Inspiration Elevator... Fear

 You may recall from last month's challenge that the purpose of this challenge group was to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.  

You can view all of the challenges on my blog here.

Please join me in welcoming Michelle Hernandez.  We are so fortunate to have her joining us this month as we explore our scrapbooking limits. Michelle uses a variety of techniques to take her pages to the next level. You can see her amazing creations at her blog "My Analog Life".

This month, our challenger was the super talented Sue Sykes. Sue writes an ongoing article for Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine called Leaving Your Legacy and her challenge this month for Inspiration Elevator was also featured in the Winter edition. This is what she wrote:

"The idea of “Leave Your Legacy” first came about in 2007 when I was sorting through some vintage photos of my parents. I realized that while I knew most of the standard information about the images, the profound information about my parents and relatives was missing - information that would give me a glimpse of what they had been like when they were younger. 

To me, scrapbooking is, of course, a means of artistic expression, but more than that, it is a way to leave a little piece of history for future generations in each layout. And so, it amazed me, in talking with friends who scrapbook, to learn just how seldom they scrapbook about themselves. All of these incredible people, and their families may not really know anything personal about them: their hopes, dreams, habits, likes, dislikes, fears and accomplishments. With this article, I hope to encourage fellow artists to scrap more about themselves to avoid that from happening.

I think it's important to document your fears as well as your happy times and accomplishments. Many times, things of which we are FEARFUL, often characterize our personalities. It's also rewarding to be able to look back, once you have overcome a fear, to realize how far you have come. On the heels of my husband's heart attack, this was an obvious choice for me, but it's difficult to put into words the FEAR that you feel when faced with the possible loss of your partner. I want to remember the fear that we both felt, so that it will help us to stick to our commitment of living a healthier, less stressful life.

So what is it that you FEAR the most?

Not only do I want you to scrapbook about a FEARFUL topic, but I also want you to include at least ONE product that you have avoided using. Maybe it's because you are hoarding it and are FEARFUL of using it all, or maybe you are intimidated by it. Whatever the reason, spread your wings and challenge yourself to use it."


So as you know if you're following along, I have been using the IE prompts lately to do some art journaling.  I am REALLY loving this process!

 When I thought of fear, the colors that came to mind were red and black, so I based my pages on those, and added some yellow and grey for contrast.

I used some cut out circles and bit of left over punched notebook edges.   The circles a dabbed with red mist and outlined with a black pen. The yellow is a sorbet paint from Art Anthology that I dab on with a sponge through a wire pattern stencil.  I filled in the white space with some watered down grey mist.

As for a product that I fear (which I don't really "fear", I just don't use it that much), I thought of ribbon.  I hardly ever use it yet I have a ton.  So I painted some cheap white ribbon with some Black Sorbet paint from Art Anthology.  I also happened to have some other black ribbon sitting around, so I cut it into little bits and stuck them around the page.  As I was thinking about my titled, I thought I would face my "fear" of ribbon head on by using it to make the letters!  I LOVE how it turned out.

In the wake of yesterday's events, the topic of my journaling seems to really hit home for me today.  I wrote about how I used to be fearful of death before I had children...now I am fearful of something happening to them.  I can't imagine how that must feel.

I hope you will stop by and see what the designers on this adventure have created:

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker

Audrey Yeager

Lisa Moen

Laurel Seabrook

Ann Jobes

Cathy Harper

Michelle Hernandez, Guest Designer