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A bit of Spookiness, a Vintage Art Journal Page, and a Good Book

 Hello friends,

Another fun Halloween card to share - all images are from DRS Designs (all 5 of them) - you can read a bit more about the card on the DRS Designs Blog

I also have an Art Journal page to share - it was inspired by Wendy's Vintage theme at Art Journal Journey.  
The bottom layer is a page about the world's tallest mountain out of an old vintage World Atlas book.  The main panel is old tea advertisement that my brother-in-law gave me.  He bought an old scrapbook full of old soap and tea advertisements - they were all glued in and most were damaged. I did some crackle medium  through a stencil on the top and bottom and added a few flowers from Stamping Up! that I dipped in some ink.  The words are Tim Holtz: "forever is composed of nows" - so true.  The other little faint stamping on the base page is done with Stamping Up! images as well.  Thanks for the inspiration Wendy!

After mentioning it earlier this week here an on Facebook, I have had several people ask me a bit more about the book Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.   

It is a fictional book.  What is it about? It is about so many things it is really hard to say - a bank robbery, a love story (or two), loneliness, despair, hope - I could go on.  What I really think it is about is how we all struggle to overcome something and to try and figure out life.  Sometimes we are sucessful and sometimes the stuggle is really, really hard.  The best part is he weaves in statements that just make you feel better about the struggle.   Here is an example from the first page:

"Because there's such an unbelievable amount that we're all supposed to be able to cope with these days. You're supposed to have a job, and somewhere to live, and a family, and you're supposed to pay taxes and have clean underwear and remember the password to your (cuss word omitted) Wi-Fi. Some of us never manage to get the chaos under control, so our lives simply carry on, the world spinning through space at two million miles an hour while we bounce about on its surface like so many lost socks. Our hearts are bars of soap that we keep losing hold of; the moment we relax, they drift off and fall in love and get broken, all in the wink of an eye. We're not in control. So we learn to pretend, all the time, about our jobs and our marriages and our children and everything else. We pretend we're normal, that we're reaonably well educated, that we understand "amortization levels" and "inflation rates." ....."Sometimes it hurts, it really hurts, for no other reason than the fact that our skin doesn't feel like it's ours. Sometimes we panic, because the bills need paying and we have to be grown-up and we don't know how, because it's so horribly, despreately easy to fail at being grown-up. "

This book has several story lines and is very funny, but the nuggets like this one are invaluable. Life is hard. The Prattville Library near my home has 3 copies of this book so you know it is good!

Hoping your week is going well and thanks for stopping by!

Hugz,

Nancy




Comments

  1. Hi Nancy, your vintage page is wonderful, such a sweet image, thanks so much for joining us at AJJ for Wendy's challenge! And of course I love the Halloween card, and it's coming nearer and nearer! Have a great day, hugs, Valerie

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  2. Great card Nancy, and I love your vintage page!
    I love a good read too.
    Alison

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  3. FabOOlous card Nancy! Love the way you've done your background! Love the wonderful Vintage AJ page you've made too! The stenciled brick background really adds so much to that image! I would really like to work more on AJ pages as they are "no pressure" fun! I love reading and this book looks like a good one to check out! Thanks friend!

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  4. I love that fun spooky card Nancy. I pulled out my Halloween stamps and you've inspired me to do some playing. And you vintage page is beautiful. I love the vintage paper background and how you added the brick texture. So nice! Thanks for sharing with us for Wendy's challenge at AJJ. Have a great end of your weekend. hugs-Erika

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  5. I can't believe Halloween is so close. Scary indeed. Love the card. Of course the vintage image you chose for the journal page is fabulous. It is really inspiring how you added the focal image to the page. I really love how you treated it. Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Art Journal Journey using Wendy's theme.

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  6. A great Halloween card Nancy, love the images. The vintage journal page is fabulous, such a beautiful focal image and the quote - so true. Sounds an interesting book, enjoyed reading the clip you shared.
    Have a great weekend, Avril xx

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  7. A super Halloween card Nancy, I love the colours and your journal page is fabulous, I love the vintage image and all of the lovely details you have added. The book does sound rather interesting, I will have to see if I can get a copy for my Kindle.
    Pauline - Crafting with Cotnob
    x

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  8. I'm unfamiliar with this author, but the book sounds worth looking for. Thanks!

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  9. Love your vintage and halloween pages, very effective. Just right for my theme on Art Journal Journey, thank you for sharing with us.

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  10. Love especially your first work. Can´t believe how time runs.

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  11. I love your vintage page, Nancy! Kisses!!!

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  12. Great Journal page. Sound s like a good book. Reading is a favorite pasttime follows very closely to card making. I mostly read fiction...but some times those fiction books can be as thought provoking as Non- Fiction. Espeically the books on Historical fiction... they are reminders that there have always been struggles in this world. And somehow life manages to go on...

    Thank you again for all you kind comments on my blog! Made my day!

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  13. I got an"oops" for my comment but then I got a message saying it had been published. Let me know if it wasn't please. x

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  14. A really lovely vintage page. Love all the well done elements around the sweet girl.
    Happy weekend xx

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