May Featured Member - Documented Life Project!

Hi friends! I'm super excited to be the featured member for May over at the Documented Life Project, and get to share this week's DLP challenge with you!

Documented Life Project

May 21 - Pocket Art Challenge: Use a Homemade or DLP Circle Sticker

What a fun, open-ended challenge this was!  So many possibilities!  I thought right away of using the circle as the middle of a mandala.  Then I thought of using it as part of a word.  Then I thought - why not do both?!  I used a circle sticker that came with my Documented Life kit.  Here's how it turned out...

I forgot to take process photos, so, I made another tag using the same technique; to show you the step-by-step:


Here's what the sticker sheet looked like...

1. Lightly pencil out the chosen word on a separate tag, in order to see approximately where the sticker should be placed.  In my case the sticker would form the "a" in the word "peace..."

2. Using a white Uniball Signo Gel Pen, draw a mandala around the circle sticker...

3. Lightly pencil in the word for placement, then use a paint marker to draw in the word.  Thicken the letters in random places, for creative effect.

4. Color in the mandala with a gel pen.  I used neon pink and orange moonlight pens from Sakura...

5. outline the word with white pen, and add decoration to the tag's hole reinforcer, and you are done!

I hope you enjoyed the step by step. Thanks so much for visiting!

A Variety of Art Journal Pages...

Hey friends!  I've got a little 100 Day Project catch-up post for you today.  Pages 18 - 21...

Page 18/100:

"Things That Are Magic"

This was for two Get Messy Art Journaling prompts: 1. "Things that are magic..." and 2. Write your list on a photo.  The photo is actually a page from a thrifted book.


Page 19/100:

May 9 - 12, 2016 in my bullet journal...

This is actually a mockup of the Inkwell Press Flex Planner layout.  I bought one of their new academic planners, but it doesn't start til July.  I figure I can play around with the layout in my bullet journal between now and then, to figure out how I want to use the different sections.


Page 20/100:

"Currently Watching"

This is another Get Messy prompt.  :)


Page 21/100:

My May monthly view in my art journal...

 I usually make a two-page spread for my monthly calendars.  I thought it would be fun to try something different this month and make it smaller.  I learned that it takes the same amount of time to fill it in - ha!

Here's a detail shot...

The squares are a combination of doodles, stamps, stickers and patterned paper.

Thank you so much for the kind comments you've been leaving!  It means a lot to me to hear from you!  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. I wish you a marvelous Monday!

Things I should accomplish, and thoughts on Spring... (pages 14 and 15 of 100)

I got some happy mail this week that was so fun!  It's the "Now and Then" kit from The Reset Girl Shop.  If you're not familiar with the Reset Girl, you should really check her out!  She's got tons of cute stickers to use in your planner, in lots of different styles.  She also has kits that are created to use in her "Listers Gotta List" monthly challenges.  Anyhoo, here's a pic of the kit I bought...

Now and Then kit from the Reset Girl's Shop

I fell in love with the colors and all of the cute diecuts and stickers and I just had to have it; and when it arrived it was even cuter than I expected!  I just had to dive in and start playing!

So, today's journal spread started out with the first Lister's challenge; and ending up turning into a bunch of challenges all rolled into one!  Here's how it turned out...

Pages 14 and 15 of 100:

Lister's Gotta List, Documented Life and Get Messy Lists...

 The "1" sticker, green ticket, journaling card and teal and white label on the left side of the page, are all from the kit.  The prompt was "Things I should accomplish this month."

The clear cellophane bag on the right contains page 15 of 100.  It's a combination of a Documented Life prompt and a Get Messy prompt...

The two prompts were: 1. Use a color you don't normally use (mint); and "This season makes me..."  Here's a closeup...

The word spring is cut from some scrapbook paper, and the descriptive words are drawn in with Sharpie Poster paint markers.  The background is done with Neocolor II crayons, tombow markers and Dylusions spray ink.

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I wish you an awesome Monday!

Documenting Life - Pages 5 and 6 of 100...

Hi friends!  I'm happy to be back with pages 5 and 6 of the 100 Day Project!

Page 5 is actually a large tag, that will be inserted into a pocket in my journal.  It is a prompt from the Documented Life Project...

"Guests at a Roundtable Discussion"

I decided I wanted all of my roundtable guests to be inspiring women who I have never met in real life.  Here's what I came up with and why...

Page 5/100

"Fantasy Roundtable"

 The list TEN form is a printable from the Documented Life Project women.  I printed it out onto kraft printer paper; and used hand-painted hole reinforcers to highlight the numbers. Pasted the list onto a large black Ranger Tag, added some white doodles and a hand-dyed ribbon for the top.

Here's the back side of the tag...

I used the back side of the tag to add tiny photos of each of the women on my list, along with a typed list of what I find inspiring about them/why I chose them.  I just think it would be so neat to listen to these ten women discuss life - what's important to them, what they've learned from their challenges and triumphs, how they have fun, just everything!

So--- On to page 6!

Page 6/100 is a double-page spread in my journal, documenting April 19 - 21, 2016...

I wish I would have taken a picture of this page before I started working on it.  It had a bunch of collage already, plus a double pocket stitched into it, with a technique I learned in the Artful Attache workshop I recently took from Roben-Marie.


The two major things documented here are Johnny's medical emergency and Prince's death.  I am happy to report that Johnny is feeling much better.  He has to wear his cone for a couple of weeks, but he is adjusting to it surprisingly well, which makes us really happy. :)

I have to say I am still in shock about Prince's passing.  Being a Minneapolis girl, it hit really close to home.  There will be some tribute pages coming for sure, but for now, just a photo and note that it happened.  :(

On this side you can see the double pocket sewn onto the page.  Tucked in are the tag page from above, and a postcard that came with some happy mail from Maisy Handmade on Etsy.

 So, that's it for today! Tomorrow I will be back with a sneak peek of my April creative squad project for Nat Kalbach, along with a link to the step-by-step blogpost!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful Monday!

When Life Happens...

DAY THREE OF THE 100 DAY PROJECT

I had plans for another big journal page for day three,  but then this happened...

Our poor sweet little Johnny ended up in the emergency room with a nasty abscess on his cheek/neck.  We couldn't see it because of his long fur, and then it broke open and - well - let's just say it was alarming and not pretty.  We didn't know what was going on, so off to the emergency vet we went.  We were there from midnight til about 2 am, while they cleaned it and looked for the root of the problem.  Turns out he has a sore spot in his mouth that he was scratching at. We made a followup visit to his regular vet in the morning.  There will be more followup needed, but I won't get into that here. We are exhausted, but Johnny is doing well with his cute little conehead self. 

I'm grateful that before it happened, I had finished a little tip-in postcard for my journal, documenting an earlier day that I had missed.  So here it is, my submission for Day 3/100...

It's a 4x6" page for the documented life portion of my journal, done on the back of a beautiful art postcard from my friend Marit!  

I did it as a tip-in to finish off my week in my journal.  Here you can see Marit's beautiful artwork on the front of the card, and how it looks closed, against the journal page...

and here it is flipped open...

Thanks so much for visiting today!  I will be back tomorrow with the next installment of the 100 Day Project!

Howdy Doody! Sorry for my Absence...

Hi friends!  I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted!  Eek!  Where does the time go?  I think I need a schedule to follow to help me get to regular posting again.

I still have a couple of pages left to complete in my first art-journal of the year, but I will get to them soon, and other than that it is complete!  I've had requests to do a flip-thru of that journal, so I will do that as soon as I finish those few pages. I've loved every minute of working in it!   Here's how that one looks right now...

As of April 1st, I started my second journal for 2016.  I made it in Roben-Marie's workshop called "The Artful Attache."  It was tons of fun!  Here's how it looks...

It has the same number of signatures as the last one (six), but this one is a larger format (9"x12" as opposed to 8"x10"), and I alternated between plain watercolor paper and collaged and stitched watercolor paper.  Also, instead of a week-at-a-glance format, this time I'm doing more of a daily free-flowing style. So far I'm having a blast filling it up!  Here's what I've got so far for daily entries...

I'm loving the free-flowing style, cuz I can change it up depending on whether I feel like painting or not...

 I can add in photos and ephemera if I have it...

and how many days fit on each page can vary depending on how much I have to say...

I can even work in online class lessons, like I did here, with a lesson from Radiant II - Art Journaling.  The girl with the blue hair's face is shaded completely with oil crayons.  I had never tried that before but it was really fun! 

I've got so much more to share, but that will have to wait for next time, since I want to get this post up for you right away!

I hope you are doing well!  I wish you a wonderful Wednesday!

January in my journal - the calendar part...

Hi friends!  I have two months of calendar journaling to share with you, but it's a bit much to put in one post; so I thought I will share one month at a time.

It's a little bit bit No Excuses, a little bit Documented Life Project a little bit Right Brain Planner, and some other stuff, all rolled into one.  I hope you enjoy the photo show!

I know it's a lot to digest, so let me know if you have any questions, okay?

Next time, I will share February's pages.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I appreciate you!