Ephemera: Make a Wish

Cover: Collage, gelli print papers, stenciling, stamping, graphite rubbings

Gelli print papers collages, ink jet transfer, old calendars, inks and stabilo pencil, washi tape,  ink stamps

Collectible memorabilia is the standard definition of ephemera.  It's a a term used by journalists and those who work with decorated or illuminated pages to indicated bits and pieces they have saved to use.  

The little title of this journal "Make a Wish" is a bit of ephemera from my grandson Mike's birthday card 3 years ago when he was 5 years old.  Something so special about those first years of print making.  

I love his direction to his grandma that I am to "make a wish" for my birthday (probably when I blow out the candles?"  I like the idea of the topic for my 2nd journal.  

It has become apparent to me that having a prompt for my Face book group journal project once a week is not going to "cut it for me"  What about in between those prompts?  What about life in between?  :-)  

I have absolutely fallen in love with Gwen Diehn's book The Complete Decorated Journal.  It is not just a how-to book or dozens of idea of how to make marks or stamps or papers but rather a way of looking at life by immortalizing it with words and images so that you are more in the present.  
I would have been hard pressed two weeks ago to give you that meaning for a journal.  

Let me say that I've been chatting with hubby about this new awareness and now he asks me, "What did you journal about today?" so often I finally put a cover on the 2nd journal I bought and did a first page in it today.  

I told artist friend, Cynthia, that I was "having a difficult time letting go of 2014" and moving into the new year.  My analogy was that it felt like someone was knitting me a new sweater using the yarn from the sweater I was still wearing and the arms were getting shorter as the new sweater got knit but I wouldn't take off the old one.  

This image of "father time" I found online is the only one I  found that didn't show him as the grim reaper!  Good Lord.  
Ghoulish images that I didn't want.  (note he is wearing my unraveling sweater.)  I am analyzing all the reasons why I don't want to leave and jump into the new year.  But, of course, there is NO choice.  And I felt better after doing the page, by the way.   

I think the journal images will help we work my way into it gently.  Anyway…this is a new journal for my own thoughts.  The other journal is the "prompted" journal from the Facebook group and she just gives one prompt a week.  

Note: I am making a chart of "mark making" available to me..kinds of inks, pencils, crayons, etc. that I own.  Which are archival and which not.  Sumi ink is not archival but India ink is.  Stuff like that.  It helps to know this when you decide to coat a page with acrylic gel medium!