Journal 52, Week 24: Courage

For Week 24 at Journal 52, Chelle asked us to show what courage meant to us.

My take on Courage

began when I gathered these supplies.  Note that the Prismacolors have never been opened.  I found them the other day in my postage stamp mailing drawer, which is one of the small ones in the desk behind my work table.  I have no idea where I got them or who gave them to me, but I'm quite sure I didn't buy them.  Other items include my substrate (a file folder cut in half), three of my handmade shimmering mists, three tags, stickers from old VCR tapes (thanks to my friend who was going to throw them out), hole reinforcers, and a plastic doily.

I laid down the turquoise mist, then the doily, over which I spritzed the yellow-green mist.  After allowing these to dry,

I decided there still wasn't enough background detail on the substrate, so added more of both colors.  While they dried, I covered the tags with the wording I had printed beforehand.  Then I tried (optimum word is tried) to add doodles on the tags using the new Prismacolor chalks.  Sadly, all I managed was to make a mess with the chalks, even though I admit, they blend very nicely.

After seeing how the hole and reinforcer showed through, I decided to leave the tag intact.  I picked "Courage" quotes from three of the very best and brightest people I could find.  I used stickers to designate this was the 24th week.  Nelson Mandela offered this,

while Maya Angelou had this to say on the subject.

And one of the greatest men of the last century, Sir Winston Churchill offered this.  Personally, this one is my favorite.

Then I had to go and get silly by trying to write the word "Courage" and trying to make it look better than it should.  These are some lovely pastels, but I don't have the skills I need to use them yet.

I noticed an even bigger mistake when I got ready to scan the completed piece.  I knew (but apparently had either a blond or senior moment) the even numbers should be on the back side of each file folder page.  Unfortunately, I had not properly filed the previous entry, so I now have two "fronts."  I'm not sure if I'll leave them and not worry about it, or use the backs for the next two entries.  Since I'm making these for me, with the original intent of using some of my overabundant stash, I have a feeling these are both finished and ready to be filed away, never to be spoken of again.

Thanks as always for visiting, because this is the only place you'll see my courage this week.