Friday, October 12, 2012

Immersed In All Things Celtic!

  Over the last few weekends I have been able to experience the best of the Celtic culture without leaving town! For 25 years now Bethlehem has been host to the annual Celtic Classic. We stumbled upon it in its very first year when we decided to take a walk downtown. From that year on I marked my calendar each year and don't think I missed one! It begins on a Fri. eve. and runs thru Sun. eve. the last weekend in September. The festival has grown and continues to bring the best bagpipe bands, music groups, food, Highland game competitors, border collie herding competitions, jewlery and Celtic inspired clothing from all over the world!! One could never see all the FREE entertainment provided as there are  at least five different areas with something happening simultaneously. The weekend after that we went with friends to the new Sands Event Center  (practically in my backyard) to see Celtic Thunder perform!!
  All I can say is it was the most happy and joyful (almost out of body) experience although hubby and I had seen them perform several times before. We even got to meet and chat with most of them-a very unexpected surprise-and besides being the NICEST guys-they have the most incredibly beautiful green, blue and blue/green eyes!! All of them  are from Ireland with the exception of one- George who's from Scotland. Even hubby was impressed by them :)

  I could go on and on but enough of that and on to the pages these events inspired me to create.



  I began by adhering some crumpled tissue paper  in places with gel medium. Once dry I covered the pages with some watered down acrylic paints in a yellow green, turquoise and kelly green. The borders along the side were created by stamping onto tissue paper with Jet Black Staz-On ink, trimming, then adhering it to the pages with PPA (Perfect Paper Adhesive). Looking at it while taking the photo I realized how much this looks like a relief map of Ireland on the left page!

 This is the "stamp" I used:

 
  Anyone remember these??? They're called bolios and were (are?) manufactured by Judikins. They are four -sided and look kinda like a rolling pin. Here's another side of my Celtic bolio:
 
 
 
  I own five of these-one's flower themed, one is seashore themed, another is southwestern/tribal and another  baroque borders. (Three of them were passed on to me when a dear friend died). I love using them for borders on envies and cards-they're the perfect length to cover a card's edge without having to restamp!
 
  And here is my completed journal spread:
 
 
  I am not a scrapbooker by any means and find it challenging to create a "layout' type of page. So I took inspiration from Jill K. Berry's book Personal Geographies along with a fellow blogger/artist I "met" since I began  linking up to Art Journal Everyday.  Chel Micheline (click on her name to see her blog) creates the most beautiful pages using photos, ephemera and sometimes lots of journaling. I admire her compositions and attention to the details. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.Thank you Chel!
 
  One more note on the whole Celtic thing: any time I am immersed in the music and people of that culture it brings me to a happy and joy filled place that is just unexplainable. Although  (from what I know)  I am mostly French with a tad of Swedish and perhaps German thrown in, I feel in my heart of hearts that somewhere in my roots lies Celtic blood. It's something I've felt since I was a child asking for a bagpipe (really-who asks for that-esp. when none of my relatives ever played that type of music in their homes and besides, what kid wouldn't ask for toys?). I've always had a thing for plaid too. My friends have always told me I was so different from my family in so many ways that they'd swear I was adopted. I wasn't. Needless to say, Ireland and Scotland are #1 on my bucket list. And don't get me wrong; anyone that knows me knows full well how much I LOVE my French heritage and everything French. Let's just say I think I belong in Europe :)
 
  Have any of you ever felt such a deep connection to something not knowing where it stems from? I'd love to hear about it. If you're still with me, thanks for indulging me! I'm linking this journal spread up to Art Journal Everyday and to Paint Party Friday. Let the partying begin!
 
 
                 "A single moment of understanding can flood a whole life with meaning."
 
 




33 comments:

  1. I LOVE LOVE your Celtic post today. Both the beautiful journal pages & the story :). Do not be alarm, I do feel like yourself. I'm not Nordic nor blonde and totally look like I'm from the tropics but ... down deep I feel like I'm not from Earth, LOL. I like to think I'm from the Pleiades, and yes you can smile at that :). Share with us some photos from this event, must be lovely :). Hugs.

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  2. Linda, your pages turned out great. I actually thought you'd crumpled the paper to deliberately look like Ireland! Lucky you to have a festival like that so near.

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  3. You obviously had a great time at the festival and am loving your terrific pages. Happy PPF, Annette x

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  4. The Celtic heritage is so fun. Thats great that you get to participate in the local celebration. I think your journal page is great. Love the colors and that cool border stamp. Happy PPF

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  5. Hi Linda - I love your pages. The underlying colors and textures are so beautiful and then all of your photos and ephemera just make it so rich. I completely understand how you feel -- the first time I went to Paris, I knew I had been there before -- in another lifetime. I don't have any French heritage at all, however I learned the language very quickly - j'ose dire que je parle couramment - and have always loved all things French. When I was at Art is You, I won a double cd set of Irish music in a raffle. I would love to send it to you, if you would send me your snail mail address to corspokoli(at)gmail(dot)com!

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  6. What a fabulous way to remember something you really enjoy and love. Those boarder stamps are fun too and add texture and interest. HPPF

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  7. I am totally with you on the celtic love! Though I have never asked for a bagpipe at any time in my life....The music makes me ball like a baby. It speaks so deeply into my soul. Your page is a lovely memory. Lucky you for having the experiences.

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  8. Wonderful double this art journal page.

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  9. Wonderful creation ~ lovely composition and elegant border with celtic designs ~ (A Creative Harbor)

    thanks for coming by and commenting ^_^

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  10. I feel so connected to this post!! I am very much like you!!Except I am of Scottish/Irish heritage on my fathers side, and Ukrainian on my mothers!! I love Celtic music and feel so deeply connected to it too!! Also love tartan especially red, and so does my daughter. Sometimes I feel there may be some gypsy blood in me because of my passion for color! However I like my feet planted! I do think there is more to it than we know!! Thanks for sharing your wonderful journal page!! I love those colors together too!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  11. what a great way to put your art and your experience together!
    cheers, dana

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  12. the beautiful colours in that background make the whole thing come together is a glorious cohesive whole... just lovely...xx

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  13. Sounds like you had so much fun! Your pages certainly reflect the
    inspiration you received! HPPF!

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  14. what a great journal page! I am impressed by how tidy it looks, yet creative at the same time. Thanks for the cheers!

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  15. I love the blue green background! It'so pretty! It's a wonderful way to always remember your experiences..

    Beautiful..

    Duaa

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  16. I always love to see the "beginning" of your pages, Linda! These are especially lovely. I had all of the bolios ever made at one time, but over the years of moving so many times, I sold them all. (Took up too much room!)

    Love that you combined your love of Celtic with your journal pages. You are really cranking out a lot of these gorgeous creations!!

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  17. Lovely page and such yummy colours! Love that stamp!

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  18. Beautiful work. I love those greens and blues, and wonderful colours for Ireland. Glad you had such fun which inspired you! Valerie

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  19. You love of things Celtic is very apparent here and you can be proud of your lovely journal pages! L
    I loved how the tissue paper looked like the map to you! Like those stamps too! Well done!

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  20. I LOVE Celtic patterns and the ones on your bolios are fab - and look great on your pages.

    xx

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  21. Gorgeous page and I like that long stamp for the border. Happy PPF to you and happy weekend!

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  22. What lovely pages.... I see what you mean about the map!

    I love the scrapbook feel... and it looks like such a fun weekend!

    Karenx

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  23. Hi Linda!!!! love the new pages....wonderful colours and backgrounds....and the celtic aspect!!! love it!!!

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  24. What gorgeous art! And a wonderful way to commemorate such a great weekend and all your memories of it!
    Love those Celtic pattern designs!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  25. Great pages, and that festival sounds wonderful. I know what you mean about feeling Celtic. The first time I ever set foot in Scotland, I felt like I was home.

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  26. Love what you've done with your Celtic inspiration, Linda. What a great way to celebrate the spirit of the event. And of course I think you should embrace all that Celticness even more by paying a visit to good old Scotland!

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  27. I also love Celtic culture especially the music. Your pages are wonderful.

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  28. What gorgeous colors you put down! They remind me of looking at a globe or world map.

    Happy PPF!

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  29. This is such a lovely way to record your memories Linda. The Festival sounds fabulous.

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  30. OH what a magical and contagious post dear Linda!

    I would have been in heaven with all of that Celtic wonder going on!

    did you ever get those bagpipes? inquiring minds you know ;)

    your pages are fantastic and you have me wondering which bolios I have tucked away (one with maps I recall)

    thank you for sharing and inspiring and guess what...Mr Magpie and I are hoping to visit the UK, Scotland and Ireland one day soon. I've been to Ireland with my sister and Mom and Aunt. I did not want to come home in fact I came down with the flu on the day we were supposed to fly...just wanted to stay in my Irish bed...that was some years ago now!

    it's late...I'm headed for the land of nod ... oxo

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  31. Great journal pages and wonderful that it was a weekend full of Celtic activity for you!

    BTW Did you know you still have word verification on? It makes it very difficult for people to comment.

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  32. So much good energy on your journal pages. And the quote at the end is so beautiful and true.

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Thank you so much for your comments; it's a pleasure to connect with you!