Land of Magnolia

Wow! It's been a REALLY long time since my last post. Life has been extremely stressful these last several months. I will so happy when it all calms down and life regains direction and perspective. Anyway...enough of that! Let's get to my Land Of Magnolia entry! This is a long post with lots of pictures...and not all of the pictures came out great...sorry about that!

I entered Diana Crick's Land of Magnolia Contest. Since it was the first contest I ever entered like this, I was pretty happy with an honorable mention! The winning entries were amazing! So, to get an honorable mention was something I was pleased about. For those of you peeking at my blog that don't know what the contest was about, let me give you a quick reference....You had to write a story about the Land of Magnolia, using several specific words within the story. Then you had to create a "project" to illustrate your story using the Magnolia stamp line.

So, let me TRY and explain what my entry was. About the only way I can explain it is to say that it is a stand-up card book! Think something along the lines of an easel card...but put together in a ringed book. The pages stand up, rather than lay flat. Does that make any sense at all?

Here's a couple pictures of the open book to show you what I mean:


See how the pages stand up at an angle...kind of like an easel card.
Here is another look at it opened further into the book:

Notice all of the pages stand upright...not just the one you are on.
If you look at it, the "story" part of it is on the bottom of the page and the illustration is on the upright part of the page.

So, here is my entry into the Land of Magnolia Contest. Below each picture, I have placed the wording that is on the bottom part of the page. Some of the pages are two part...they open up. So, the storing will be below the open picture. Please let me know what you think at the end by leaving a comment for me.



Cover of the closed book

Once up a time, there was a beautiful land called
Magnolia. It was far, far away in a hidden valley.

Legend says the valley of Magnolia was created when an

angel came forth, parted the trees, and set a white picket

gate in the ground. The angel thought:

"Beyond this gate shall lay a land,

Where love shall have a start.

Pain and sorrow are left behind.

That sets THIS world apart.

It's not what you say, but what you do

That makes you very smart

Like angels who can't speak the words,

the love comes from the heart."

As the angel closed the gate bearing the plague that

simply said Magnolia, the snowy land beyond

glistened in golden sunshine. The angel winked and

flew away knowing that the enchanted land could only

be found by those who had a loving and caring heart.

One day, Edwin, and his childhood sweetheart, Tilda,

stumbled through the foliage and discovered the totally

unexpected and beautiful land called "Magnolia". Tilda

and Edwin had always been close. But now, as they

passed through the gate, both felt that feeling intensify,

each knowing that they were meant to be right here, with

each other.

As Tilda and Edwin wandered farther into Magnolia,

they took in all the beautiful surroundings. There were

flowers and trees, and butterflies and bees. There was a

pumpkin patch and a little mushroom grove where even

the worms seemed to frolic. The garden was a place

anyone would love!

Two-part page that opens...this is closed

Two part page that opens...This is opened.

Tilda marveled that the little land of Magnolia seemed to

harbor all the seasons...all at the same time! How could

it be that the sun was shining here, and yet they walked

just a short distance, and it was raining? And just a bit

down the path, there was snow! This land was just

magical!

As Tilda and Edwin ventured forth, they came across a

small coral. Inside was the most unusual horse they had

ever seen. It was polka-dotted! they played with the

friendly little horse for a bit before continuing their

journey.

As they rounded the bend, they entered a wonderful little

meadow, full of butterflies. They hopped, skipped,

jumped, and chased the butterflies for what seemed like

hours. "How wonderful is this?" they thought. Tilda

even managed to hold a butterfly.

At the edge of the meadow, they came across some

bicycles. How funny to find bicycles here they thought.

Who did they belong to? They decided to see if they

could find the owners of the bicycles.

They wandered for quite a while, but couldn't find the

bicycle owners. they found a swing. They found a

bench. They even found a letter addressed to "Alf and

Alva". But, who were Alf and Alva? THAT mystery

would have to wait for another day; it was starting to get dark.

Two part page that opens...this is closed

Two part page that opens...this is open.

Little did Edwin and Tilda know...if they had just looked

through the trees behind the bench, they would have

found Alf and Alva's cozy little cottage. But, that's one

of the best things about the land of Magnolia. Something

special is always waiting to be discovered!

All of the images were colored with Copic markers. A think I counted 22 different Magnolia stamps used to create my book.

I know this post was really long. But, I hope you found it worth the time to look at my entry. Please let me know what you think...good , bad, or otherwise. I enjoy the feedback.

Thanks for visiting!

-Bonnie