The trouble is you think you have time.

The Buddha quotation book is put to some more good use as the blog title was taken from it again. And today it felt like I'm doing too much living for my blog! Is such a thing possible? So much has been going on and quite a few projects have come to an end and there is not enough space and more especially not enough time to keep you informed. My dial-up connection is also a serious obstacle and a couple of days ago I was near to tearing my hair out as it would just not down or upload because there were problems with the phone line. Poor John managed to grab the dogs and make himself scarce while a ranting wife threw some choice language at the computer and British Telecom. Perhaps I should sign up for a class in Buddhist meditation!

Now calm and my telephone line have returned and the only thing I can do is try and show you all my activities if and when I can. I made a pact with myself to keep up with the Vintage Gluebook Classes come what may so here is my Spread for lesson 6, which was all about the weight of design elements, specially the background. Whenever I start making my art, the lesson is in the forefront of my brain, but once I get going (and this goes for quilts as well as my mixed media art) only the art itself starts to matter and making it as beautiful and as well as is within my capabilities. So the relation to the lesson sometimes gets lost in the fray!

I was helped on my way by our Scottish newspaper which helpfully published a vintage illustration of the Lady in the Lake (Walter Scott!) , which I cut out and used as my focal point on the right-hand side of the spread. I added a vintage, original postcard with a castle behind her and the bottom layer of this page was a dictionary page. To the bottom I added an overprinted map (map came from our teacher Mary Green) and a vintage stamp. The green is picked up by the torn green piece at the top. To finish more vintage text (about a castle) was glued on.

On the other page I used an image that came from the Badminton Magazine (mentioned in my last blog). I scanned and copied it, rather than using the original. The background is a vintage dictionary page. Amazingly I only noticed after the whole spread was finished that it was a German - Dutch dictionary. No idea where I got the page but what great synchronicity!! I added blue background, map (both from Mary) and a original, vintage music piece. Again an original vintage stamp was added and a vintage text reading: Stories and Folk Tales. It seemed to go well with this spread.

Our next lesson that I have just downloaded is about shopping for vintage ephemera. Oh dear, I probably am more in need of a lesson about how NOT to be seduced by these everytime I venture on Ebay or near a second-hand bookshop. But I already know that's a lesson I will never learn, mostly because I don't want to!