June Challenge by Christy

Design Team Member Christy submitted this layout for the June Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue Challenge.  She said:

We all have one...the layout you sort of like but are not quite sure of. I sort of went a little (or a lot) artsy with this one and am still not quite sure what to think. In the end though, there is a lot of symbolism and meaning behind the page (mostly for me) and it's another page completed!  There's a lot to learn about yourself, especially from those pages which you are not completely sure of.
 
If you are wondering what my son is doing in this photo, he is working with some wooden pattern blocks for a math class.  During part of the class, he deviated a bit from the recommended patterns in the books and began making his own design. I took the photo standing on a chair so I could get a nice overhead view. Initially, this page was going to be about our homeschool math classes which is why I chose this particular Sassafrass paper. However,  as I started journaling, it became more about my son's creativity. I had journaled on a scrap sheet of paper and so I was able to take the title directly from that.


Something old: Sassafrass paper
Maya road chipbaord butterflies
Paper Trunk black alphas
Pink Paislee glitter alphas
Something New: Cosmos Cricket chipboard- man with lightbulb
SEI Journal spot
Something borrowed: Page maps sketch
Doodled scallop border was inspired by a Fancy Pants stamp
Something Blue- Bic mark it in Blue Skies Blue
blue punched dots

Since the Sassafrass paper was very busy, I struggled with how I wanted to use it with this photo. I chose white acrylic paint. It allowed part of the pattern to show through a bit while helping to tone the pattern down. it also represented to me the transparency of thought. I had just bought some Cosmo Cricket chipboard which had this wonderful image of a person with a light bulb coming out of their head.  It went perfectly with the theme of thought and imagination. To give the bulb a little more emphasis, I adhered it to an SEI journal spot which I felt gave it the appearance of a lit bulb. The black colour symbolizes the openness of the mind and of thought. The butterflies and sequins represent my son's creative ideas flowing outward. I "borrowed" the scalloped image that I drew with a marker. I had just seen a similar stamp by fancy pants in an on-line catalog. Since I did not own the stamp, I doodled it as best as I could. Covering it with glossy accents gave it a little more substance, as did the hole punched blue dots. There is a photo matte(though it may be hard to see). I stamped a black, cloth like image under the photo. I thought it could represent the fabric of our minds.

I know that some of the symbolism is a little "out there" and not very obvious. What is important is that it was fun to experiment, both with the idea of giving a deeper meaning to the page as well as with the physical page elements themselves. So even though I am not 100% satisfied with this page, I am completely satisfied with the steps I took to make it and what I learned about my Creative process along the way.

Now it's your turn to take the June Something Challenge. See all the details HERE!

Be sure to scroll down the page - Scrap Our Stash posts something new everyday.