Fall Fearless & Fly, Challenge 4

Fall Fearless and Fly with Maria McGuire!

Headline Prompt:  Security:  What makes you feel safe and secure?  What rattles your sense of security?  Where do you go for comfort and refuge?
Color Prompt:  Cool colors (blues, greens, violets, etc.) 

Quote Prompt: You can't make a place for yourself in the sun if you keep taking refuge under the family tree.  Helen Keller

Welcome  Maria McGuire, and thank you for sharing your heartfelt page with us.

Maria:  I’m so happy that Carolyn and Jessica asked me to Guest Design today.  I think I used a little of all three prompts in my piece.

  

The color was easy. I have been a little addicted to my Gelli Plate lately so I chose a print I had made with the color theme.

Next I decided to use a few of my paper towels that I kept from a day of play with my Gelli Plate for  the first prompt: Where do I feel safe and secure?  My immediate answer: In my home, late in the night, when everyone is sleeping. I feel like the day is finally done and hopefully nothing will happen in the still of the night. I wait for this time everyday.  My home is also where I go when I want to “hide” from the world.

My paper towels transformed themselves into a house. I don’t have a free motion foot (although it is on my wish list), so I just sewed over the pieces the best I could to give the house a little more personality. Then the last prompt—the quote. This is where the sun came from in my piece. This quote really had meaning for me at this time in my life. It reminded me that if I don’t take some chances and let go of the fear, I will always be stuck in the same place.

My letters were all hand cut but I didn’t draw them out first. I think it a good lesson in visualization for myself to try to “see” the letters as I cut them. 

Hands … to me they represent safety, so I wanted them to hold my house. Working off a pair of hands I saw in a magazine, I painted them and slid my house in place.

Mixed Media, Art, Scrapbooking and Designing are a huge part of Maria McGuire's life!  Maria lives in Illinois with her husband and two teenagers.  Visit Maria at her blog: Believe, Dream, Create with Maria.

Thank you MARIA, for your beautiful and insightful take on this challenge!  

Everyone who links up their take on challenge 4 by Sunday, November 25 will be entered to win a $35 gift certificate to LuminArte!  Their store is DreamingColor.com  They are the creators of Twinkling H2O's, Silks, Radiant Rain and more!  As a bonus this week we will have 2, yes 2, winners!  Thank you LuminArte for your generosity!  

What will you do in response to the fourth challenge?  Here are the rules:

• You may participate in one or all of the challenges.
• Use one, two or all of the prompts.
• Use any media -- art journal, scrapbook, canvas, watercolor, quilting, you name it!  This is "Anything Goes" as far as your creativity is concerned.
• Link up by Sunday, November 25 to be eligible to win one of 2 gift certificates from LuminArte!  Go over to Jessica's blog to comment, and be eligible for a giveaway there too!
• You may link up to 2 times, but please only link up to work prepared for this challenge.  If not, we will remove your link. Please post the url of your blog post or flickr page that's specific to this challenge, rather than a general blog address.  And please tell us how your work relates to the challenge!
• Each time you participate, visit at least 3 other links and leave loving words!
• All challenge participants are welcome to join our private Facebook group as a place to talk about your journey and whatever is coming up for you as you work on the challenges.   As it is private, just request to join and we'll give you access. 

To recap, here is the 4th challenge:

Headline Prompt:  Security:  What makes you feel safe and secure?  What rattles your sense of security?  Where do you go for comfort and refuge?
Color Prompt:  Cool colors (blues, greens, violets, etc.) 
Quote Prompt: You can't make a place for yourself in the sun if you keep taking refuge under the family tree.  Helen Keller

Congratulations to Mitzi Zohar, the lucky winner of our Fall Fearless & Fly challenge #3, chosen by the random generator at Random.org!   Please email your address to corspokoli at gmail dot com for your prize!

And on Monday, November 26, check in for Challenge #5, and the winner of this challenge!

Looking forward to seeing your wonderful work!
Carolyn Dube and Jessica Sporn