Challenge # 13-2013 MMDT Featured Grid: Spring Green

How would you describe your spot on the earth?

Everyone has different moments in their lives where something old ends and something new begins.

Picking up, beginning again and trying something new…that’s how “My Spot on the Big Blue Marble” was built. I wanted to have a spot to work, take care of business, give counsel, prep lessons and teach, do Bible study, read and relax, make my greeting cards, sew and scrapbook, work on the computer, watch TV, and have a place to sleep.

At the time, I wanted a mountain cabin or western lodge feel to my spot. Things needed to be organized because there was a lot to put in a small place. So, my oldest son, David, helped to make it possible. A door was removed, a wall put in its place and soon there was a long desk, shelves and overhead storage with a new column of storage perfect for storing photo albums and scrapbook papers. Two walls were clad in wood planking to help give me my cabin feel and my retreat began to take shape. Add a desk and computer and an extra table and there’s plenty of room to work…and play! Eventually a very comfy chair was added…perfect! The room was transformed!

Add to that the personal touches that make it home, favorite photos, art work, sculptures and a touch of kitsch. I brought a tree in to bring the outside in, added lights to make it festive. I have pieces I’ve added from my travels like a pair of huge pine cones from down in Texas, old cowboy boots, a carved Christmas tree from a Kentucky artisan, a longhorn steer made of nails and five sculpted sheep from Scotland by way of Williamsburg.  

My work bench is full of tools like Prismacolor pencils sorted by colors and in old tins with sentimental ties. There’s a stack of dress pieces that need to be finished to make a dress for Izzy. A stack of newly finished Christmas cards await a new owner. The printer is at one end and the TV at the other. Columns of small drawers house rubber stamps, inks, pens, chalks and all sorts of bits and pieces. Larger drawers hold more tools and embellishments, embossing powders and all sorts of goodies.

So we’ve created a spot that serves me well, it is my place to find peace and quiet, it is a place to create and it is a place of rest. It has been my world. For someone who wanted to grow to be a hermit, this has been the perfect place! Now, I’m at a new cross road in life, needing to return to the outside world and the need for a paying job.  Leaving the security of “My Spot on the Big Blue Marble” is causing me some distress that I really didn’t realize until I began working on this challenge. My life is likely to change more drastically than I imagined. I’m not sure I’m ready for it. I’m not sure there is a place out there for me to fit into, and I’m not so sure I really want to, but I suppose I must. Soon there will be a new spot that will be included in my world and with it countless new experiences.

For this challenge I have used Mosaic Moments 12x12 Spring Green Grid,  Loganberry Paper Tiles  pattern #48 additional elements of little tags and a list, Apple Crush, Lime Crush, Kiwi Crush and red cardstock, silver wire, glue dots and foam tape.  All the photos have been printed on Matte Supreme Photo paper, something I was reluctant to try because I really do like my glossy photos. However, at a yard sale last year I made off with a package of photo paper at a bargain, only to discover that there was more matte than glossy in the collection. I have found that I actually do like this look as this matte is far different from the matte printing from the 70’s when everyone was printing in matte and charging extra for glossy.

Pattern #48 

Page One

Large 8.5” x 11” photo in B&W of “My Spot” trimmed to fit the various shapes of the pattern. A small photo in the upper corner shows the cabin wall. The nine patch pattern is Lime Crush stamped with a map rubber stamp image that is also used on page two. Loganberry Paper Tiles were used to create the title. It was printed in a semi-circle to give the feel of a sphere. (see Tami’s instructions on ‘how to’ here:  http://blog.tamipotter.com/how_do_i/2006/12/print_journalin.html) Foam Mounting Tape was used to give it a bit of a lift. The remainder of the title is placed in a red “map pin” to mark ‘the spot.’ The photos are printed on a matte finish paper that lends to the feel of newspaper photo.  Putting the photo into B & W helps to carry on that reporting style look to the page. You get a good look at the whole work space and all that is in it without the distraction of the colors in the space.

Page Two

Here are some of the details in a color view of some of the elements that make my spot my home and my work space, including a look at my work in progress for this challenge, some of the ‘favorites’ and my custom built shelves.  The journal block is again green on green with the map image stamped with watermark ink. The tiny tags are on pop dots for lots of dimension, on double glue dots for a little dimension and directly applied to the map block for a flat layer. Small ‘map pins’ made of wire and red cardstock punched circles appear to be pinning them down. I also used the “out takes” of hearts from the tags to turn them into an alternate pin head, and small punched circles with liquid acrylic added to give a third style of “pin” for the tags.

Journaling:

What is in “My Spot?”   (in no particular order here, and scattered on the block)

1.       Comfy chair
2.       Books
3.       Bed
4.       Computer
5.       TV
6.       Prismacolor Pencils
7.       Music
8.       Artwork
9.       Photographs
10.   Sculptures
11.   Cowboy boots
12.   Sheep, bears and dogs
13.   Pine trees
14.   Rubber stamps
15.   Scrapbook paper
16.   Mementos
17.   Ribbons
18.   Old Westerns
19.   Sewing machine
20.   Ott lights
21.   Camera
22.   A view

…just to name a few.

(oops...it seems like #22 got written in as 'snacks' on the tags instead of a view...both are equally enjoyed in this spot!) 

In doing this challenge I was able to do something I’ve planned on doing for ages, to document my work space and what goes on there. It let me take another close look at where I live. (last year our challenge was our town) I do have a fresh perspective of my surroundings and what they mean to me, what they have been and what it may be in the future. Do you have a spot that means a lot to you? Maybe you should take a few photos and write about it and give it a place of importance in the events and places you scrap about.

Share some of your spots with us on Journella; we’d love to have you join us. Keep your eyes open for the July newsletter and the open challenge announcement and be sure to get some Spring Green while it’s the featured paper, it’s a lovely shade of green and so very versatile, you’ll love it!

Thanks for stopping in today,

andrea