Jumping Jack

Second post today...(cos I'm impatient..:S)

Found an excellent new challenge(any medium and style) where you just have to follow the prompt, via June Mac, called The Game Challenge.

The theme for this 2weeks is to incorporate a "Jack" playing card

We only have one deck at the moment and they are well used, so I decided to make my own and incorporate it into a journal page.

The phrases "Jack, be nimble" and "Cowardly Knave" kept bouncing round my brain...

I drew and coloured my cowardly Knave with promarkers, and cut out and gessoed a base card...

which I again coloured with promarkers.

Next I cut him out and stuck him to the base card, before setting fire to the bottom corner mwahahaha...

Back to the "Jack be nimble" verse, my page needed a candlestick...gessoed page, and used markers again(am liking markers for journalling!!!)

Water colour washes for background, and glued card in place :D

and the journalling reads;

"When it comes to LOVE...

Are you a cowardly Knave?

OR

Do you risk getting Burnt?"

Enjoy :D XXX

Don't just live with it!

Yesterday I showed how I'd found my inner self (well, what funky bones I have any way), so now I needed to flesh them out a bit...

I started the face, using watercolour to add shadow...

And was going to paint Zebra patterns on the skin, but then I thought

Why not just "Love the skin I'm in"

I deliberately didn't add hair, eyebrows or lashes, as this page is about skin....and I know it should be "you're" not "your", but I liked the balance better this way.

It's "Your" skin...don't just live with it...love it...no matter it's colour or texture

it is the one thing guaranteed to hug you 24/7 :D

Give yourself a hug!!! You deserve it :D XXX 

Finding your inner self...

So, lots of people are doing art journals about "finding your inner self", and I thought "why not?"

Now I'm a pretty ...mmmmmm...self contained kind of a person, and I like words, so I chose to focus on the phrase "to find our inner selves we must start with our bones"(and I was thinking about Skull appreciation day which is June 4th)

I have crazy hair, so it stands to reason that my inner self would too :D

...and I still have all my own teeth...!

My inner self was chiding me to "get Funky". 

Why should we hide what is truly inside of us? I like being eccentric, and funky, but other peoples expectations have dictated my outer images for far too long.

I always said that if I lost my hair i would have flowers tattooed on my head...and people looked at me with derision. But I believe in grabbing life with both hands and shaking it til something nice happens :D

I believe all my bones are already tattooed with flowers...

and colourful to the core, with multicoloured marrowbone jelly in the centre!

If some one, or something is getting at you...deal with it...and shake it til it smiles at you (or runs away)

So I give you my inner self...just as crazy as the outer me!!! (and I so want to make this image into a staff of some kind!!!)

Enjoy "yourself", you are wonderful!!! :D XXX

Fangs for the fun Ayala :[)

Face no.29 of my 29 Faces for May

AEDGYTH (pronounced Edith)

This is the last of my faces for the fabulously entertaining challenge set by Martha at Ayala Art, which was to create and post about 29 faces through the month of May.

For the last post, she has encouraged us to try a technique we haven't used  before. It took me a while, but then I realised I've never done a face where you draw in the light. I usually start with the shadows first.

So a grabbed a piece of black card and my white marks all pencil and went for it :D

I "LOVE" this face!!!

It is my piece for this weeks challenge at The Butterfly Effect, the theme is Vampires...can I hear you scream..."WHAaaaaaaaaaaaa.......!"

Hope you've enjoyed seeing these daily faces as much as I've enjoyed making them. 

Thank you again Martha :D

Meng Po

Face no.28 of my 29 Faces for May

Today I am a little sad, as this is the last of my 13 Goddesses

MENG PO

She is the Chinese Goddess of the underworld, who guides the dead through the maze of trials, before they can be reborn.

She is known as the Goddess of Forgetfulness

because, once a soul has completed the trials that await it, she provides it with a cup of her "5 Flavoured Tea"...

which causes them to instantly forget their previous existence, and their visit to the underworld. This allows them to be reborn without "baggage" as we would say :D

My 13th and final Goddess, The Chinese Goddess, Meng Po.

Thank you Simona for hosting this marvellously inspirational challenge :D

Pleasant Dreams :D XXX

Guest post from the fantabulous Magaly Guerrero!!!

I was totally thrilled when Magaly asked if she could borrow my blog to publicise her new ebook AlmaMia Cienfuegos: a Story of Blood, Scars and Nightmares. It is my personal opinion that Magaly  is destined  to be one of the great writers of our times, as she puts her entire being into every word she writes, and draws on the raw emotion of real life to empower her characters.

AlmaMia Cienfuegos' Mango Tree.

"A few weeks before I decided to share AlmaMia Cienfuegos with the world, I got an email from Gina telling me I was going to get a surprise in the mail. I was super excited. Then I kind of forgot about the message because I had less than three weeks to shape two chapters of a standalone short story, get a cover for it, spread the word about the release, work on final exams and write a few articles that were due in between.

One night, I was sitting in bed studying for a literature final, and exchanging emails with Shelle - wonderful artist and friend. I was telling her I loved how she had illustrated  my description of AlmaMia Cienfuegos' cover when my Piano Man walked into the bedroom and handed me the mail. In one of the packages I found this daydream of a tree:

Gina titled the piece "Happy Place & Serenity". I stared at the piece for a long, long, long time. I was mostly enchanted. My dear Gina sent this happy tree, which grows in a warm world of rainbows, a week before she knew anything about AlmaMia's tale.

If you read AlmaMia Cienfuegos: a Story of Blood, Scars and Nightmares, you will see why this tree touched my heart. Actually, some of it can be seen in this excerpt; my main character's safe place is at the top of a Mango tree, overlooking her village.

My own happy place, while growing up in the Dominican Republic, was the top of a tree. I built a platform on three of the highest branches - my brother helped a little - we secured the sides with rope, and the place became my reading haven. My warm place of happiness and serenity; all night, I planned mayhem there too, but that's another post.

My Mango tree sanctuary stayed in the Caribbean after I moved to the United States. I liked it so much I brought it to AlmaMia's world. Gina has given it back to me. Our tree has rooted on top of my antique typewriter. I look at it when I wake up, while I write, before I go off to sleep...and every time, I smile at the fiery rainbow beyond the tree. Don't you just love it when art doesn't just recreate life, but it creates it?

To learn more about AlmaMia Cienfuegos, stop by my writing blog and read an excerpt. For the chance to win 1 0f 13 copies of my e-book leave a comment on this post, telling me about a story that holds a bit of your world.

And to enter AlmaMia's charm bracelet give away, visit the other tour stops and leave comments.

AlmaMia Cienfuegos' Blog Stops

Day 1 – May 15th - Capturing a Moment in AlmaMia Cienfuegos’ Life - SunshineShelle

Day 2 - May 17th - Frogs, Books and Skulls – Miniature Witchy Book - Pagan Culture

Day 3 – May 19th - Truth in AlmaMia Cienfuegos’ Tale - Magic Love Crow

Day 4 – May 21st - AlmaMia Cienfuegos’ Wild Magic - Laura DeLuca

Day 5 – May 23rd - Grandmothers Are Magical Creatures - Olde Baggs ‘n Stuft Shirts

Day 6 – May 25th - The Strong Women in AlmaMia Cienfuegos’ Life - Green Witch with Sprinkles

Day 7 – May 27th - AlmaMia Cienfuegos’ Mango Tree - Daydream Believer

Magaly Guerrero writes, reads, and dreams dark fiction. She is the author of Pagan Culture, a blog about everyday life through the eyes of a dark fiction writer. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and at www.magalyguerrero.com. "

Vince's Vampires, and blatant Pimpage!!!

Faces no. 26 and 27 of my 29 Faces for May

Natasha and Sebastian(well that's what I'm calling them)

I did not draw these fabulous images, VINCE BALLARD did !!

He is an awesome artist, and gives his images away...for free!!!

I have coloured them with promarkers...because it was just too hot to do anything else :D

And just colouring is fun !!! Get yours HERE

I am posting 2 faces today, because tomorrow my blog is being visited by the wonderful Magaly, who is promoting her new e-book. It is a short story called "AlmaMia Cienfuegos"..a story of Blood Scars and Nightmares!, and you can read an excerpt HERE

And if you think this post is creepy, just wait til Tuesday! Final face of my 29faces for May so I really have to combine it with The Butterfly Effects Challenge which will be "VAMPIRES" mwahahahahaha :[

Enjoy :D XXX

Lady Ophelia and the Mystery of the Missing Week

No history lesson this week as too much story to catch up on for Darcy's 52 Postcards challenge!

Week 21 ENGLAND (or HOME as Lady Ophelia knows it), and week 20 Mauritania.

May in England see's the woodlands carpeted with bluebells :D

Miss Lillian Crowther has had an incredibly stressful week. She did not really expect Ophelia to send her a postcard every week, life would be much to exciting for her young friend, but this is the first time she hasn't received one so her anxiety is understandable.

Then, while she is tending her now copiously stocked garden, she is shocked, and overjoyed to see Ophelia walking towards her along the lane. The two ladies  lose all sense of composure, as they run towards each other with open arms, enjoying one of those "ooow I've missed you!" kind of hugs that bring tears to your eyes. After what seems an age, the embrace is broken by a quiet "Huh hmmm" as Miss Francesca catches up with them. Lillian flings her arms around the surprised Miss Francesca, and squeezes her tight, while thanking her repeatedly for bringing Ophelia home safely.

When she has composed herself, Lillian invites her two visitors inside for a lovely cup of tea.

"After last weeks horrid adventure, I insisted Richard bring us home, to let everyone see that I am perfectly well." started Ophelia as she sipped her tea. " We would have been with you sooner, but Richard wanted to show me our new home, Pendleton Manor. He is having it refurbished while we travel. You will come and visit as soon as we get back, won't you dear friend?"

"Of course my darling, I can hardly wait! Your question suggests you will be off on your travels again soon?"

"Oh, absolutely", beamed Ophelia, "far too excited not to. So let me fill you in on what happened last week.

Richard took us to Mauritania, in western Africa. He wanted to check up on an old friend, a French Military man by the name of  Louis Faidherbe. Apparently the French used to control the area, but sort of lost interest some time ago. This officer is trying to keep the peace between the warring tribes there, but it is all a bit out of control."

"Well! While we were trying to find the military post, this native chap comes up to Richard...and you won't believe this, tries to sell him a young woman! She was naked and in chains! The man was very insistent, manhandling the poor girl and showing her off like some prize cow at a fayre. I could see Richard was getting angry...very angry...and then he (by whom I mean Richard) took out his pistol and shot the man dead! Just like that! Not a word, he just took the chains from the girl and shooed her away!"

Lillian sat in silence as Ophelia related this news, and Miss Francesca sat nodding her head slowly like some old sage.

"I don't know which of us was most surprised by Richard's actions, but a crowd started to gather, and Richard and our guide lead us away from that particular village. They decided that country was not a safe place to remain, and we joined a Caravan heading across the desert. These nomadic people were most gracious, and hid us whenever other less friendly tribes approached."

"Well thank goodness you are safe now" sighed Lillian."Mauritania is a particularly volatile place, and slavery is still the normal practice there. The tribes war constantly. I'm not sure I condone murder, but I can fully understand Sir Richards anger. Many of the people I knew through my father's missionary work in Africa have been killed or forced to leave this particular region in the last few years.

But now is a time for us to enjoy each others company, so walk with me, and I will show you all the beautiful gifts you have sent me so far from your amazing adventure."

And with that the three ladies went out into the glorious sunny garden, and breathed in the scent of bluebells, mingled with Lilac and roses, that filled the garden of Peartree cottage.

Not a very politically correct post, but the story is of the times, when the world was changing in many ways. You will notice there are no postmarks on these 2 postcards. That is because Lady Ophelia hand delivered them during her visit. And in a break with tradition, she included a portrait of her husband.

So I give you my face no. 25 of my 29 Faces for May

SIR RICHARD PENDLETON

:D Enjoy XXX