WTJ Wednesday #1

This week's completed page in my WTJ, is "pour, spill, drip, spit, fling your cofee here" page.
In my first WTJ, I didn't particularly liked how this page turned out (regardless the horrible quality of the picture).

(the page in my first WTJ)

Moreover, I just followed the instructions without adding any personal contribution to the page. Mindful of this thing, I did my best to make sure that this time the page would have turned out more interesting.

#5

The first - completed - page in my new Wreck This Journal that I've been able to do so far, bacause of the Uni stuff I had to do and the rush to complete and send the sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project, is the 'bring this book in the shower with you' page.
I was a little uneasy about taking a shower with it.. Infact, with my first Wreck This Journal I tried to figure out a way around it, and in the end I put it on the shelf in my shower and I only barely squirted some water on it with the shower jet. The result wasn't really outstanding. The watercolors I used were of very poor quality, and they didn't really dripped on the page as I was expercting them to do. Anyway, the colors dissolved in a pretty pastel shade, so I didn't mind too much.

#3

A year ago, I stumbled upon Wreck This Journal for the first time. Probably like half of the people who sees it for the first time, I was a bit confused about its purpose. Long story short, I googled it and a flash of inspiration hit me; it had to be mine. Being a bookworm and a desperate wannabe artist it was the perfect union of everything I love. As soon as I ordered it, I already started planning in my head all the amazing thing I could have done on the pages, all my ideas seemed like pure gold and I was beyond excited to start working on it. It wasn't long until I could finally have it in my hand and it was the same moment when my mind went completely blank: all my golden ideas turned out to be predictable and boring and for some unknown reason my creative boost faded away. My poor WTJ got dusty on a shelf for a while before I was able to work on it being fully aware of what I was doing. (Yeah, I know. Sometimes I tend to analyze things too much - but I hate sloppy things, I can't help it.)

I could honestly write a book about how amazing WTJ is and as stupid, obvious or whatever it may sound, on how deeply it changed my approach on art and creativity. I owe a lot to Keri Smith and this book; I've always loved art and such things, though I abandoned this passion during my life due to lack of inspiration and a very low self confidence. If lately my drawers are getting filled with art supplies and my sketchbooks have few blank pages left, it's also largely thanks to them. (Having a lovely super supportive boyfriend is not bad either!)

This WTJ has been my loyal companion for a little less than a year, and now that it's complete I feel like a part of me is missing. However this feeling won't last long since I already  have a brand new WTJ that awaits me, yay! I'm afraid I developed an addiction, but I regret nothing.

#2

Let the WTJ Swap Season '12 begin! Yaaay.

But, what's the Swap Season? And how does it work?

It's easy, my friends; If you own a WTJ and you like art trades, receiving letters and do creative things this is the perfect occasion to do all these things in one. We will choose a page (example 'color this entire page') and we will make it in our own WTJs. Once we're done we will exchange our addresses and send the page to each other and then stick it back into our journals.

Below, you'll find a list of available pages of my Wreck This Journal that I'm willing to swap.

To apply for the swap, you must send me a message on my tumblr (here) with the following text: 'Swap Season <the name of the page you would like to swap>'. If by the time you send me the message, the page is still available, you'll receive a reply that will confirm the deal; if the page is already taken because someone was faster than you, you'll be notified but you'll be able to choose another page.

(Obviously, once our pages are completed you must be willing to give me your address, that I will never publish or share with anyone. You must agree to do the same with mine.)

So here's the list of the pages:

• Leave This Page Blank On Purpose. - status: Taken (by carsarelittlebloodcells - March).
• Make a Paper Airplane. - status: Taken (by thelovelyfox - February).
• Wrap Something With this Page. - status: Taken (By MonicAwesome @Flickr).
• Pretend You're Doodling on the Back of an Envelope [...]. - status: Taken (by ill-be-in-the-music-room - January).
• Ask a Friend to Do Something Destructive to This Page. - status: Taken (by s-c-a-r-e-c-r-o-w-781 - February).
• Lose This Page. - status: √ Completed (by i--n--f--i--n--i--t--e - January).

Please notice: you can already start grabbing your slot but the Swap Season won't officially start before the end of winter holidays (January 8, '12), which means we'll start trading after that date. The season ends in March, so it will be swapped two pages a month. (Example: the first two people who send me a message will swap in January, the second two in February and the last two in March). In the confirmation reply that you will receive, I'll specify in which month your swap belongs and in case you have problems, you can ask to postpone the swap.

I think I inlcuded everything, in case I forgot something and/or you've got any questions, feel free to ask (here).