A Retiform Journal Page: The Seven Ages of Man

This page was made for one of the June prompts over on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More: Repeat After Me / Retiform.  I had only come across this technique once before on Shaz Silverwolf's blog but had never tried it for myself.  As I needed to divide the page up into sections and wanted to turn it into an art journal page,  I went with the theme of the seven ages of man speech from the Shakespeare play As You Like It; I studied it at A Level and it has stuck with me.

WOYWW 458: A Change of Scenery

This week's WOYWW is a little different, as I am not sharing my usual desk. I wasn't crafting in my shed yesterday, but with a group of JJJAMA friends (Junk Journal Junkies and Mindful Art) at the Hobbycraft store in Stockport.  We meet up once a month on the third Tuesday of the month.
Julia will explain more about WOYWW if you visit The Stamping Ground, where she hosts our weekly virtual get together.

My desk shows some of the stash that I took with me to work in my Strathmore Visual Journal.  I decided to build up a background, but you'll have to visit again tomorrow to see where the finished piece ends up.  The ice cream / doughnut stickers were a gift from a fellow attendee, Kaz.  She creates the most amazing art with the bargains that she picks up in various places.

She was using her latest find, a box of 24 water soluble pastels from Hobbycraft (usual price £6, bought on sale for £3).  They appear to be aimed at children but are fantastic to work with.
Eva was not on the other side of the desk  as usual; she had to go to Cardiff for an examiners' meeting.  Instead, there were two lovely and very creative ladies making a guest appearance to my WOYWW post.

Lou Withers and Jane Telford

If you caught Barbara Gray's live show from the NEC on Hochanda last Saturday, you will recognise Lou and Jane.  Lou - JJJAMA leader - brings Royal Talens and Golden products to Hochanda and Jane is a member of the Claritystamp design team.  Lou was working on adding embroidery to an IndigoBlu printed fabric piece which she had already added colour to; Jane was working on some Folk Art pieces.
I had a fabulous time catching up with everyone.  (Paul did turn up later Neet and we had a good natter, but I forgot to take a picture as we were talking too much lol.) 
The best news came when I checked my phone before setting off home.  I had received a text to say that I have a second Great Niece, born the day before!

From Copying Designs to Creating my Own

Exact copy using Imagination Crafts Decoupage stamp set

Free stamp make

I must admit, looking back on photos of cards that I have made in the past, I can tell that I wasn't the confident card maker that I feel today.  I tended to slavishly attempt to recreate ideas that I had seen in magazines or online.  Nowadays, I may look to other people for inspiration, a jumping off point or to explore a new technique, but I always want to put my own twist on an idea.  To illustrate, I thought I'd share some cards from way back in the past; apologies if I no longer know the names of the original designers.  They are based on cards that I saw created in Craft Stamper more than two years ago.  Thanks for the inspiration, but I feel far more confident these days.  If anyone ever wants to use one of my designs for inspiration, you are more than welcome to.  I am happy to give back to that generous crafting community who have helped me so much over the years.

IndigoBlu Poppies

Larger version of original with a different sentiment; starting to get adventurous!

Thanks so much for your inspiration, ideas and talent.  I would never have got started without your examples to inspire me.