Much of a muchness

Every so often I make a book that I’m really not sure works. I have had this stencilled Katazome-shi paper for ages. In fact it is one of the first papers I ever bought from Falkiners. It has such a retro ‘feel’ and very strong colours and I have never been able to find anything that complemented it. I bought this marbled paper from Falkiners last week. It is a from a range of hand marbled papers by Ann Muir. The colours are almost exactly the same as the colours in the Japanese cover paper so I thought it would work but having made the book, I’m not so sure….

It ought to work, I usually choose the two papers by making sure that the inside paper has some of the colours from the cover paper and if it is a different pattern, that doesn’t usually matter as long as one is less ‘busy’ than the other. I think that’s the problem here. They are both too ‘busy’ and so it doesn’t quite work even though the colours are perfect and each paper is fabulous in it’s own right. Definitely a case where ‘less’ would have been ‘more’.

So far this year, I have won a competition over at Go! Smell the Flowers. The prize was a year’s supply of flowers from Flora 2000 – an incredibly generous prize and my first lot should arrive on Monday. Yesterday I heard from Suburose that I had won her crafty giveaway this week! How thrilling! Every week, at her blog Subu, Inc, (which is a showcase for her beautiful recycled notebooks), she has a different giveaway, this week’s is described as follows

‘…comes from the wonderful and talented Margaret of MargaretsWorld. This is a one of a kind 6×7 collage on wood based on a drawing entitled: “In the Octopus’ Garden”

Margaret constructs her art from found, recycled or otherwise discarded things [which makes me love her even more!]. She uses sculpture as well as two-dimensional material, such as canvas or water color paper in a collage format. all items are one of a kind.

If you want to see more work by Margaret, please feel free to visit her etsy site or her personal website [which houses some amazing pieces].’

I also received a beautiful calendar from Kim at Laketrees this week. It showed gorgeous views of the area in Australia around where Kim lives. This was a prize in a sort of supplementary quiz in her terrific ‘Win a Portrait for Christmas’ competition which was won by Colin over at Life.

I think my luck is finally changing! Now I’m don’t really follow horoscopes (except when it says something nice!) I’m a Scorpio and when I read last week that my ruling planet, Pluto is finally moving out of something or other (where it has been since the mid 1990’s) into something or other else this week, so my life is about to change, I was rather pleased. (Until my son pointed out that technically Pluto isn’t classed as a planet anymore so I am being ruled by a big lump of rock – but that’s another story….)

I am convinced that 2008 is going to be a good year, I checked out Pluto and it has been downgraded – but only to a dwarf planet, according to NASA, so that’s good enough for me. I just re-read the horoscope and it actually sounds like it could go either way…this is Shelley von Strunkel in the Sunday Times:

“Keeping your nerve during this period of change isn’t easy. Much of your life, and your perspective on the future, is shifting. Some is by design, but just as much involves changes you neither anticipated nor initiated. Obviously, your instincts are telling you to scramble to save what’s worthwhile. But with your ruler, Pluto, moving into a new sign next week — for the first time since the mid-1990s — things can’t remain as they were. Because this influences others and circumstances as much as it does you, it’s a waiting game. Undertake this with a Zen-like calm and you’ll begin this new chapter in the best possible state of mind. “

Well, she was right about the unanticipated, uninitiated changes but the more I read this, the more ambiguous and scary it becomes. All I know is I must think positive and cultivate my Zen-like calm… :-)