Art Will Set Us Free with RSD and Airless Chambers

I'm Lady Brayton aka Lady B.  
I apologize in advance for my super long post.
This is my EDT posting for the Airless Chambers Blog.

Today I'm going to talk about a very serious topic, mental health.
Please be aware that this blog post contains MY OWN PERSONAL OPINIONS.  For any questions, you may contact me personally at ladybrayton(at)yahoo(dot)com.

In the states, May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  It raises awareness of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and the many other mental health  issues that so many suffer from and attempts to reduce the stigma associated with these illnesses.  The goals are to educate people about the various mental health disorders, identify the symptoms of these disorders, and open up communication surrounding these disorders in hopes of being able to help more people get the treatment they need.  One in four individuals has a mental health issue and less than half of these individuals will seek help.

I feel we need to get rid of the judgement and taboos associated with mental health issues.  I have suffered from depression most of my life as well as horrible anxiety.  I did not seek help until my anxiety became paralyzing.  I didn't want people to think I was weak.  I definitely didn't want mental health issues on my personal health record and I didn't want people thinking I was crazy or that I couldn't control my emotions.

I took a big step and decided to get the help I needed.  I've been doing well for several years now, but recently I hit a rough patch and had to tweak some of my medications.  I reached out to family members, coworkers and my design team members and told them what I was going through. Rather than judgement, I found love, caring, and support. 

 In jest, I told Rick he should draw a pic of a lady in a straight jacket with a paint brush in her mouth.  Within 2 hours he sent me the most awesome image titled "Art will set us Free".  I have made several projects with this lovely lady so far.  Some I will keep private, but I will share a few of my makes.  I find this image to be very empowering.  I want to thank everyone for the support you have given me when I needed it the most.
Click images to enlarge.
My first project uses "Art will set us Free".  This gorgeous lass was colored with copic markers and the colors were tweaked a bit in PSE8. I used the sketch below from the Smeared and Smudged "Very Sketchy" challenge. As you can see, I flipped the sketch.  The papers are from my favorite but retired store, Crafty Chaos Designs. 
My second project shown below uses copic markers, Dylusions Spray Inks, Tattered Angels Stencils, MS spider and Drippy Goo punches, a Cuttlebug embossing folder, a silver metallic paint pen, Distress Inks, DecoArt paints, and stickles on the flowers.  Of course the main image is "Art will set us free" and the flowers are part of Rick's "Skull with Roses" stamp.  I added lots of paint dots and splotches as though the lass was just throwing paint at the walls and making a big therapeutic mess. 
Lastly comes a tag I made.  I started with a manila tag and embossed it with one of my cuttlebug folders.  Next came loads of spray inks.  I colored the  swirls with my copic markers.  The "Art will set us Free" image was colored with copics, fussy cut, popped up with foam dots and for her final touches I added stickles to her hair and dress for shimmer and shine.  The sentiment "Oh, relax!  It may be nothing more than mental illness." was from Viva Las Vegas stamps.  I wanted a fun take on the tag.  The skull with "trouble" is a rub-on from Creative Imaginations.  It doesn't rub so well anymore since it is so old so I glued it to cardstock before attaching it to my tag.  I can't find a white pen that works well so I wrote in the swirls with my white Prisma pencil.  I added sheer ribbon and teal fibers for a tassel.  Sorry it doesn't show in the picture.


There you have it, folks.  One image, three different looks.  Why not go and free yourself by doing some artwork today?  Visit Rick's store to find plenty of goodies to color.  BTW, a little birdie whispered into my ear and told me there are still freebies to be grabbed here and here.  Don't forget to play along with the May AC Freebie Challenge or the May SNG Freebie challenge this month!.  You have until midnight on May 24th Pacific time to play.

I will be entering my projects into the following challenges:
Left of Center: Use a digi image...I used a digi stamp from RSD and my first project also uses digital papers and was composed digitally.
Divas By Design: Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty: Die-cuts/Punches.  In my middle project I used 2 MS punches around the main image.
The Perfect Sentiment #78: dry embossing, must use sentiment on front.  My tag, the last project, uses the Swirls folder from cuttlebug for dry embossing and it has a sentiment on top of the tag.
Make it Monday: Anything Goes

Comments

  1. Lb you rock. !!!!

    Hope your meds are working out better now. Glad you feel better.

    Love the projects you made with this cool image!!!

    Hugs

    Mo

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  2. Bravo LB!!! Fabulous Post! Mental Illness is such a huge thing and as you know, I suffer from it! It is important to have people around you that care enough to help! You are a fabulous person and a little depression and anxiety will NEVER scare me away! I love your creations with Rick's image! I think it will need to come and join my folder of his images! I absolutely LOVE her and there are days I feel like that too! Hugs to you and I hope the change in meds is helping! I am only an email away if you need to vent, talk, scream, or cry! I am here for you! Mwah!!!

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  3. Fabulous makes and thank you for sharing this with us all. Mental Illness needs to be easier to talk about rather than people feeling worried about being judged, I am so greatful I've got such good friends that have helped me out through some tough times, you being one of those people and I am always here when ever you need someone to talk to :)
    I totaly agree art will set you free, it is certainly the main thing that has helped me in the past :)
    Loads of Love and hugs xxxxx

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  4. Fun card quite different. I saw you on MIM. The colors and images are great. Great sentiment.

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  5. Wow what stunning makes ,so creative and so original ...gorgeous
    Thanks for joining us at MIM and good luck
    Tracey x

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  6. O M G! She is fabulous! Love the image and your cards are amazing! Thanks for joining us at Perfect Sentiment challenge this week. Good luck.

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  7. What a fantastic new image! and I love what you have created with it too!
    Thanks for sharing at Diva's this week for our Anything Goes challenge and good luck
    Hugs Laurie x

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  8. Super cool!! Thanks for participating in our PENNY'S PAPER-CRAFTY challenge!! Hope to see you again next week!

    ~DEANNE~
    A Little Bit O' Paper

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  9. Wonderful projects! I love the bold colors on that tag.
    hugs ~steph

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  10. Those are all FREEKIN AWESOME!! Each one is as perfect as the one before!!
    Hugs

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