Today I'm once again joining Eileen aka The Artful Crafter our host this month at Art Journal Journey. Her theme is Dreams and/or Wishes.
Don't ask how this saying entered my mind. Apparently, I didn't even get it right.
"If wishes were fishes" we'd all swim in riches. However, the real saying 
is actually a variant of a nursery rhyme from Scotland:If wishes were horses then beggars would ride,
If turnips were swords I’d have one by my side.
If ‘ifs’ and ‘ands’ were pots and pans
There would be no need for tinker’s hands!
After doing a little digging on the internet, apparently the phrase "if wishes were fishes" is used to express the impossibility to make a wish come true. 
My carp (top) and perch (below) don't seem to know that, though. 
They swim mindlessly happy 
without a care in the world. 
For this page, I started with 110 lb card stock to which I added titan green and teal fluid acrylic paints. Once dry, I stamped the two fish, both from River City Rubber (now a defunct red rubber stamp company that originated in Wichita, KS) and leaves from a Dollar store flower (all stamps are red rubber and wood mounted) that I thought looked like ocean flora. Finally, I sewed the computer generated words to the page using variegated thread.Thanks so much for joining Bleubeard and me today. I hope you will also join us at Art Journal Journey with your own take on dreams and/or wishes.
Dollar Exchange Rate
25 thoughtful remarks:
I love your variant of the original Elizabeth, if wishes were fishes.. i'd swim free without a care in the world. Like a bird flying high.
Super journal page, those stamps are divine and highly detailed, red rubber always gives fab results.
No need to apologise to me for late visits, i'm all over the place at the moment. Just catching an hour of online time before I head out again.
Take good care of yourself Tracey xx
Great page Elizabeth. I love the colours and the concept. Love the fish stamps too!
This is amazing. I love all about this page Elizabeth!Perfect!
Happy day!
Susi xxx
Beautiful page and quote, great fun. Have a nice day, Valerie
Oh... if wishes were fishes my Hubby sure would be very disappointed, LOL.
In Carnarvon, Western Australia, he bought fishing gear and stood on the jetty for days, over hours. Once he got a Blowfish, people had to help him drag in back into the sea as it´s poisonous.
We were there more than three weeks, on the jetty every day and only once he got a mackerel.
Ewww, with me, and I didn´t like it, poor man!
I like your rhyme - but wishes should come true once in a while...
Being without a care in the world is the best wish to come true!
Beautiful work, I like the sign with the fishing like best!
Your artwork is fun and reminds me of when I was a kid with a goldfish that lasted about 2 weeks, and that I need to be eating lots more of it for health reasons.(lol) Hope you're doing well! Hugs, RO
I get it. There used to be so many fish in the lakes, rivers, oceans, etc. that if you had that many wishes (to be rich I guess)...you get it too. Love the fishy page, but then I like fish. This is a fun take on the Eileen's challenge. Very clever too my friend. Happy Wednesday. Hope life is going well this week.
Very artistic and very, very pretty! The colors meld beautifully, the composition is on point, and the elements do not overwhelm the pretty background. You could easily have put more things, plants and fish, but you knew when it was just right. The quote is perfect, again not overwhelming but just enough. I’m envious your machine can do that. I’m still in the 60s with my mechanical machine. Lol.
awesome interpretation of the theme and love the fish-
The fish stamp is great and I love the blend of the background. Such a nice flow between each one. Love this page, Elizabeth!
Woww I adoooore this Art journal page Elizabeth !! It´s really Amazing, love the fishes, love the colours, and most of all, looove the quote!!
Fantastic !!
I wish you a very nice day, and send biiig hugs,
Caty
I've never heard the expression "if wishes were fishes" but I do love your fishes :) The colors! :)
The fishes are very cool, I like them.
What a fun post. I enjoyed both the piece and the fish wishes:)
just sayin... but thiz post getz R vote for fave oh rite oh de yeer ~~~
with wavez two ewe bleu N squiggles !! ☺☺♥♥
A fabulous page and the colours you used give a lovely sence of gently moving water. How interesting to read the original rhyme, although as you say, those fish don't seem to care.
Avril xx
OMGosh, Elizabeth, you did a wonderful job on this page. I was actually toying with using the "If wishes were horses ..." verse this month; because our mother used to say it often. I always thought "huh?" because it made no sense to me.
I like your "If wishes were fishes" better. But what's the tag line? "Then no one would starve" perhaps.
Verses aside, the page is great on its own with the gorgeous fish stamps and the gradations of blue for the water.
Thank you for sharing it with us at Art Journal Journey. Eileen xx
I can imagine the water with the fish swimming, wonderful colours and lovely fish images. You chose a super quote to go with the page, that verse was often spoken in my grans when we were young.
Yvonne xx
I never heard that saying so I was fine with the wishes and fishes--LOL!
I like that Scottish poem and how you placed it with fishes. Your colour wash is nicely done and love those fishes swimming about
A fabulous page and it seems my Gran got it wrong too - She used to say 'If wishes were fishes we'd all have riches' Maybe it depends on where you live!! Chrisx
I didn't know the nursery rhyme, enjoyed reading it.
I do like your fishes.
All the best Jan
Such a fabulous page! I love the words and you fish look wonderful in their watery scene - perfect 😁. I hope you've had a wonderful week! Happy and creative wishes! Hugs, Jo x
If wishes were fishes - the sewed words with the hanging yarn are the real eyecatcher of this page! But I like the background too and the stamped fishes as well. I enjoyed reading the nursery rhyme from Scotland, you made a wonderful variant of this! Your carp and perch swim mindlessly happy :)
I love your fishy page Elizabeth! That phrase was a great idea too :-)
Have a wonderful week,
Alison x
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