1, 2 Buckle My Shoe

Since Annie (at A Stitch in Time) and Friday Smiles is on hiatus until the first of the year, I'm once again joining Yvonne, aka Meggymay, our host this month at Art Journal Journey.  She wants us to use Words and Numbers in our art.
 
This is a counting song dating back to late 18th century.  It originated in the United States, but according to All Nursery Rhymes it was first heard:

around 1780 somewhere around Wrentham, Massachusetts. However the first published version of this traditional nursery rhyme is found in London in a children songs book called “Songs for the Nursery” that appeared in 1805. A different version of the song appears in 1810 in Gammer Gurton’ Garland aka “Nursery Parnassus”.

The primary purpose of the original rhyme was to teach children how to count.   It is apparently used in many preschools and schools.  Instead of using the traditional rhyme (which I will share at the end of this post), I made up one of my own.

I actually started this journal page over a week ago, but when CJ suggested it on another blog post, I set it aside, thinking I might not have to use it.  I'm glad I didn't toss it.

1, 2, Buckle my shoe.

Close up of shoe with "hidden" buckle.

3, 4, close the door.

The door is closed.

5, 6, Pick up sticks.

Close up of the sticks and the one that fell apart when I pressed it to the page.

7, 8, Cannot be late.

Close up of the pocket watch.

For this page, I began by spritzing some of my handmade shimmering mists on the 110 lb card stock substrate.  Next, I printed the words and numbers using my laser printer.  I colored the words and numbers using water soluble crayons, except for the "late," which was a dye ink pad to which I added water after the dye ink didn't completely cover the words.

The shoe came from The Graphics Fairy, whose link is on my right sidebar.  I colored the flowers using metallic gel pens.  The door was found in a batch of paint chip samples and is postcard weight (heavier than card stock).

The sticks were a disaster.  Instead of hunting down my E6000, I tried to use red liner tape, that very sticky double sided tape that sticks like nothing else and is not removable once it's on the substrate.  As a result, one of the "sticks," which was actually bamboo, collapsed when I pressed it to the substrate and tape.  The other was a real stick from my back yard.

The pocket watch was stamped using some nearly dead black dye ink.  When it didn't show as I'd hoped, I stamped using pink dye ink.  I purposely didn't try to line up the two images.  I thought the first stamping would make a great shadow. 

The real rhyme has 20 numbers and lines, but I only copied the originals of the eight I used. 

One, two,

Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Knock at the door;
Five, six,
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight;

You can see how I took liberties on this page.  Thanks beyond belief for stopping by today. Your visits mean the world to me.  I hope to also see you at Art Journal Journey.