Sunday, June 30, 2013

Why My Cover is Blown


For such a mess of a collage of all sorts of things I pulled out among the pictures and tape, my cover for the Find Your Voice workshop tells a story by itself.  At first I thought I would redo it; I'm out of practice with putting things like this together, and, to me, this cover is not very appealing.  But then I thought about all of the things that I put into it and why, and I realized it's perfect, whether it is appealing to me or anyone else that I share it with.    Here's what I found after I finished.

The pictures of me and one of the posts from my blog are representative of me opening my mouth on here and using this space to tell my story (and our story)...an obvious inclusion.  The picture of the lawn chairs could be that I wonder where we will finally end up when we've reached our goals?

The paper with all the handbags was random.  At first, I just liked the way it looked, but then I started thinking that it really represents all the baggage we've handed off in the last few months.  There's been a lot of it, physical and spiritual.  Things that make us angry, make us worry, make us stay up late at night and wake up with tense muscles and a headache.  Yeah.  It's good to get rid of a lot of that.

The red bird, in contrast, is comfort and peace.  Everywhere we have lived, moved, or just have been together, there has been a cardinal.  We like to think that it is William's dad watching over us.  Sure, cardinals can be anywhere, but they live where we do, and appear where we are, in just a matter of a small amount of time.  And they stay.  We have a family of them in a bare tree right across from our patio.  I don't think it's a coincidence.

The envelope and the stamps represent dreams we have to travel as soon as William gets out of school.  We want to take our summers and go for weeks on end, and experience things together.  We've decided that buying a home and staying in one place is not for us.  We would rather save and plan adventure after adventure.  First in the US and then out of the country.  Maybe even teach outside of the country one day.

The word FIND is much larger than the others on the cover.  I think it is a good word for us right now.  It is kind of like the "One Little Word" challenge here, and I think it just became ours.  We are finding out who we are in this new lifestyle of ours, and who God wants us to be, where He wants us to be, and why.

I left the words "Industrial Controls" from the vintage folder because sometimes it does take industrial strength to get me to slow down long enough to think about things.  Sometimes I really just don't want to.

To be completely honest with you, I didn't think about any of this much until I had it all put together.  And as mod-podged as it is, it's all wrapped up into one big picture that I am certain is every little bit of where we are right now.  I think the voice is starting to creep out from underneath without any effort, and the story will follow.  I'm looking for amazing things to happen along with some trial and some guidance, and maybe a little bit of sweat and tears and refueling to get up and get going again.

I could redo the cover, but I can't redo everything that it means, and I don't want to.  It's best that it stays as is.  Each page inside will be its own unique part of this journal.  I'm not going to create them ahead of time.  I want to see how my art reflects how I feel along the way.

Have you signed up for the workshop yet?  I wish you would join me.


17 comments:

  1. i love the birdie:) you did a great job!!!
    gina

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    1. The birdie needed to be there. :) And, really, that's another meaning for it...Feed the Birdies. It represents my kids, too. Thank you!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you...it's so amazing how it all came out unplanned...I just picked up things that I liked and wanted to add, and now I know why I did. This is really a super cool workshop. I'm loving every minute of it. :)

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  3. i soooo love this! i want to do this but i have no idea what to use as far as an album. thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. Just find something you love, and go with it. It can be anything. A magazine, a book, a folder, a traditional album...anything. You won't regret it!

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  4. It never ceases to amaze me when I do a page, decide I don't like it then discover the message
    hidden within! Wonderful insight - and I think the page is sensational! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Isn't that the coolest thing? When I looked back at it, I was thinking the same thing. Thank you for your sweet words!

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  5. oh oh oh....how creative and simple and complex. Love it!

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    1. You are right! It is all three of those! Thank you. :)

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  6. I am so inspired by the story behind your cover. You've really given me my first glimpse into what it means to stop and look beyond the visual for the true meaning. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Thanks so much...it makes me feel good that I can inspire someone else as well! It's funny how it all crept out when I finished. I'm glad I didn't change it!

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  7. I love this! Thank you for sharing!

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  8. Cool! And great giveaway over at the postalsociety!

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