Mixed Media Mayhem - Joy of Reading... in Bed

This layout began with the accidental collusion of a pack of flash cards delivered from Key Lime Supplies on Etsy, some old paint strips, and some interesting scraps from a quilting magazine.

It celebrates the joy of reading, but not just any reading...reading in bed. Since a cold winter in Wellesley drove me to the third floor to escape the black chill of nighttime, I have gravitated to the bed.  I eat breakfast there, I sew there, I draw there, I play with the dogs there, I take my online there, I even eat there.  This is a confession or a justification.

To begin, I had gessoed the pages some time ago and used them as mopping up.  I added some magazine cutouts to start a flow. In my stash I had piles of paint charts from which I had cut circles for a first grade project at the museum,  I played with placement.

I decided try weaving the French flash cards and the paint chips.  I found three that worked with my theme.  Also stenciled some iridescent turquoise squares around the pages and a page of dictionary text to balance on the right page.

To go with my theme I wanted some old postcards I had stored somewhere that pictured women reading, but, alas, I could not find them.  So I substituted a clip art image of a pretty serious looking gal.  I added some cut out letters which looked boring until I traced around theme with some pearly dimensional paints.  

I added my journaling to commemorate the rationale for my page.  This whole exercise was really fun, and I did not do it in bed.