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Thursday, February 24, 2011

See Through and Stepping Stones

At last its time to show you the final two layouts from the Scrapbooking From the Inside Out Vulnerability Kit. It doesn't seem possible that I'm already nearly finished with the March layouts and its time to show you my final two.

I've saved these two for a reason - they are both done with transparent backgrounds. (and tremendously difficult to photograph in a way that conveys what they look like in real life!)

Love working with transparent materials, using them as backgrounds, layers, and features. It takes a bit more planning than my traditional layout style.

The first is about BEING transparent, abot how we hid behind our masks, how we hurt in private, hoping somebody will notice and take care of us, how we admire people who have been sculpted and tanned and whitened and airbrushed beyond recognition, how we hide our true feelings about ourselves and others always wondering "What will people think?"

Its an interesting concept to live transparently...I think in some way we are seeing both more and less of this, depending upon what circles you find yourself. I believe the biggest issue with transparency is that the choices of one person lived in transparency can deeply offend the sensibilities of another, and that offense causes rather unnecessarily violent responses. I think back to the political debate prior to the last election.

Rather than educations, the news, break rooms and blogsphere were filled with hate laced rhetoric...not a good petri dish for experiments in transparency.

Anyway, I strive to live a transparent life..the more I strive, the more I feel the masks I've come to wear over time, the things I hide behind, the things left unsaid because I fear what others might think of me:


This second one is about how moments of vulnerability can become the stepping stones to deeper relationships, greater understanding, making me a better person.


Would you like to explore Vulnerability in your own art or journaling?

Here are a few challenge prompts from SFTIO. Remember ANYONE can create and participate in the challenges. If you create a layout or art piece for one of these, make sure you head on over and post it in to the challenge gallery.

February Vulnerability Challenge #1:

Strength and Weakness: What have you thought of as a vulnerability that turned out to be a strength? Are there areas of your personality that you thought made you strong, but tuned out to be liabilities in certain situations? When others' vulnerabilities come to light, do they remind you of your own? Do you feel compassion and a kinship with someone who shares your weaknesses, or would you rather ignore that truth?

Two ways to go: pls create a LO about a weakness that turned out to be a strength, or a strength that turned out to be a weakness. Design twist? Use the crackle medium in an meaningful way...

February Vulnerability Challenge #2:

On the Edge: What feels precarious about your future? Does the transient nature of life frighten you, or are you at peace with it? Are there specific areas where you feel that instability more heavily - in your intimate relationships or your work? How do you manage uncertainty or fragility? Are you able to experience life with fluidity, or do you attempt to control the outcome of certain things?

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller

Please create a LO about a part of your life that feels uncertain, transient or precarious. Please use a butterfly image in some way, and for extra credit, use one of the DT's ideas for butterfly usage - Felecia's ribbon backing, Diana's masking, Nancy's patterned paper backing (see the exclusive content section for how-to's).

February Vulnerability Challenge #3:

Your Body: Do physical limitations or infirmities impact your life? What parts of your body have been subject to injury? Does your mental or emotional state affect your physical well being? Are certain areas prone to weakness? How do those areas connect with your state of mind - does pain in certain part of your body reference your emotional pain? Do you consider yourself a robust and strong person?

Please create a LO about the connection between you mind and body with regard to physical vulnerability. Does your mental state contribute to how you physically feel?
For the design twist, use something broken, or broken and mended.

February Vulnerability Challenge #4:

Dependence: Whom and what do you depend on to create a sense of security? Are you good at providing that for yourself, or are you more free to allow others to care for you. If different people have allowed you to be safely vulnerable at different times, why were they the right person for the right time?

We all need somebody to talk to. It would be good if we talked... not just pitter-patter, but real talk. We shouldn't be so afraid, because most people really like this contact; that you show you are vulnerable makes them free to be vulnerable. Liv Ullmann

What shames us, what we most fear to tell, does not set us apart from others; it binds us together if only we can take the risk to speak it. Starhawk


Please create a LO about who you have leaned on, and why you could at that moment in time.

For the design twist, please lean an element, either tilting it, or leaning it on something...

Some interesting food for thought if you have creation in your plans for the weekend!

What would you do with one of these?

Peace, ya'll!

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Ohmygoodness! That "Stepping Stones" layout makes my heart flutter. How beautiful, in so many ways.
Thanks for sharing, once again, and always. :D

Paz said...

I think these are great. I love how you used a different background for them. Lovely:)

Sam said...

Love "See Through", especially the padded bra journaling =) Transparency - who I am, where I am, what I believe and why - is one of my greatest goals, and it can be so hard to work towards. I'm finding the more I am comfortable with myself, the more transparent I become.