Saturday, August 15, 2015

Journal 52, Week 33: Comfort Zone


At Journal 52, the artist prompt for Week 33 is “Comfort Zone,” which Chelle defined as “a place or situation where one feels safe or at ease and without stress.”

I'm not big on using a lot of words on my pages, so this one seems a bit too wordy to me.  But at least I didn't have to write the words.

I'm not sure why I glued the cat picture and "cute" saying down before anything else, because it really messed with my layout.  Of course, I wasn't thinking when I did.  I only knew I wanted to include the cats in the stress free zone somewhere.

I identified two stress free comfort zones, one of which was my office, the other my craft room.

Believe it or not,  I stamped a computer (very old style) after the words.  I don't really have to worry about feeding the boys because they always have plenty of food and water, especially now that Squiggles has quit throwing his toys in the water bowl.

I stamped the old time sewing machine to show I sew, and I cut a piece of watercolor paper I had painted.  There's always coffee close at hand.  I drink it all day long (and night time, too). The cats are not allowed in the craft room.  I always say that cat fur and glue are not mixed media!

When I get tired of sewing and throwing paint around, I retreat to my office, where I once again get on my computer and visit my favorite blogs.  Many of them are posting about the time most "normal" people in my time zone would be sleeping.

I always take a few minutes to love and hold each cat before they find a favorite spot on my office couch and go to sleep.  I repeat the process when I head to bed and they follow me into the bedroom.

As always, my substrate is a used file folder that I painted with purple and yellow acrylic paint.  I found some coffee images and the cute stamped cat quote in my scrap basket.  I picked up the computer UM stamp in a grab bag when my friend Kathy and I went shopping on Wednesday.  I had borrowed the sewing machine stamp from Kathy back in April and she didn't want it back when I offered this week.  The words were all computer generated, and the cat came from a magazine.

Thanks for visiting and following me through this very wordy J52 entry.


11 thoughtful remarks:

Lynda Shoup said...

I love the colors you used and how they flow. Your thoughts about cat hair and glue made me laugh. Sounds like you have created space and ritual for peaceful times. That has inspired me to think about ways to do that. I enjoyed this post.

Divers and Sundry said...

I now have a picture in my mind of you and each cat sharing some special time together, and awwww I'm feeling all cozy (and catless). Sweet.

I'm thinking I wish I'd been reading your blog before I passed along tons of used but no longer needed file folders. They would make great substrates!

Monica said...

that is a great expression for a cat. Great page as usual. Just catching up on life in studio and life.
Hugs Moonica

pearshapedcrafting said...

Ha! ha! I really laughed when I saw that cat quote, reminded me of our Snowy, he would go and get my eldest son up, saying that he was usually in his bedroom all night when he could! I think I've caught up and you will probably smile at one of my stoopid comments!! We have been away since Tuesday - painting - no - not nice painting…the decking was in bad need of a lick if paint at the caravan! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Chrisx

Valerie-Jael said...

Lovely page, and I love the quote with the cat wanting breakfast, so true. My Kitty used to wake me mercilessly when it was her breakfast time! It's always good to have places and tasks which keep us happy and feeling good. Have a nice day, hugs, Valerie

My name is Erika. said...

I don't think there are too may words. I love how you placed them in the yellow strips, which looks like yellow stripes with words on them, not just words. I really like your page a lot.

sheila 77 said...

This is a lovely contented blogpost and I really enjoyed reading it.
I think the cat looks fine right at the top, and I'm sure Bleubeard and Squiggles approve (except for the bit about not being allowed in your craft room).

dawn said...

Love everything about this! How nice that you give each cat this special time each day. Our cat doesn't like that much attention but Lucky sure does.

Dreaming of Vintage said...

Super cool page! Love the cat quote, so true!

johanna said...

sometimes it just Needs words, and obviously this was one of These layouts. of course your cats Play a big role in your comfort time.

Serenata said...

Great page, I love the colours you used as well as the words - all great thoughts to sum up a lovely comfort zone... and place to just be yourself.