Week 18 : DLP 2015

Information about the FREE Documented Life Project is HERE. We're into a new month and a new theme for this project : 

Got behind in finishing last week's challenge. 

I saw it, was enthusiastic, immediately inspired with an idea and did my gatherings

1. wrote words that make up my life onto coloured watercolour strips

2. fabric gatherings - cotton strips and sari ribbons

3. spritzing of dylusions sprays into the journal - being careful to leave some white space...then somehow I didn't make make time to work on this for the rest of the week! You know how life sometimes just overturns your best of intentions - plus I HAD to make that skirt  - and that's part of the fabric of my life ;-)

I love this piece of sari ribbon - frayed, torn, but glowing with colour and still beautiful despite the imperfections. It was the first thing I attached to my page. I put my journal page under the machine - tricky but okay on the edge. I zigzagged the divisions for my days. On the back it looks like this :

Turns out that this week's challenge is "stitch" so when I turn the page this will be a good start!
My original intention was that the fabric of my life is interwoven with a number of different elements so I was going to literally weave the strips of watercolour paper words and the fabric before placing them on the page. However, before I got to that stage, my Dad got sick and ended up in hospital - it was a stressful couple of days but he is back at home and comfortable again. It reminded me (although I don't really need reminding) that in the fabric of my life, family is at the centre. So my page evolved like this

The photo is glued in the middle of my spread, and I'm trying out strips of fabric and some of the torn words. It's okay but fairly busy. To attach the fabric to the page I iron on strips of fusible webbing. 

It is fabric glue, and when I tear away the backing I can then iron the fabric directly to the page. In the end, I kept the page quite simple.

I am proud that I left white space (I never seem to be able to manage that!). And I didn't need to add words, because when I look at this finished spread I see colour, my family, imperfection, beauty, darkness and light, love and stitch, and I am full of gratitude for what makes up the fabric of my life, and joy that I have created another spread in my journal.
Click on the photo to enjoy it larger or see it in the Flickr album I've created for all my Documented Life 2015 spreads HERE. You can see all my posts about this project HERE.