Sunday, March 31, 2013

A Peek Into my Junk Journal and Plans for April...

Hi friends!  I've been using one of my Papaya Art Journals as a Junk Journal, and I just finished up the last page. I thought it might be fun to share a few pics, so that you could get an idea of what I collect in there.

Here's a pic of what the cover looks like.  How beautiful is that artwork?  I love the bright colors!

I have been using it as a catch-all for lots of stuff like...

To Do Lists (on the left), and sketchnote practicing on the right...


Testing out new pens...


 Lettering practice...


 Doodles and notes...


 Diary entries, line drawing practice, and more doodles...


 playing with washi tape...


 and of course, working through my ongoing system revisions - ha.  Here's my latest mindmap...


Which leads me to my next subject - Making a plan for April.  I love having lots of different journals, but I must admit that I have so many right now (10 or 11?), that my head spins everytime I try to decide which one to work in.  So my new plan is to focus on just a few each month.  Here's my plan for April...

April 2013

1.  Book of Days:
This will be my daily art journal.  My Book of Days work will go in here, as well as challenges, workshop stuff, experiments, drawings, etc. I am currently using a 9" x 12" mixed media journal by Strathmore that my sister Renee gave me for Christmas.  Thanks again Renee!

2.  Life Book:
I am continuing to collect my weekly Life Book pages on individual sheets of paper, and keeping them in a 3-ring binder.  This will go on for the remainder of 2013.

3.  Smash Book:
My sister Renee gave me a Red Smash Book for Christmas too (isn't she awesome?), and that will become my new junk journal.  It will contain all the kinds of stuff pictured above, plus any other stuff that inspires me along the way.

4.  Project Life:
While it's not a journal exactly, I include it here because I think of it as one.  It's main purpose for me is to tell the ongoing story of our life.  It will include words, photos, memorabilia and journaling.

And that's it for this month!  It means a bunch of other stuff will go on the shelf for this month.  The good thing about that is that I can look forward to changing it up in May!  Eek! So fun!

If you are a journaler, I'd love to know what your process is.  Do you do everything in one journal?  Or do you keep several going at once?  How do you divide your time?  What do you put in each one?  I know I've asked this question before, but it's one of my favorite topics!  I'd love to hear again!  Has your process changed?  Why or why not?  

Thanks so much for visiting!  I will see you again soon!




7 comments:

Michelle LaPoint Rydell said...

Thanks Carla! Happy Easter to you too!

Marit said...

Oh my... you have me giggle - Michelle comes up with yet another system. *teehee* That's how I know you!

Erm.. my way of working? I changed the way I worked right after I had my own studio... I got a lot more productive but I've not fallen into a routine yet... I have my chronicles journal - the 'weekly spread'- which I make in the weekends and I have a few different shaped journals which rotate (they don't have themes. I choose size instead of themes...) I just choose which size I want to work on. I have some 'extra's' on the side like 'writing over writers' (writing on photos) and making collages on index cards and lately I'm creating a lot of ATCs. Hm, I guess this sounds chaotic :)

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

I loveeeeeeeee your handwriting and your doodles!!! Happy Easter!

dawn said...

Your journals always make me happy, I love them all!!

Was fun reading your thouhgts on your plans and the peeks into your amazing pages, awesome doodling and writing!!

Sounds like a great plan for your April, looking forward to seeing what you create!

My plans for April are just keeping up on my Pl with our Spring break and Disney trip, many birthdays this month too. So just going to keep it simple. I love the Glue It Tuesday that you shared and started a couple already, not sure if I will post though. Writing out my 52 lists which was shared on Ali blog. Working on making homemade cards for the bdays this month. This will keep me busy enough.

Also thinking ahead with summer and the kids being home. Will add a few more small projects to my April list. There is a Index Card a Day, Colors of Summer projects that should be perfect for me.

Thanks for sharing and inspiring us! Have fun this April!!

Sharon Fritchman said...

Oh Michelle! I love seeing all of your plans for April, Michelle! I really liked taking a peek into your junk journal! so cool!!!! I hope you and your family had a very happy Easter!

Michelle Gautreaux said...

great ideas!!! And doodles!!

Marjie Kemper said...

Love peeking at your pages - that Go to Bed Michelle made me laugh out loud. Loads of journals in the works over here. I like your plan on Life Book. I've not had time to keep up but perhaps doing a binder with each lesson would increase the chances that I'll at soem point get to the lessons I really want. TFS!