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A Jaunty Josie from JOY - How did that happen?

 

No new year’s resolutions , but I like the idea of words shaping a year …. I  did not choose JOY - I chose PLAY and CHALLENGE, which I think also fits the upcoming  Chinese Year of the  Horse…. “ The year 2026 signifies a fresh start, embodying the dynamic Year of the Fire Horse in the Chinese zodiac, representing energy, freedom, and innovation, coupled with a Universal Year 1 in numerology, signalling new beginnings and pioneering action “

 How did JOY become the focus of this story? 

Where better to start than with the weekly colour prompts  #coloricombo by EsteMacleod …these are published each Monday night ( Australian Eastern Summer Time) , so I’ve had  a week to work on these . Added to the colour prompts Este has also intensified the challenge by including a different shape or form each week. 

This week, she chose the word/letters J O Y


Between workshops, travelling and other projects, I spent a few hours cutting and  pasting a “mood board” and did a few doodles – ultimate playing and so much fun!   

 


Now the Challenge bit … I decided to do some free motion machine stitching using the word JOY . I wrote it in free machine stitch and turned it upside down , following one of my doodles and planned a face , with a fancy hat to accommodate the loops of the J and Y  and circles of the O

Then more stitching J O Y  shapes

 - a big O for the face
- Js two ways for for the neck and and backward J for nose
- a little Y for the lips
- lots of random sized J shapes to create embellishments for the hat.
- circles were added for- O shapes rosy cheeks and smaller ones for the pupils of the eyes.
- roughly stitched Y shapes along the neckline



Having finished a rough “sketch” in stitch, I added some hand stitching in the jade tone on the hat, and the orange for the cheeks  and a white highlight in the  eyes.  

 


To add more colour

-        -water colour paint on the main part of the hat and dress

-       - water colour paint for hair.

-       - pencil for skin tone

 Jaunty Josie is born from JOY.... A little crazy, but I really enjoyed the play and the challenge. 

Week 1 of 2026 words achieved!

And if  you haven't already chosen some words for 2026, here's a fun way to start. 


Watch this space for what happens during the next week.

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