Tuesday 2 February 2016

Love and music is in the air

Welcome to February, the month of love. As the weather is not conducive to any kind of gardening at the moment I have been spending some of my leisure time time enjoying some mixed media play in my art journal. I am really enjoying the dictionary challenge over at the Craft Barn and the 2nd letter we have been given to work with is Q...yes I know...not the easiest at all. There are also several other challenges this month asking us to use the theme of love.

I got out my vintage dictionary and thumbed through the Q entries....hmmm...quadrangle, qualm, quart, queen...too obvious....and then I spotted the word quaver. I immediately thought of music and quavers...there are 2 to a crochet, 4 in a minim or 8 to a semibreve. I have played the piano since I was 7 and I own one which I bought with a small bequest an elderly great aunt left me 30 years ago.

I don't lift the lid every day but it is fun when I do.
 I opened the seat lid and pulled out an ancient book of waltzs.
I have some lovely old books of and sheet music, some were my granddads'. The first piano I played was his as we lived with him when I was a child.

I rarely practice but a bit like riding a bike, your fingers just know where to go and I had a pleasant hour tinkling the ivories. Below is one of my favourites. I always enjoy playing a waltz...if you can read music it's a very famous one and I guarantee you will be humming if for hours!
I also sorted through my old school  music from the 1970s. I was looking for something I could cut up and put in my art journal "quaver" pages. Lots of quavers below and the fingering from 1979 when I first played this concerto. I really didn't want to tear anything out here, too many fond memories.
 Below is another old book of music which one of the children must have used, both of mine played piano for a short time. I love the dinosaur sticker.
 My daughter became more interested in the flute at age 11 and played until she left high school.
I found an old book of music theory practice written in by my daughter circ 1997. She was playing both the piano and flute at this time.
I smiled as I looked through her writing as an 11 year old (she's now nearly 30)

 and I saw that she had started her own little piece of piano music called "Song of the Flute."
 How sweet is that...and like Beethoven, it remains unfinished.
I was going to tear it out to use it but then I had a light bulb moment that I could scan it and use it in my journal page. One day perhaps Daisy might finish it for her Mummy? My SIL is very musical indeed, he attended a famous private school on a music scholarship and already sits Daisy on his lap as he plays their piano.

So then it was play time in my art journal.

Here is the dictionary page
I wanted some very vintage colours for my pages so I chose these inks and sprays.


I decided to work on a double page spread again.  I used my LOTV music stamps and added some partial stamping and also some flourish stenciling using texture paste.
I started adding my inks and sprays, lots of splashes and drips,
drying and adding layers
until I was happy with my background

It was then time to put on my creative hat and add the elements I chose.

Here are my finished art journal pages.

 You can see how I scanned and reduced the music book cover and my daughter's music theory work.
 I found a perfect quote on the internet attributed to none other than Plato.
 Here is the close up of my dictionary page showing the definition of quaver.
 My darling girls forgotten composition.
 I added some glittered words ; love, family, cherish and forever, very apt for my pages and for the month of February.
 There is so much texture and you can see all the random music stamping I added.
 My Memory Box music notes die, seen on my friend Pamellia's blog,  is a new addition to my stash, I think it will be useful for lots of crafting projects.


I would like to enter my journal pages into the following challenges

The Craft Barn alpha dictionary challenge Q
Simon says stamp Wednesday  anything goes
Simon says work it Wednesdays something new my new is my music notes die
Pixie's snippets playground  2/3 #214  I used lots of the snippets from scrap of my mixed media die as accents on my pages and snippets of gold glitter card for my words.
Whimsy stamps with love
Anything but cute ring out the old bring in the new  my new is the music die
The Ribbon Girl  with love
We love 2 create 2/2 #3 anything mixed media
Allsorts 2/3 bring on the bling
As you like it 2/3 favourite 1 or multilayer mine is multi particularly in journal pages...I love adding layers for extra texture.
Vintage stamping   1/3 splatters and drips
Country View make your own background
Crafting from the heart  1/3 anything goes
Try it on Tuesday  1/5 a fine romance
Artistic Inspiration 1/3 anything goes/twist of Valentine
Noor UK  love

I really did enjoy making these pages and they are also a lovely memory of my daughter's early musical years...I put plenty of love into this creation. Happy days.

It's been a lovely sunny afternoon today...it makes such a change from all the rain. I hope you got to glimpse a little blue sky today. I also noticed how much lighter the evenings are getting...yes spring is not too far away now.
Thanks as always for your kind visits and comments.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

38 comments:

  1. Wow, what a great piece of work, thanks for joining us at Allsorts this week, xxxx

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  2. A lovely post with interesting memories thank you for sharing your beautiful project at Try it on Tuesday

    Love Chrissie xx

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  3. Thank you for sharing that bit of your past with so many lovely memories and your result.......more wonderful memories...fabulous pages, as you say so much love in them...beautiful.

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  4. I enjoyed your journey through your musical past.. the journal page is amazing. Good luck on your contests. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  5. Hello Jane,
    Lovely post and your AJ pages are gorgeous!
    I am very found of the palette of colors you have chosen and now, I know something more about you! You are also a musician!!
    xx

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  6. gorgeous pages Jabe - and what a lovely story that goes with them - we have a piano too and the girls are both learning to play - I love that - I can't play but love to hear them! Wonderful work!And thanks for joining us at countryview crafts challenges this month! Hugs rachel x

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  7. A fabulous journal spread. Awesome details and textures. thank you for joining us at TioT's this time.
    Yvonne

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  8. What a great word to choose and the finished results of your playtime are fabulous. Did you have some music playing whilst you were working? I am sure Daisy will be very proud of her Mummy's written piece.
    hugs Brenda xxx

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  9. What a wonderful musical post, Jane! I loved seeing the piano and all those old music books... we had a whole piano-stool-full. I really miss having a piano in the house...

    Your pages are just fab - full of great texture and layers, creating depth and atmosphere.
    Alison x

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  10. So lovely Jane, it takes me back to my own music days, a long time ago!
    Scanning is such a good idea, you wouldn't want to cut up your memories.
    It was very springlike here today, in was light until almost half past five!
    Enjoy the rest of your week my friend.
    V x

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  11. Very nice! Thanks so much for playing along with us over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

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  12. These are really gorgeous journal pages! So many great details and full of history. Beautifully done.

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  13. A beautiful journal spread, Jane! I love every single detail and your texture is marvelous! Simply stunning! Thank you so much for joining in our Ring out the Old, Bring in the New challenge at Anything But Cute! Branka DT x

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  14. A lovely piece of mixed media Jane, many thanks for sharing with us at Allsorts challenge.

    B x

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  15. I love your stunning background. What a lot of work has gone into this DPS.

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  16. Jane, I loved reading through your post, not only seeing but hearing how you brought your beautiful page together. Wonderful memories and a beautiful end result!

    Thanks so much for joining in our Ring out the Old, Bring in the New challenge at Anything But Cute. Anne DT xx

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  17. Love this fabulous layered project!! Thanks for playing with us at AYLI and Good Luck!! Sarah :0)

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  18. ane, it ia always such a pleasure to view your blog, and I had an especially good time reading through your post today. I have a musical daughter myself, and there's nothing I love more than hearing her sing and play the piano. I will miss it when she flies the nest!

    Your journal pages are music to my eyes! You had me at the first addition of color! Thank you for providing your step outs and letting us know what your new goodies are. We really appreciate seeing your work at Anything But Cute for our Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New challenge. Hugs! Sara Emily DT

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  19. Gosh this is fabulous Jane! Lots of thought and work went into this - a real treasure and absolutely fascinating to read your post. Ha, I listened to the waltz on line and now can't get it out of my head! The thing is, I know most of the lyrics to 'The loveliest night of the year', which used the music of course. Humming away here as I type!

    Hugs

    Di xx

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  20. A beautiful double journal page Jane, lots of gorgeous details and texture. I loved reading your post and your journey to find the right piece of sheet music to use. Your trip down memory lane as you discovered long forgotten items from your children's past was very interesting and bought back memories of my own.
    Thanks for joining us at AYLI this week for our challenge.
    Lorraine DT

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  21. Love this story Jane and the journal page is "tops"! Wait until Daisy gets her hands on all of this, she will be amazing too, like her mommy and daddy! (and nanna)
    xoxoRobin

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  22. Great post Jane and what an amazing page! I love the Q word you settled on, that one definitely would have had me scratching my head! I'm so glad you picked up that music die, and wow, you sure did put it to good use here!! Thanks for the mention, you are very sweet. I love the music note stamping in the background too. Wonderful vintage tones, and I love the addition of the laces and the glittery gold words!!

    Thank you so much for joining us at Anything But Cute for our 'Bring in the New' challenge, your page is just glorious! Hugs, Pamellia DT :)

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  23. Great background and lovely journal page. I love all of the layers and detail x

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  24. Fabulous pages with lots of detail.

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  25. Amazing page. I loved watching it progress.

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  26. Fabulous pages!
    Thank you for sharing your beautiful project at Try it on Tuesday!

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  27. Wonderful pages, Jane! One of my daughters played the piano when she was younger and I loved to hear the music floating through the house. It is lovely that you still do! I had a lot of sheet music from my grandma and have often used it in designs and scrapbooking. It is lovely to see the inspiration you got here and to see how your design developed.
    Helen xox

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  28. Happy days indeed. These pages are sumptuous and wonderful Jane. xxx

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  29. very vintage page, this could easily be found in a magazine 200 years ago.

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  30. This was such a lovely post to read of your childhood memories with the Piano. My Grandfather used to play the piano at the silent movies, but sadly I never followed in his musical talents.
    Your journal page is so inspirational, loving the reduced in size manuscript book and your musical die.
    Have a lovely weekend, Julie x

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  31. I'm here from Craft Barn and thoroughly enjoyed the piano lesson and words I've never heard before. I also enjoyed the process you went through to get your lovely Q entry. This is amazing.

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  32. Gorgeous artwork and lovely pics too. I haven't played the piano for many years but used to love it. Thanks so much for bringing back some happy memories and also for entering our challenges at Flonzcraft Vintage Stamping Challenges and We Love 2 Create too
    Claire xx

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  33. Beautiful vintage page, love the background! xx

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  34. So many lovely details in this page layout Jane, great choice of word although the thought of music theory does make my stomach churn a bit! Lou x

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  35. Beautiful piece and and love the background. Why does it never occur to me to scan things???!

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  36. Beautiful and romantic collage!

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  37. It was great to see how you built up the fabulous background to create a beautiful piece of artwork.

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