Weekly Update: 26+27 weeks

This has been some crazy weeks!!! Last week I'd actually both taken the photos for the weekly update in time as well as prepare for a wrecking post that WASN'T part of a weekly update. But that week I ran in to a bunch of computer problems that postponed everything. And on the Sunday I all of a sudden got a new kitten! (Yes, pretty much that surprising) After that she's taken most of my time since (especially in the beginning since I had to introduce her to my older cats.)

So before we move on the wrecking, here is my little sweetie Smulan. As all kittens she's a fellow wrecker. LOL



Smulan! (14 weeks)


The onwards to the wrecking. The front cover is getting a bit full of fruit stickers now (there's a text sticker in the bottom left corner that you can hardly see) so I've started gluing them to the back now. And it's still just bananas that come with stickers right now. *sigh*



Week 26




The wrecking I did last week was actually a hard one. I can't do easy ones all the time can I? LOL It wasn't hard as in a lot of work but it was one of the challenges where I've had to force through once of my barriers. You just don't play with food or waste food!!! That's for spoiled and rich people. And it also felt REALLY yucky to smear food in the journal.





I've been given this one a lot of thoughts since I got the journal because i couldn't come up with a way to interpret it that felt okay to me but still was true to the challenge. Documenting the dinner with a photo felt like cheating and using something like fruit juice or jam (that felt like less yucky to stain the blog with) wasn't actually dinner. So what to do????

Then I boiled some of my home grown runner beans (that you're probably very familiar with if you follow my balcony blog) and saw that the water turned green and came up with a solution that felt both comfortable enough but also didn't feel like cheating. The beans WERE a major part of my dinner, but nothing got wasted, the journal didn't become yucky and it still made and interesting change to the paper. Yay!



Staining in hot water


Dinner


The result!


This week I haven't done any wrecking though, I've left that part to Smulan (so far she's only wrecked candle and one of her toys. LOL)



Week 27

Yay! A fellow wrecker!

I've really missed having a fellow wrecker to share this experience with, it's much more fun that way. But my old fellow wreckers have taken a lot longer breaks than I have (so I really SHOULDN'T feel guilty for only updating once a week, I AM still updating after all) so I've been a lone for a while now.

But recently a friend of mine has gotten brainwashed and she's both ordered a journal of her own and started a new blogg for it.


Felicity's Wreck This Journal

Internet problems and a new wrecker

I've had problems with my internet for quite some time now. But of course it's just started to work in time BEFORE the technician will arrive.

I'm WAY behind with my weekly update because of this (as in almost a week late) but I'll try to post it today (as long as my internet connection will last)

I DO have SOME news though, my sister-in-law has started to wreck her own journal and has just opened a blog of her own Fay's Wreck Journal (in Swedish though so some of you might feel left out, but I promise to compensate you with fruit stickers and stamps LOL)

My Balcony Blog!

See my personal description up in the right corner, I've already told you that I'm crazy. LOL As if one blog wasn't enough, now I've started a second blog. This time about my balcony. I've got to do SOMETHING with all the balcony photos I take, don't I? LOL

Welcome!

I got a postcard today!

Cute isn't it? I got it from my mom. What's important with the postcard (and what makes in on topic for this blog) isn't the cute kitties on the front though, it's the stamp on the back.





Since I'm desperate for stamps to the journal stamp page my mom decided to send me a card so I would at least have ONE stamp (you're supposed to used stamps you've actually gotten on mails/cards and I don't want to cheat and use old stamps or someone else's stamps) Now I just need to remove it without destroying the card and get my journal back as well.

A pile of leaves!

A pile of leaves, that's all that's left of my dear, old journal!

No, don't worry, it's not gone for good. My journal has just taken a week long vacation from me to search it's own adventures. It's in safe hands and will return to me next week at the latest. Where it is? Nooo, that's a secret, at least until my weekly update tomorrow. I've got to have SOMETHING to use to tempt you with so you'll return to the blog even with the journal on vacation. LOL

Busy, busy, busy!!!

It's my mom's birthday on Sunday and I'm busy creating... eh... "things" for her. I will try to squeeze in a weekly update tomorrow but I doubt there will be much wrecking done until I've finished all the... things. And there's a lot of them! LOL

Here fishie, fishie!

I've already shown you some of my pencil/brush on paper work, now it's time to show something I've painted on the computer as well, especially since this image fits so well today.

About ten years a go I worked at a place where they had a small aquarium. This was before I got my own tank but I've always been drawn to aquariums and this was no exception. I was particularly found of some blue, marbled fishes.

Since one of my friends is very in to aquariums I tried to describe my favorites to her to see if she could help me find out which breed they were. Now this was when digital cameras still were considered exotic and very expensive and when cell phones were just PHONES (and scanners were crappy, see crappy scanned photo in a previous post) so the best way I could think of to show her how the fishes looked was to draw one (we didn't live in the same town so e-mail was a must)

I wasn't sitting near the aquarium so I had to go back and forth SEVERAL times to look at the fish and then draw from memory so it took me quite some time to get it right. Also the fish wash shy and hid most of the time I came to look it and every now and then I actually had to work as well. LOL





It's mouse drawn in Psp and while the perfectionist in me isn't completely satisfied with some of the details (the shape of the mouth isn't 100% correct and neither is the bodyshape or the curve of the feelers) I must admit that the likeness is still quite good and my friend had no problem to identify it as an Opaline Gourami (hope I got the English name right now).

I decided that one day, if I ever got an aquarium of my own, I should get Opaline Gouramis. Today is that day!!! :o) I now have 4 gorgeous Gouramis swimming in my tank (or mostly hiding in the corner, they're a bit shy. LOL) and it "only" took me three years as anquarist to finally get them. LOL Sorry, no photos if the real fishies yet, they REALLY didn't like when I brought out the camera. (It seems like painting them still is the easiest way to portrait Opaline Gouramis. LOL)

Contemplating the future of the blog

Don't worry, this isn't one of those "taking a break" or "closing down the blog" messages. It's just me thinking out load about what to do with the blog once I've finished the journal.

The thing is that when I started this blog I decided to close it again when I'd finished wrecking the journal, since this is a very limited theme blog (even if I'm sneaking in a few other things as well) Now there's still plenty of "wrexercises" to do (and one of the involved rose petals which I'll not be able to get my hands on for quite a while yet) and there's also still a lot of "old stuff" to add so there's no immediate threat to the blog yet. But at the same time, I've started to see how more and more of the pages in the journal are getting finished so I know we're getting there in a while and this have made me think.

This IS a limited theme blog so it WILL have fulfilled it's purpose when I'm done with the journal. But at the same time I feel that even to I might be done with the journal I might not be done with the blog at the same time. I LIKE this blog! It's fun and inspiring to work with and hopefully it's also inspiring to the reader. I know this isn't the most visited blog around, but I've never aimed for it to be (after all, I haven't actually advertised it a lot or done anything particular top attract readers) but I still have a group of people reading it, and most of all, I'm doing this for myself, as a way to document my wrecking and maybe a bit of the creative journey I'm going through (and maybe even a bit about the rest of the stuff the journal wrecking awakens in me). Everyone else reading the blog is just a big bonus (and it helps me feeling less crazy than I would do if I were JUST talking to myself. LOL)

Sooo, the way I feel about the blog right now I'm not sure I WANT to close it down in a couple of months when the journal wrecking is over and all the old stuff is posted. But the problem is that I don't know what to use if for afterwards... Getting another journal? Come up with another creative project that fits this blog? Or change the blog completely to fit some of my other hobbies? (In that case it's probably better to start a brand new blog and leave this one untouched though) I don't know yet but hopefully I will come up with some answers before I've finished the journal.

Sad news!

I forgot to mention that one of the ants on the cover lost it's head completely when I was visiting my mom. I found the little head on her dining table after taking the first photo below. I now keep it in my wallet. Poor little ant! *giggle*

Happy Easter!

I'll spend my Easter with my family and I'll try to see if I can convince someone (my Sister-in-law most likely) to help me out with the journal throwing. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Easter first!

Wreckly update - 5 weeks

I've been on an unplanned, involuntarily and not fun at all break for a couple of days more. One of my cats got really ill and I had to put him to sleep yesterday. He was 15 years old and had been on medications for a year already so I guess this was kind of expected but it's still just as painful. :o( But well, this is not a personal diary kind of blog so I'll prefer to focus on the journal wrecking instead. It keeps me from thinking too much as well. (Or well, journal wrecking DOES of course make me think but not the sad kitty thoughts)





This is how the journal looks after 5 weeks. Today I decided to put a cat sticker on the cover in honor of my Bissen. Now he was a blue color point Ragdoll so he doesn't look at all like this cat but his style was still the same. There's also a sticker below that says "To err is human, to purr, feline".

As you can tell, the journal is looking less and less flat these days (and I still haven't had a chance to do the journal throwing or anything else very destructive)





A couple of days ago (Monday???) I did this list of 12 more ways to wreck the journal. It's me though so don't expect things to be REALLY destructive. LOL Still some of them might be quite hard (at least to me).

1. Cut borders along the edges of some pages

2. Wash a page with soap and water (since the washing machine ruined the page a bit too much. LOL)

3. Wash a decorated page with soap and water (Now things are getting more difficult)

4. Doodle on all pages (This one I like more LOL)

5. Decorate a page with words and objects that starts with the same letter

6. Paint a page with make up

7. Create a painting made of dots

8. Decorate the journal with ribbons (I have PLENTY of ribbons! LOL)

9. Paint/decorate in orange/brown and 70's (Just the thought of this one makes me cringe - A LOT. I HATE those colors and that style. Most of the people that love style today didn't have to grow up during the 70's. LOL Even writing in orange is really yucky)

10. Dedicate a page to friendship (I have the most wonderful friends)

11. Fill a page with Quick Kutz cutouts (like the ants, not the holes but the actual ants)

12. Distress a page with Distress Ink


I kind of wish there were 12 blank pages to actually DO all of these. LOL






This is today's wrecking. Can you spot a VERY faint hint of turquoise inside the circle. IRL, you can at least KIND OF see it in the right light.

I knew from the first time I saw this one that this one would be really hard. We don't exactly have that much of color staining candy in Sweden and if we do I wouldn't know what it was anyway. It's not the kind of candy I eat a lot of. LOL On the rare occasions I DO eat sweets I prefer chocolate.

Anyway, yesterday I discovered that my mom had found some really suspicious looking candy for the Easter eggs and I was right, those awful, scary looking turquoise eyes really DID stain my tongue a bit. It wasn't enough to actually stain the journal a lot though but at least I tried.

To continue the theme I decorated the page with awful turquoise eyes (they're not SUPPOSED to look pretty). I had planned to save the last candy eye to use in the photo but I accidental ate half of it. LOL They didn't taste as awful as they look (even though I really felt like brushing my teeth afterwards. LOL) so you have to settle for half an eye. LOL

Now I have to go edit my personal description. Not fun at all. :o(

I'm taking a break now

The reason I've been so busy lately is that I'll have a friend visiting me for a couple of days (you know all these stuff you feel you have to do before you'll get guests. LOL) She's coming tomorrow so I'm taking a break from blogging and wrecking for a couple of days. (I'm probably back again on Monday)

I will TRY to get some time to post the weekly update on Thursday though since I always post that one of Thursdays. (And who knows, there MIGHT be a little entry about journal throwing as well if I can muster up the courage. LOL)

I miss wrecking!

I'm just busy with other stuff, really busy. But I miss my wrexercises! They really DO give me something and it feels almost empty without them. Eeek! What will I do when I've finished the journal? On the other hand, isn't one of the exercises to buy a second journal?

Anyway, I HOPE I will have some time to wreck things tonight or tomorrow. I think I need it to relax.

No wrecking today

I haven't done any wrecking today. I made a nightgown instead. I wonder if that's considered a side effect? LOL

Oh wait, I just got some ideas for one of the pages while typing this. I guess that COULD make my nightie qualify as a side effect. LOL

A new journal wrecker!

Friend number 1 (Tessibess) has started a blog about her future wrecking now even if she's still waiting for her journal. You can find it here: Tessibess wrecks a journal (Or to the right in my link list)

I don't know yet if I've managed to brainwash Friend number ½ though. LOL I'll get back to you on that.

BTW, I'm looking for other journal wreckers to follow so if you have a journal wrecking blog please let me know.