One day I'll fly away...

Hello everyone, Alison (butterfly) here with some journalling pages created in a small hardback book.  (Remember you can always click on a photo for a close-up.)

If you've come from my Words and Pictures sneak peek, you'll already know it's not a happy love story being told here.  If you're all loved up for Valentine's Day, you might want to skip it!  I might as well issue a long post warning too while I'm at it.  Cups of tea (or maybe shots of whisky) at the ready...

I've used stamps from the Birds of a Feather plate to express the need of this woman to break out of the relationship which is keeping her caged up.

All she wants is to be set free, to be allowed to fly high and alone.

There are little hearts all around the page, but if you look closely you'll see that many are actually slightly broken, cracked hearts (a touch of Crackle Accents over the Grunge Paste).

And although the cage is a beautiful one it's still a prison...

I started with some torn strips torn from the Tim Holtz Kraft Resist Paper Stash, stuck down with medium.

I started playing with the elements I wanted to include, the stamped and fussy cut bird and cage, and the little vintage photo.

Next I swept some paint over them, working from the spine outwards.  I used Grunge Paste to add the tiny hearts through a stencil, and finally added some splatters of Espresso Color Wash.

But I wanted some blue to add a melancholy feel - so I dabbled and spritzed Stormy Sky Distress Stain across the pages.

I added some extra stamping - the words from Katy Fox's Carte Postale set and some postmarks from the same set.

And having worked out the positions with the fussy cut versions, I now stamped the birds direct to the page using Sepia Archival ink.

I outlined some of the hearts with a PITT pen, and later added Crackle Accents to those ones.

Some Vintage Photo Distress Ink swiped over the whole page warms the tone of the papers again and highlights textures, including the little hearts.

I just had to use my new Spring Greenery die to add the ivy trailing across the pages - I hope it will be amongst Jennie's new CHA stock soon!  It's cut from Kraft Core in the 12 x 2.5 inch size - exactly right for cutting Decorative Strip Dies.

I sanded it and then inked over with Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo Distress Stains to give it the weathered look.

And I added one of the Idea-ology Compass Coins, dabbed with Stormy Sky... which way will she go once she is free?

Both she and the bird cage are layered over some torn book pages, edged with Distress Ink.

And the little bird has had a touch of penwork just to bring him into focus.

And the final touch was to add a couple of woodcut meadow grasses, inked with Stormy Sky Distress Stain... no more wandering in the meadows with her lover for this woman.

These mementos will now lie, forgotten, between the pages of a book.

So there are my pages for you - a walk on the darker side of love in the run-up to Valentine's Day.

What can I say?  Not everyone enjoys the 14th February...

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Come and play along with our February challenge - all you have to do is Use Distress.  But you don't have to be distressed to do it, and I wish those that celebrate it a very happy Valentine's Day!

The only whole heart is a broken one, because it lets the light in.
David J. Wolpe

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper stamps: Birds of a Feather, Carte Postale
Idea-ology Compass Coins
Idea-ology Kraft Resist Paper Stash
Core-dinations 12 x 2.5
Grunge Paste
DecoArt paint: Titanium White
Fresco paint: Stone
Distress Stains: Stormy Sky, Vintage Photo
Distress Inks: Gathered Twigs, Vintage Photo
Adirondack Color Wash Spray: Espresso
Archival Inks: Sepia, Coffee
Crackle Accents
PITT pens