Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Thanksgiving Therapy

 Hello, hope you are all well. I've got a 7.5-inch square collage for you today that I made as a sort of art therapy talisman for Honey and me to remember, celebrate and honor our Thanksgiving family gatherings, since on Thursday in the USA it's Thanksgiving Day.

I think it finally hit me that we won't be all together with family at the holidays. My emotional mind had been in denial. I know from reading other blogs I'm not alone in this by a long shot -- we must do what we must to stay safe. I was going to make another Turkey Day card but ended up caving to my feelings. And it's been helping. I expect I'll be needing to look at it this week a lot. Honey likes it very much, too.

  
So my materials for this project began in my stash, for just about everything I've used. I've had a set of repositionable Thanksgiving stickers (what was I thinking buying repositionable stickers?????) and a colorful turkey I had saved from junk mail in my theme box forever, so I pulled those out. I added an unused piece of gold vellum that I had dry-embossed for my last project (here it reminds me of those old vintage embossed ceiling tiles!), and some vintage 70's decorative fabric seam binding from my mom's ribbon inheritance. For my base I pulled two of my Graphics 45 paper pad chipboard backings, cut them to size and glued them together so that the pretty paper patterns would show on both sides. But they are glossy so I gave each a quick workout with my sanding block, leaving delicious worn streaks and faded areas. I guess that's a form of distressing, eh? 

Since I wanted to participate in TFJB's current challenge Bright Colours (see challenges below), I chose to use the little vintage collage sheet image at lower left, which was a freebie TJFB sent me with one of my orders. While it doesn't portray an entire family, it reminds me very much of our dear daughter in years past at the table with her cousins, and the colors are a good match, too! 

This was pretty straightforward as to process. The most time spent was on all those words. Because the word stickers are repositionable, I used a gluestick to adhere to the yellow paper strips and then ran a Promarker around each word strip. I made the 4 long outer perimeter strips first and then cut apart the rest of the words. I added some little leaves at the turkey's feet that were alcohol-inked on glossy paper and punched out, leftover from a previous project.

I added some stash sequins and then filled each center with Viva Decor Pearl Pens in various colors.

After fussy-cutting this turkey, I ran a black chisel tip Promarker around it. Then, I got out my Carbon Desk Fountain Pen and outlined all of the interior lines on him to help him stand out properly. My final step was running the Promarker chisel tip around the entire piece.

But wait! There's more, lol. As I often do, I decorated the back as well! I was just going to add the outside lines, but then it looked like it needed something in the middle and of course I had a few leftover word strips from the front.

   
I used 2 different washi tapes around the perimeter: a wide graph-paper design and then some really cool cooking utensil washi bought exactly for this kind of project so I had to use it. 

The center oval element was cut with a Spellbinders Hem Stitch Oval Chantilly Paper Lace die. I used a Burnt Orange Promarker on the outside edge, a Pumpkin Promarker to color the pumpkin and a light Peachy Saffron Promarker to color-fill the interior. I should have colored first, then stamped and heat-embossed. Instead I did the opposite and a little black ink smeared in places from the marker, even after I heat-embossed! Oh well, every piece of art's got a near-death tale to tell, right? Still using it! haha

Love this Neat and Tangled sentiment stamp! And the distressed sanded base peeking out. 

And a final view of the front. I can truly say this was indeed Thanksgiving Therapy. Our dear daughter and son-in-love&law messaged us yesterday to thank us for their Thanksgiving card we mailed them and I sent them a pic of this. We had a wonderful time reminiscing about favorite foods, movies, and fun we've had on this holiday over the years. And we will do it again on Thursday! We are indeed blessed!

Thanks for dropping by and letting me share with you. I hope you have a good week, good holidays if you celebrate, and are staying safe and warm and well!

MY CHALLENGE PLAYLIST:
1.   TFJB Challenge 11/11-11/24: Celebrate! -- (10 challenges max) I am celebrating, remembering, honoring our tradition of Thanksgiving family gatherings and have used bright colors.
2.   Art Journal Journey Nov: Birds -- Joining in Wendy K's challenge theme with the most famous November bird of all LOL ;-)
6.   Outlawz Twisted Thursdays 11/19-25: AG + Opt. Twist: Create Your Own -- Option played - my twist is sequins
7.   The Crafter's Cafe #255: Embossing, Wet or Dry -- Dry (gold diamond-shaped vellum layer) (Entry#3/5 and 11 Challenges Max)
9.   613 Avenue Create November: AG + Opt. Twist Cute Critters -- Option played! I think my turkey is pretty cute!

18 comments:

sarascloset said...

Aimeslee, this is adorable and I love your turkey! This is a wonderful way to recount your blessings on this very special day! Thank you for sharing your artwork with us at The Funkie Junkie Boutique blog (and way to use your gift Linda includes with her orders!. Happy Thanksgiving!

WendyK said...

A very colourful turkey for our bird theme on Art Journal Journey, thank you for sharing.

My name is Erika. said...

I get this Thanksgiving separation and making some Thanksgiving art was a brilliant idea Aimeslee. At least you are not alone. I know a few folks who are and that is tough, and I want to invite them to my house but that isn't going to work either. Your turkey page is amazing! I love the vintage items and all the colors and designs. Your giving thanks page is also super with the cooking theme background. It's a cloudy morning here so these did make me feel sunny and warm. Thanks for joining us at Art Journal JOurney. Much appreciated! Hugs-Erika

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I'm always in awe of the pieces you create, Aimeslee. You put so much thought and detail into each entry and the backs are always as beautiful at the front. I agree this is the most famous November bird and it fits beautifully with Wendy's theme at Art Journal Journey.

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

You're very clever at collaging Aimeslee, this is gorgeous, love the layers and papers, great turkey too :)
Faith x

Elkes Lebensglück said...

A very wonderful colourful turkey image!
Greeting Elke

nwilliams6 said...

Love both sides, and the therapeutic turkey side is so cool! Love your colors and all the great details. Very well done and inspiring.

Yes, the not being together is tough, but it will make us appreciate togetherness when we can all be together again.

Super creative stuff here!

nwilliams6 said...

Happy Thanksgiving too!

crafty-stamper said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you Aimeslee-these seperations are terrible we saw our grandaughters yest for the first time in the last three weeks even though we are in their "bubble" due to parents working!Some of these rules just do not make sense!!!oops sorry for the rant I love your fabulous therapy Turkey card love all the words and paper pieced feathers-you put so much thought and attention to detail into your cards
Carol x

Heidi MyLittleStampingBlog said...

Super duper fun Thanksgiving collage pieces of art! I think you did a lovely job. We are also just doing a small thanksgiving here at home. It is not ideal at all but we are trying to make it nice. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

ahlers5 said...

I absolutely love the turkey that you made with all the special holiday words around it. It's sad that you can't see them, but I'm glad that you got to talk to them. We on the other hand have had some really difficult time going on. My daughter's husband has been unfaithful more times that we can count and he is also an alcoholic. We have, of course, tried to talk her into divorcing him many, many times. Well as it turns out, that time is now. My daughter and grandchildren have moved into our house. This is so difficult. We are waiting for her husband to find a place to live and get out of her house. He can be violent so that's why she is here with us. He makes no where near her income so he basically expects her to support him after the divorce even though she is keeping the kids. Crazy, huh? This is going to be a messy divorce! Well, I hope you and
Honey have a great Thanksgiving.

Jackie Cornfield said...

So glad you have shared this with us at 613 Avenue Create.
Please come back again!
The best of luck with your entry.
Stay safe and well.
Jackie, DT member at 613 xx

pearshapedcrafting said...

What an absolutely wonderful collage! The turkey, quite rightly is the star here! I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving - everything is so different this year. My family are opting for a sensible Christmas apart - looking forward to a big celebration for all the special birthdays missed (18, 40, 70, 80s all missed!) next year as soon as it's safe to do so! Thanks for sharing this at Art Journal Journey, Chrisx

cass said...

Amazing collage,love the colour combo. Thanks for entering your wonderful creation in our Embossing Challenge at The Crafter's Cafe this fortnight.

Chana Malkah said...

Aimeslee, your card is magnificent! Everything about this project is perfect. I love the color integration, the organization, and the wonderful execution! This is a favorite for me!

Hugz,
Chana Malkah

Jenny Marples said...

What a spectacular collage Aimeslee and how fabulous that you've gone the extra mile and made the back beautiful too. Although it's such a difficult year this will be a reminder that despite it all there are still things to be thankful for and they can be celebrated even more next year with luck. Thank you so much for joining in with us at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge blog x

Chana Malkah said...

Congratulations! You were selected as a Top Rocker at 613 Avenue Create for the week of November 22 - 28, 2020! Thanks so much for your wonderful response to our challenge. Please stop by our blog to grab your badge!

The 613 Avenue Create Design Team

Beth Norman-Roberts said...

Don't know how I missed this. Outstanding work!!! Another favourite of mine. Such a nice look. I love your work.