Authentic August

Announcement (25.7.17)

A week today is the 1st day of August - not a favourite month...

I am NOT a Summer person - the heat, the sun, the flies, the wasps - I spent my childhood sunburnt (I have very pale skin) and bitten 😓

So I decided to get myself through this long, often sticky-icky, month writing small stones and I've set up a Facebook group where we can share, if you want to join me. (I did a similar thing in June last year and we had a page for June Joy 😊 )

I'll also be using Jen Morris' daily one-word prompts for extra inspiration - I find they get the creative juices flowing both verbally amd visually.

Focussing on the small things each day, writing a few lines about them (poetically or prosaically), and decorating a page or three in a journal, helps me get through a hard patch.

I'll be using this beautiful journal bought last year from here  - just because I like pretty journals, but it's certainly not a prerequisite... There are none!

I do hope you'll join me, and if you want to share leave a comment on a post here or over on the Facebook page. There are no right or wrong ways to do any of this, so feel free to play and experiment, and help me get through an often-blah month authentically 💙💚💛💜

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31 July

Tomorrow is 1 August, and we start 31 days of writing, poetry, art-making - marking the 'small' things each day...

Won't you join us?

Learn more here.

I'm using this journal for the journey 😊

... and I've already started preparing

and on the back I've written

The inside cover...

And I've included the 3 lovely Love Notes I received from Germany:

All ready to start tomorrow Tuesday 1 August, Lammas Day, Feast of the First Fruits - won't you join me? I'll be posting here and on our Facebook page each day. I'll aim to post roughly at this time, but you know, Life does get in the way sometimes...

And I've added a new page (under blog banner) where all the posts will be gathered together.
Can't wait to get started, I'm excited! 💓
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1 August

Before I begin, I want to wish you a Happy Lammas Day! I found a page from an old We'Moon diary, and lots of stickers for the First Fruits 😊 We may not plough the land, but I'm sure we've seen much grow since 2017 began... This is a day to be mindful of that, and give thanks when we can.

Using Jen Morris' one-word prompts most days for inspiration

... here are today's pages:

Not a word I like, and I try and avoid it where possible! I've written my feelings about the word, and this Victorian-age photo captures my sentiments perfectly! I grew up in a world of 'Shoulds', which I no longer wish to inhabit.

A word no longer in my vocabulary. 

It belongs to a more archaic time.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the word S H O U L D, so feel free to share (either below in the comments or here).

Also, I've added a new page (the link is under the blog banner) where all these Authentic August posts are being gathered.

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2 August

No surprises what's on my desk today - my Authentic August journal 

with today's creation - following Jen Morris' one-word journal prompts from here:

Today's word WHISPER

and on the back of the cards tucked in the pages...

on the left, my small stone for today:

Shhh, can you hear it?

The whisper in the trees, 

among the tall grasses, 

down in the hidden burrows.

Shhh, can you hear it?

The whisper of Life,

of breath, of the Divine.

and on the right a favourite quote I typed out and stuck down:

Every blade of grass has its angel

that bends over it and whispers,

'grow' - The Talmud

It's not too late to join in the fun - just go here  or here if on Facebook 😊 You can see yesterday's post here.

Sharing with other WOYWWers here at Julia's.

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3 August

From Jen Morris' list of prompts:

Today's word is WORK:

...and my thoughts:

Meaningful work creates meaning** and purpose.

Money is not always involved.

But 'good' work is fulfilling and satisfying.

It is a blessing.

- which is tomorrow's word 😊

On the back of the Work, Rest, Play tag, I've written Ora et Labora (Latin for 'Prayer and Work') from the Rule of St Benedict, who wanted the monks in his monasteries to have both spiritual and physical exercise.

And I've included a photo from a magazine article about a potter. I've always thought ceramicists are multi-talented (confirmed by watching this (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08d6897) - the designing, the physical making, the decorating/glazing, the multiple firings - when all that work (time and energy spent) can be shattered in an instant (literally!). Potters have to trust their work to the unknown every day, and even a well-seasoned potter has no exact idea what will emerge from the kiln...

I'd love to know your thoughts on WORK, so share in the comments below or on Facebook here.

** Typing this up, I realize I thought I'd written 'value and purpose'... My addled brain does this - I'm thinking one thing, and my hand's merrily scribbling something else...

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4 August

Before I show today's journal prompt, I wanted to share this...

Since mid-June, when I acquired these cards and journal (I got mine secondhand, but unused, from an Amazon seller), I've drawn a card a day. I love the simple graphics and the earthy colour palette, and today's seems very appropriate: drop expectation and trust the flow of inspiration 😊 
But also, it was only yesterday, that I really noticed the back of the cards...

And just how perfect the words are for what we're doing in Authentic August - we really are celebrating the art of journalling for our souls!

Which all leads very nicely on to today's word 

I don't know if you can read my acrostic as it's written in gold ink. It reads:

Begin

Living

Every

Sacred

Second

In

Never-ending

Gratitude

And on the back of the fern postcard on the right, I've adapted a Celtic blessing by Fiona Macleod:

A Blessing

Deep peace, a white dove to you

Deep peace, a green leaf to you

Deep peace, a quiet rain to you

Deep peace of the running wave to you

Deep peace of the flowing air to you

Deep peace of the sleeping stones to you

Deep peace of the flock of stars to you

Deep peace from the Son of Peace to you

Deep peace from the heart of Mary to you

Deep peace, deep peace!

To be a blessing, to give a blessing, is to be blessed in return - that's how it works... Like love really - to be loved, we need to love, it makes us more lovable, I think 😍

What do you think?

Do you bless others (other than when they sneeze 👃) - either out loud or in the silence of your heart? I'm sure it doesn't matter which...
Share any thoughts in the comments below or here. Anyone can join in - one day, several days, any day - it's all good 💖

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5 August

Today's word is RAIN (very appropriate as heavy showers forecast on and off today in my part of the world).

Instead of using my own words, I clipped a page from an old We'moon diary:

To Become the Rain

Now, now we must become the rain,

letting our bodies sink into

the parched earth, filling

every crevice with listening

so great that flowers

bloom where are bodies lie.

Look up at the sky and shout

prayers of thanksgiving

that cause

the heavens to join in,

raining down sweet mercy.

There is no choice anymore

but to lie still and sink in.

We must moisten the ground

of each other

with our own sweet essence,

showing the rains,

by our example,

what it is to flow down,

gathering strength and unity.

What is it to love one another?

It is to belly down and

become the rain.

That way

the Earth may remember

and so share her own heart

which beats in-sync with

our own.

~ Sulis Sarasvati 2011 ~

I thought it tied in rather well with yesterday's word, Blessing 😊

I love that it so happened there's a see-through page here in the journal I'm using, as you can the image on the next page, as through frosted glass...

It's just clipped from a magazine (no idea which), and the tape across the top reads 'cheer up'. A lot of people don't like the rain - and it IS annoying when one's organized an outdoor event, and it pours down - but having lived in Kenya and California, I can honestly say, rain IS a blessing - those parched lands cry out for it!

Your thoughts? Comment below or here in the FB group where wonderful interactions are happening... Blessings are indeed raining down! 💦Do feel free to join any time!
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6 August

Today's word is Follow

The rosette on the left-hand page was already there on the page, and the wee pocket below, in which I've stuffed word tickets by Tim Holtz, I think.

Ah, do we follow our hearts? our feelings? our bliss? or do we follow other directions - the challenging way, the hard way, the slow way... as in the image on the right?

Or do we not follow at all, and prefer to carve our own way through the undergrowth, off the beaten path?

Lots to ponder...

Do share any thoughts in the comments below or here.

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7 August

Today's word is COINCIDENCE

I confess I didn't know what to do for this one, so I rummaged around my drawers of paper ephemera, and lo and behold, these two images were together...

A page from an old PapayaArt diary and a page from a magazine (Country Living, maybe?), and there was my coincidence!

Don't you love it when that happens??

Do share any coincidences (recent or otherwise) in the comments below, or over here.

PS I'll be posting later in the day tomorrow, as I have hydrotherapy in the morning 💦💦

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8 August

As the rain pours down (according to the BBC forecast, we won't see the sun again till Thursday ☂), I'm in a reflective mood, so bear with me...

I'll start by sharing my moonboard (the moon is the ultimate reflector, after all), which I made yesterday evening under an already heavily clouded sky. The photos aren't the best because of the low light:

There's a definite light/dark theme (because it's eclipse season, I think). I 'choose' these images randomly and 'see' how they 'fit' on a page... I'm always a little amazed by what transpires.

Left-hand page

No words, as such, other than the date and the moon. The postcards are all from my stash - I think the fairy (upper left) is an Amy Brown, and the bottles (lower right) a Cathy Cullis.

Right-hand page

The words in the clouds, I've used before, but I do love them 💗

I boldly take up the shadows,

wear them,

like midnight silk,

honour them,

for their part in me.

Nell Aurelia (2013)

And then a We'moon page from an old diary titled Between Us:

Medicine Wheel

Stepping slowly around the Wheel,

how I love each Self there, my other Me,

each Sister on the other side,

played out each day in my one soul.

We reach for each other, Sisters all,

me and me, and me and me,

and make one whole.

excerpt Annelinde Metzner (2012)

PS I've added a new page 'Moonboards' (under the blog banner). Here I tell how I got into moonboarding four year ago...

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Each day I get daily nourishment from here. Here's today's:

Anyone can live like a monk in their daily life, even if they are far from a monastery, are married, or have children.  Being a monk in the world means cultivating a commitment to slowness, spaciousness, and attentiveness to the sacred dimension of each object and activity.

And somewhat coincidentally, today's word is Daydream...

I confess I'm not exactly a daydreamer - and I rarely remember night-dreams... I'm not much of a dreamer at all really! So I've relied on the words of others from magazine adverts and random stickers, both on the pages and on the back of the pocket-card:

I do admit I would love to look like this Toast model... I'm captivated by her steady, strong gaze - there's something Mona Lisa-like about her...

What do you think?

Are you a daydreamer? Do you remember night-dreams?

Are you a reflector, like the moon?

Are you a monk committed 'to slowness, spaciousness, and attentiveness'?

Share in the comments below or over here in our Facebook group. You can join in any time - if a prompt speaks to you, respond. We'd love to know your thoughts 😊

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9 August

More Authentic August art journalling...

The word today from this list

is FULL, and I've certainly overloaded these pages!! And written on the back of the various tags and cards

If you can't quite read the list on the right, it reads:

Art-full

Beauty-full

Grace-full

Grate-full

Hope-full

Insight-full

Joy-full

Peace-full

Play-full

Thank-full

Thought-full

Youth-full

I do like playing with words 😃

You can still join our merry band on Facebook here - do one day, several days, any day, it's all good! And here's all my posts so far...

Sharing with lovely Ms Julia.

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10 August

Today's word is CREATIVE

The main image is from an old Toast catalogue.- making paper bunting 👋

And on the next pages

I've added stickers on the photograph to look like more pictures on the wall, and on and in the wee booklet tucked in the pocket...

Feel free to click on the images to enlarge.

Caring

Remembering

Encouraging

Accepting

Trusting

Inviting

Valuing

Empathizing

- all are creative acts as well as the more obvious

 drawing, dancing, writing, painting, sculpting

There are LOTS of ways to be creative!

Do drop and see us on Facebook, we're having a grand ole time being creative 🐾🐾

PS I've just noticed the words of my acrostic and following words form the shape of a vase on a shelf... creative wonders all around 💖

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11 August

Today's word is OPTIMISM

These images are of a friend's garden - she enclosed lots of photos in her last letter (she lives on Rhode Island).

I've written:

Any who garden must have a ready supply of optimism to believe that what they plant will grow and flourish 
so they may savour the eventual harvest.

A short and sweet post today as I grab what internet connection there is...

As always, pop any thoughts in the comments or visit our gathering here. 

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12 August

Today is the Glorious Twelfth (I grew up surrounded by shooting families in rural Lincolnshire, and as kids, we'd work as beaters - any excuse to spend a day outside with friends, and earn some pocket money!) It's also a dear friend's birthday, and this year, just happens to be the local WI garden party AND the start of the new Premier League season - a VERY busy day!

But our focus is today's word, both noun and verb, REBEL and I just had to take a certain theme over a number of pages...

I've had these facsimiles of suffragette memorabilia for a couple of years, just waiting for this project 😄

I just LOVE the crying baby postcard bewailing 'Mummy's a Suffragette! My first encounter with the word was Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins - how I loved that film growing up (and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)!

I know, if I'd be alive then, I would have joined the marches, the processions, but I wouldn't have joined in the violence - breaking windows, setting properties on fire...

I had to add this sticker - it seemed perfectly to sum up how this was a ordinary, everyday movement, in which women realized they could do extraordinary things (despite the very real threat of prison, whether they embarked on criminal activity or not).

And still the fight goes on in many parts of the world...

Do share any thoughts in the comments below or here, and I promise I will give politics a wide berth in future posts...

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13 August

Today's word is WILLING

On the left, is a poem cut from an old We'moon diary by Susa Silvermarie (2010):

Chrysalis

The mountain stands us still

and blows us a thick cover of stars.

What are we ready for

is not    what we expected.

We learn to see sideways

We grow antennae.

The crystal night enfolds us.

While we are rapt in stillness

our DNA changes.

We go to our heart's mountain

to stand still within change.

We spin     everywhere

a vast change.

And I've written a small stone on the right:

I am willing to grow,

change, be different,

flourish, become. A Nother,

my Self, is ready and

willing to show herself.

And yes, I am willing to

die, for death is but

change, a new way of

BEING.

I'd love to know your thoughts... What are you willing into being...? Are you willing - to be, to change, to grow...?
Share in the comments below, or here in the Facebook group - you can join any time 😊

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14 August

Today's word is a favourite, delicate...

On the left, a delicate-faced Toast model and on the right, words I think of when I ponder 'delcate'. And on the back, I've written some quite difficult thoughts...

These words rushed out... unedited... It's hard to share, but I need to...

Sometimes these word-prompts just unlock things long held in. Delicate thing, fragile things, things hard to pin down in words...

Share any 'delicate' thoughts... they're safe here, and here, in our lovely group.

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15 August

Today's word is night (apologies for the blurry photos - my trusty camera is not at its best in low light)

Once again a see-through page is well-met - you can just see the smoking candle through its opaqueness... it's as if the young girl has just blown it out at her bedside, as she snuggles down to sleep and dream... of owls silently hunting, and hungry fox-cubs...

On the tab that hold the card, I've put a sticker that reads 'bedtime'.

And on the back of the postcard, my random thoughts on 'Night'

What are your night throughts?

Were you afraid of the dark as a child? Now, as an adult?

Do share in the comments below, or in our lovely group.

Here's the picture on the other side of the frosted page, and a 'dream' ticket 😊

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16 August

On my desk - still more Authentic August journalling, and we're now just past the halfway point of 31 daily prompts 👏 Today's word, remember, is very powerful... 

I'm letting the pictures do the talking, and a few stickers - 'dearest', a small, but powerfully evocative, word on the shoulder of the wistful older woman on the left - I imagine her carrying the ghost of a loved one on that shoulder...

And in contrast, lots of jolly friendship words scattered around these 'best of friends' on the right. I don't know about you, but I imagine these too are a real pair... their willful high-jinx barely suppressed as they pose for their formal school portrait 😉

Do share any remembered thoughts below in the comments or in our ever-welcoming group.

Also sharing with Julia here.

PS My internet connection has been very patchy for the past week, so I may 😊, or may not 😞, get to visit many desks...

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17 August

This week is getting more and more busy, so this is a very short post on a, I confess, not particularly inspiring word, splash. (Although, given I woke to the magical sound of rain splashing down on the conservatory roof this morning, it does have a tad more resonance than when I made the pages last night...)

The watery image on the left is from an old We'moon diary - it's called 'Butterfly Woman', and it's by Melanie Gendron. 

The colourful image on the right is clipped from an old World of Interiors magazine, and I've simply added 'raining down... splash of colour'.

Maybe 'splash' inspires you more, do share in the comments below or here.

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18 August

Today, I feel only immense sadness...

While I was creating this spread yesterday, I was blissfully unaware of the horrors unfolding in Barcelona.

The world is small, the ripples of hate immense... I must believe the power of love and healing is larger, stronger. I must. I must.

Today's word is another tricky one to interpret, I think...

... in the end, I went with the sense of 'boundless' - the world seemed immense (immeasurable), with boundless seas, when this old map was first drawn.

And in the wee envelope on the right?

I couldn't resist this image of the 'immense' Alice, when she's eaten the cake 😊

I'm curious to hear how you'd interpret today's word... Share in the comments below, or in our Facebook group.

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19 August

As my deep, energy-sapping sadness continues, at least today's word-prompt is one with which I find it easy to engage - TRUE

On the left, a postcard of the Hermit tarot card, under which I've written 'my true nature', and added a sticker reading 'be true to yourself'. I am an INFP personality type - Introvert, iNtuitive, Feeling and Perceiving, but I've spent most of my life 'extroverted' as that's how the 'world' expects one to behave...

The quote clipped from a magazine and placed across the right-hand page, is most poignant given the recent terror attacks in Spain:

True pleasure consists in serenity of mind and the absence of fear.

Erich Fromm

And I found this quote online when I googled him:

The psychic task which a person can and must set for himself is not to feel secure, 

but to be able to tolerate insecurity.

Definitely not an easy task, but a necessary and true one, I think. 

And a second spread. I can't remember from where these words are clipped, but I consider them to be 'true':

live boldly, laugh loudly, love truly,

play as often as you can. 

work as smart as you are able.

share your heart as deeply as you can reach.

as you awaken

may your dreams

greet you by name and

may you answer, 'yes.'

as you walk

may all your angels

gather at your shoulders and

may you confidently know

they stand with you.

as you rest

may all your endeavours

know contentment and peace.

And these two cuties peeping out on the right? Why they are a true piece of someone's history... from December 1912, no less - a Christmas photo-card, would you believe, sent to Mademoiselle Blaise Jeanne(?) of her cousins, Antoinette and Bertha

It was among a stash of vintage postcards I bought years ago at an antique market in Newark.

TRUE - a powerful word that stirs the soul... 

feel free to share any 'true' thoughts/observations in the comments below, or join us here - you'd be most welcome 💖

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20 August

Today's word left me floundering a bit for inspiration:

As I've written on the left:

really struggled with this prompt... as someone who can barely stand, let alone jump, what could I do or say??!

Till I realized another form of Jump... As someone who has always been scared of spiders, coming across one is guaranteed to make me jump emotionally, if not physically!

Needless to say, as a non-liker of our 8-legged 'friends', I have no images of them, but I did find this postcard in my stash...

Honest words penned directly on the page.

What makes you Jump... for joy? in fright?

Do share below in the comments or here in the group.

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21 August

And today we return to a more promising word-prompt - WORLD - and I think you can see many of the themes of the moonboard repeated here:

A beautiful rural misty morning image clipped from a magazine (this image immediately makes me feel calmer... it's so soothing), and tucked in the pretty pocket on the right?

A vintage postcard of John Constable's watercolour 'Weymouth Bay', a dear friend sent me recently 😊

And over the page, another spread...

A lovely woodcut clipped from a magazine of a richly abundant cottage garden, and opposite another wee pocket on which I've stuck a cute photo of a fabric house; and tucked in it...

... this card on which I've stuck this lovely sketch of a working-class street (I imagine it's somewhere in Yorkshire, a favourite part of the world!). And on the back...some impromptu thoughts on the world.

It's a big, rich prompt today, what stirs in you when you see the word WORLD? Share below in the comments or here.
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22 August

And today's word is another biggie, THINK

A favourite Papaya Art image clipped from an old diary on the right on which I've stuck a wee sticker reading 'think', and tucked in the pocket opposite - a truly FAVOURITE Papaya postcard - I love everything about this image - the colours, the style, the words, the sentiments... everything!!

And over the page, another spread... I think a lot about thinking!

I stuck a wee mailing sticker on the little tab which reads To' both/and from either/or', and on the back of the card tucked in the tab (on which I'd stuck pretty, old-fashioned stickers), some random thoughts jotted down unedited:

The world has always been a scary place, I suppose.

After the recent terror attacks in Spain, will they never stop?

My childhood was punctured by IRA attacks, now this...

The hatred of some is blighting the lives and loves of so many 

- it has always been so, I fear.

The stack of grey opposite is to remind me there are no black and white truths 
- they are always shades of grey...

Paradox rules, not certainty. 

We must hold the tension of 'both/and' in all our thinking.

'Either/or' only leads to violence and bloodshed.

Do share any thoughts in the comments below, or here - our lovely thought-full group 💝

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23 August

I'm still working through my Authentic August word-prompts. Today's is STEAL - a curious prompt to interpret, I think

I was especially drawn to the image on the right - where a 'collector' has removed a fairy's wing with his scalpel and 'captured' her in his book...

Underneath I've written:

On the pocket on the left-hand page, I've placed a sticker reading 'The best things in life aren't things', and on the reverse of the pretty wee house tag:

I've written 'worry or fret' under the DO NOT sign - totally ignoring the instruction not to write in this space (heehee!)

I confess I'm rather proud of my daily art-journalling throughout August (only just over a week to go) - all the posts are gathered here and you can see what the others have been doing in the group here - just ask to join, all are welcome 👯 👷👳

Sharing with dear Julia here.

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24 August

Ah, today's word is one I probably use several times a day - every day! There is so much beauty around us, if we open all our senses...

Needless to say, I made several spreads on this word ❤

The rosette on the left was already on the page, so I chose an image from an old Toast catalogue with similar colours and added stickers reading beautiful soul and there is no charm equal to tenderness of heart - Jane Austen.

On the right a large flap reading imperfections are beautiful, and I added a wee card reading 

No one truly has joy unless he lives in love.

St Thomas Aquinas

and tucked in another wee card with a lovely landscape image, and wrote on the back:

And then promptly made another spread!

Indeed, true beauty comes from within, and I found these words to stick under this vintage Beauty:

Words that pretty much sum up my view of what constitutes a beautiful soul 💖

Oh, I did have fun with this word!

Share any beautiful thoughts below, or in the group here.

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25 August

Today's word is pretty huge in its scope - HAPPINESS - it's kept philosophers occupied for centuries! I take a much simpler approach 😊

It's 

Doing what you love with people you love... on the left, or alone, as I've written on the beautiful Vilhelm Hammershoi image (a favourite artist!) on the right.

And on the jolly printed card, I've stuck a funky bird and the words, Be Uniquely You!

And over the page...?

Another opaque page, through which you can just make out this vintage family photo, which is stuck on the back of the card overleaf.

The irony is, today I'm not feeling particularly happy... This afternoon I attend a dear friend's father's funeral. Pa and Ma were like second parents when I was growing up, but Pa's heart finally gave out a couple of weeks, aged 90.

There will be LOTS of tears I know, but hopefully some happy memories shared today...

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26 August

Today's word is one I find most poignant. A a child, I remember 'waiting' for my 'real' life to start... I was so convinced my 'real' parents would show up and claim me, as I simply didn't fit into the life I seemed to be living. 

Then as an adult, I waited and waited each month for 7 years to become a mother myself. I've been pregnant 6 times, and four times, a baby was lost... Quite unconsciously, this has become the theme of today's spreads.

Our first daughter, Connie, died in utero at 30 weeks. She would have been 24 a couple of days ago on the 24th... The pain never leaves (there's a rip in my heart that has healed, but it's still there...), and I guess this word-prompt tapped into the waiting all those years ago.

These images make me gasp with their beauty - a Toast model on the left (those eyes, wow!) and that gorgeous vintage card...

Do share any thoughts/insights on 'Wait', or join us here.

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27 August

Today's word is fun - especially for a hoarder like me! I have way too many 'collections' 😏

And it just so happens, these pages contain extra flaps and tabs - adding to the general busyness of a collection of images 😊

Not many words, as it's ALL about the THINGS!

But behind the ship in a bottle (something I've always wanted, by the way 💗),there's a pocket and a tab...

... on which I've stuck these stickers 😃 You see, I KNEW my collections of stickers would come in useful one day!!

Do you collect anything - paperweights? silver spoons? gnomes? Or are you a disciplined minimalist? Do share in the comments below, or here in the group - you can join at any time!

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28 August

Today's word is closely related to yesterday's - KEEP

I've kept the postcard on the left for probably 15 years... And Nellie still writes at the address on the back - most impressive! I've jotted down some words that come to mind when I think of 'keep'.

It's such an evocative word, I had to make more than one spread...

The lace edging, the words at the top and the beautiful Edwardian(?) lady were there already. I've done the stamping and stuck in the cosy pic opposite (again from Toast).

I used another sense of 'keep' on the card tucked in the pocket; and I love this image of a battered journal - a real keeper of thoughts!!

I don't know if you can see, but I've written 'Memory Keeper' on the photo on the left, and I had to keep this adorable vintage postcard 💟

Yep, I do like to KEEP treasures and random thoughts, in case you'd hadn't guessed 😊

Are you a 'keeper'? Share below in the comments or over in the group.

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29 August

I confess, I really like today's word. I've probably done a few DARING things in my life - committing to a year's work in Kenya, for one, when my only experience of being abroad was a weekend in France for my 21st birthday! And coming from a small village in Lincolnshire to marry an American - well, that was really rather daring 😏

Some daring vintage photos stuck on pages that were pretty much already decorated.

And then thoughts of how daring it must have been to traverse the oceans aboard the Mayflower, and this wonderful poem clipped from an old We'moon diary:

Sonnet for the Girl Gods

They said girls couldn't,

but I longed to be a god.

I grew into my power,

and became Her.

Smart with heart, girl gods

don't make war.

Still, it hurts,

watching the world fade -

I'm glad I'm god since

I'll have to make another. 

Being girl enough

for the work

takes every bit of me.

Still, a god's got to do it.

Susa Silvermarie (2013)

And on the right-hand page, some stickers 'Dare to be different' and 'Courage', and an old postcard with these words of Mother Teresa's:

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

Do share any daring adventures you've been on, either in the comments below, or in the group.

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30 August

On my desk today, is my penultimate Authentic August journal spread - I'm terribly proud to have stuck at it for the whole month! And my wee journal is struggling to contain everything...
Today's word is a difficult one - ANGRY...

Words written on the back on the pretty, floral card, unedited...

A difficult word... There are so many angry people in the world, I'm not sure I want to be counted among them.

But injustices do make me angry - prejudice, misogyny, rascism...

The way we treat our fellow planet-dwellers by hunting them to extinction or by destroying their habitats.

The greed of the rich makes me angry - the ravaging of land or peoples for the sake of war or commerce makes my blood boil. 

Anger stops me being complacent!!

And I would add 'complicit', as I consider myself to be among 'the rich', living as I do in the West. So I endeavour to be a mindful consumer and, as much as possible, only buy from Fairtrade or local vendors.

I'm curious to know any 'angry' thoughts... It's an interesting exercise to ponder what makes one angry 💬 🎆

Sharing here with Julia and Co.

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31 August

Well, here we are - the LAST of the 31 daily word-prompts 🎇🎊🎆🎇🎉 and it couldn't be a more appropriate word... r-e-l-i-e-f... It has been quite a marathon!

And we have another frosted page... I do feel like my poor wee brain's a tad foggy after a whole month of art-journalling and blogging!

Truly, I am ready for some peace and rest...

But I did try and create a couple of spreads to show differing meanings of relief... A cup of tea is always a welcome reliever to a weary soul...
And an ancient carving and some handmade paper show the other meaning of 'relief' as in a 'raised' surface or texture.

And now my journal is almost full to bursting! As is my heart...

Thank you SO much for all who have journeyed with me throughout this month. And especial thanks to all those in the Facebook group who have shared their wonderfully inspired interpretations of Jen Morris' word-prompts!

And now, I'm sure you'll not be surprised to hear, I'm taking a REAL break from the internet, as our wee nest empties once again, and the home which has swelled with love to accommodate the children, and their various friends, throughout the Summer, contracts once again to just hubby, and me, and Molly-cat 🐱
I'll be back very soon, but for now, BIG hugs and