

Layout inspired by the prompt over at Gutter Girlz. Photo's and journalling inspired by Ashley Wren's "Love Yourself in 2009" class :)

A more simple 2D layout from me :)
The background paper is from a paper pad I saw at Michael's that i immediately grabbed without even looking at it mostly because of the name - "Teen Angst"!!!!! It's hit or miss, but more than 50% is good patterns. Then, of course, I added a bunch of my own paint and tape and glimmer mist and lace.

This layout is inspired by a brand new challenge blog called Punk Rock Scrappers.
The challenge is to introduce yourself, but I kind of strayed away after i chose my photo and started the layout. So it's more Fischerspooner inspired in the end.

My costume is a Fischerspooner dancer from their Sweetness video.

The background is Basic Grey Obscure paper covered with mesh that has the metallic polka dots on it.
It looks super cool in person.
I grunged up the photo in photoshop a bit and tried to replicate it on the layout with paint.



If you haven't seen the Sweetness video, it's GORGEOUS!
Here's the direct link if you have 9 mins (it's more a mini-movie):

Now I'm Pouring Sweetness

Casey Spooner at his smexiest!

This is my layout for the new Gutter Girlz Challenge.
It felt uber good to do... REAL creative therapy!

THE PROMPT: Thanks, ASSHOLE!!
THE SONG: Fighter by Christina Aguleria
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Bandaids

Hybrid - photo done in photoshop... the rest glue and paper and paint :)

i've been loving working on this ABC Year In My Life art journal.
here are the first 4 entries:

A is for Action:



B is for Because:




C is for Clearly:




D is for Decision:

The new challenge has been posted over at Gutter Girlz and here's my take on it:

THE PROMPT: WHATEVER, DUDE.
THE SONG: I don't THINK SO by Kelis
THE PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Handprint
I had alot of fun making the background - which is just layers and layers of papers and paint :)

Layout i did last night about my tattoo - i've been thinking about getting it touched up soon and i really dislike the other layout i did about it, so i just made this new one.

i love love love working with little bitty bits of handmade paper - so fibrous!
and added real fabric and lace to this.



i see a new avatar in the making:

It was sooooooo painful to look for and then look at those old photos of when i was heavier and living a sloth like lifestyle.

But because my life has spun so out of control over the last couple of months and i haven't been concentrating as much on my physical health my weight is slowly creeping back and i miss the different types of energy that comes with eating and exercising.

So, part of this layout is to re-motivate me..
And now i feel like i'm more on track but not quite there yet.

I've decided my new scrapbooking signature is drippy paint and i want to put it on everything! ;)
but really, i love the paint...
and the glimmer mist which i coated the alpha chipboard with 4 different colors to achieve that grungy look.



I'm not totally happy with this layout - it turned out busier than i had wanted, but i think just getting it done was an accomplishment in itself!

Live Out Loud is definitely my theme for 2009.
Not just Dream Out Loud - but live that dream.

Anyways, today Gutter Girlz posted our new challenge and here is my take on it:

The PROMPT: I take that LIFE back, Thanks!!
The SONG: Stronger Woman by Jewel
The PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Wire

You can't really see in the photo but I am standing in between two bulls at a rest stop in Wisconsin holding their horns :)

The material for this challenge was to use wire (um ya i love me some wire), so I made these little photo corner flowers with my wire i got from the Scrap Box last year:



The background is kind of paper mache - newspaper i wrinkled and dipped in water with Mod Podge and some blue acrylic paint mixed together than laid on cardstock. That was kind fun. :)

added quotes 11/12/09

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“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”
— Louisa May Alcott

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"People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within."
- Ramona L. Anderson

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“You may encounter many defeats,
but you must not be defeated.
In fact,
it may be necessary to encounter the defeats,
so you can know who you are,
what you can rise from,
how you can still come out of it.”
-- Maya Angelou

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"One isn't necessarily born with courage,
but one is born with potential."
- Maya Angelou

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"My favorite thing is to go where I have never gone."
- Diane Arbus

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"We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit."
-Aristotle

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"Success is not in what you have, but who you are."
- Bo Bennett

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"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."
- Martin Buber

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"When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality."
-Dom Helder Camara

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"Patience is the art of hoping."
-Luc de Clapier

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"Change is inevitable, growth is intentional."
- Glenda Cloud

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"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."
- Marie Curie

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"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence."
--Frederick Douglas

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“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”
- Albert Einstein

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"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not;
remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."
- Epicurus

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"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life."
- Fredrico Fellini

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"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."
- Ferdinand Foch

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"One person with passion is better than 40 people merely interested."
- E.M. Forster

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"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
- Anatole France

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"I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence,
but it comes from within.
It is there all the time."
- Anna Freud

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"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable,
you disconnect yourself from what you truly want,
and all that is left is a compromise."
-- Robert Fritz

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"Live a balance life. Learn some and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some."
- Robert Fulghum

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"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory."
- Ghandi

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"Be the change that you want to see in the world"

- Ghandi

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"Happiness... is not a destination: it is a manner of traveling.
Happiness is not an end in itself. It is a by-product of working, playing, loving and living."
- Haim Ginott

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"There's a trick to the Graceful Exit. I begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over -- and to let go. It means leaving what's over without denying its value."
-- Ellen Goodman

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The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a building filled with archaic furniture. Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.
-Dee Hock

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"There is nothing like a dream to create the future."
- Victor Hugo

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Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

- Steve Jobs

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"A man's errors are his portals of discovery."
- James Joyce

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The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.
~ Carl Jung

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"True Being has to be born in us, not by demolishing what we are,
but by transforming ourselves into what we truly ARE."
- Swami Amar Jyoti

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Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

- Jack Kerouac

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"We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth."
- John F. Kennedy

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"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power,
but for the passionate sense of the potential,
for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible."
- Soren Kierkegaard

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“Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

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That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.
- Doris Lessing

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"The struggle is to synchronize the potential being with the actual being, to make a fruitful liaison between the man of yesterday and the man of tomorrow."
- Henry Miller

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"One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things."
- Henry Miller

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"When you see the value of continued growth, the circumstances
around you become stepping stones."
-Clyde M. Narrimore

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"All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are."
- Pablo Neruda

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"Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely."

-The Land Before Time

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Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy.

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

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Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.
-
 Og Mandino

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The key to change...is to let go of fear.
- Paul Martinelli

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"from far away it looks perfect
but up close are the imperfections
thats where the beauty is"
-barry mcgee

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"One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things."
- Henry Miller

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"Believing in yourself is not just for you; it's for every person who has touched your life in a significant way and for every person your life will touch the same way five minutes from now, or five centuries from now.
"
- Jaye Miller

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“Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm.”
- Earl Nightingale

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Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.

- Earl Nightingale

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"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through.
Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it.
This is a kind of death."
- Anais Nin

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"Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease and risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you"
- John O'Donohue

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"Imagine that the key to happiness is following your own intuition instead of other people's opinions and advice."
- Alex Ostrowski

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"I am the circumstance."
- Octavio Paz

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“First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, 'I believe,' three times. ”
- Norman Vincent Peale

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"One lives in the hope of becoming a memory."
Antonio Porchia

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"To fly
we must dance
with our longest shadows
in the brightest sunlight."
— Louise Rader

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“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.”
- Mary Anne Radmacher

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"Do not let your fire go out,
spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite,
the not-yet
and the not-at-all.

Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserve and have never been able to reach.
The world you desire can be won.
It exists . . .
it is real . . .
it is possible . . .
it's yours."

- Ayn Rand

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“Once you choose hope, anything's possible.”
- Christopher Reeve

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"We all need time to be alone; to think, to dream, to wonder."
- Billie Roark

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"The pain of discipline weighs ounces whereas the pain of regret weighs tons."
- Jim Rohn

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“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt

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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
- Carl Sagan

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"Be who you are and be that well."
-Saint Francis de Sales

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Though we can't always see it at the time, 
if we look upon events with some perspective, 
we see things always happen for our best interests. 
We are always being guided in a way 
better than we know ourselves.

- Swami Satchidananda

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"Do something wonderful, people may imitate it."
- Albert Schweitzer

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“Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.”
- Anne Sexton

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“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul”
- George Bernard Shaw

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"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will."
- George Bernard Shaw

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"I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief."
- Gerry Spence

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"I embrace emerging experience.
I participate in discovery.
I am a butterfly.
I am not a butterfly collector."
- William Stafford

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"There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do."
- Freya Madeline Stark

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"Ideas are like rabbits.
You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."
- John Steinbeck

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"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen
and thinking what nobody has thought."
-- Albert Von Szent-Gyorgyi

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"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
- Howard Thurman

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"If you want to be happy ... be."
-Leo Tolstoy

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“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
- Harriet Tubman

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"Be Content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you."
- Lao Tzu

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"A good traveler has no fixed plan, and is not intent on arriving."
- Lao Tzu

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"If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled."
- Lao Tzu

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"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."
- Lao-tzu

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"You don't stop playing because you are old; you grow old because you stop playing. "
- Unknown

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This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind... let it be something good.
- Unknown

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"Are you living the life you dream or dreaming to live?"
- Unknown

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"Every Cell in my body vibrates with energy and health.
Loving myself heals my life.
I nourish my mind, body and soul.
I choose love, joy and freedom, open my heart and allow wonderful things to flow into my life.
I prosper wherever I turn and I know that I deserve prosperity of all kinds.
The more grateful I am, the more reasons I find to be grateful."
- Unknown

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"Instead of waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel,
sometimes you just have to go down there and light it yourself."
- Unknown

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"The best way for your dreams to come true is to wake up."
- Paul Valery

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"I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, suffering as I am, do without something which is greater than I am, which is my life, the power to create."
- Vincent Van Gogh

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“Appreciation is a wonderful thing.
It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
—Voltaire

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"We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves;
otherwise we harden."
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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The point of life is not to get anywhere—it is to notice that you are, and have always been, already there. You are always and forever in the moment of pure creation. The point of life therefore is to create— who and what you are, and then to experience that.

- Neale Donald Walsch

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We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. 

- Thornton Wilder

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"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work"
- Oprah Winfrey

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"Defeat is not the worst of failures.
Not to have tried is the true failure."
-George E. Woodberry

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It is not in life, but in art that self-fulfillment is to be found.
-George E. Woodberry

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“To feel that one has a place in life solves half the problems of contentment.”
-George E. Woodberry-

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"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."
- John Wooden

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"We can do more than imagine, we can create"
- Dan Zadra

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"If you can walk, you can dance, if you can talk, you can sing"
- Zimbabawean proverb

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"I'm not very concerned with beauty or perfection... All I care about is life, struggle, intensity."
- Emile Zola

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"If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud."
- Emile Zola

My first layout as a Design Team member for Gutter Girlz!!!

It was a painful but very very therapeutic one!

The theme is "Still Hurts"
The product is "needles or pins"

As I've been on a U2 kick lately, the song Kite was going over and over in my head and its lyrics are both happy and sad, depending on my mood. Lately they've been very very sad and hurtful. So, that's where the lyrics come from:

"who's to say where the wind will take you,
who's to say what it is will break you,
i don't know, which way the wind will blow..."

But, OMG, who doesn't like ripping and mangling paper and throwing paint on it? The white thingie is torn placemat too.




Had to put something kinda pretty and light in here - a flower i made :)

I know it's hard to read the journaling, i kinda wanted it to be that way, but this is what it says:

"I've been singing this song over and over again the last couple of months - a tortured time in my life - all by my own doing and I still don't know which way the wind will blow.
All i know is that I am still alive and just need to be patient and give my healing more time."