February/March Journaling Plan...

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all of your comments on my last couple of posts. I love hearing about your different ways of journaling! I'm so excited to share my February/March plan with you today!

Here is the stack of journals I will be using.  There are four of them...

Here's the plan...
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             Types of Journals for February/March 2015:

Name	What goes in it	Purpose	Format	When
“Follow your own Beat” Art Journal	Finished pages. Whether workshop lessons or my own ideas, this book contains pages that I work on til they feel completed.  Mixed Media.	Portable Studio. Showcase of my work.	Handbound Watercolor Journal 9x12	Work in it daily.
No Excuses Journal	No Excuses assignments and challenges; Artfully Inspired Life Workshop Weekly Overview with quotes; Sketches; Photos; ephemera, daily journaling.	Chronicle my life and drawing progress	8x10 Global Art Materials Handbook	Daily
Bullet Journal	Master To Do list, Commonplace Book, Workshop and other Notes, Project Lists, logbook, etc. (monthly calendar in back pocket)	Indexed reference notebook.	Orange Leuchtturm 1917 Squared Notebook	As needed
Once Upon A Time Journal	Chronicle my thoughts and assignments for the Brene Brown course “The Gifts of Imperfection”		Handmade Envelope Journal	As I get to each lesson.

My orange bullet journal is only about half full, so I am carrying it thru to February.


Here's a closer look at the other three:

"Follow Your Own Beat" (Main Art Journal):

I'm super excited about this one!  I actually made the front and back cover a few years ago, inspired by an in-person workshop taught by Pam Garrison that I went to with my sister Renee.  It's collage on top of  art board, so it's super sturdy.  Even though you can't see his face, I imagine you can tell it's Kurt Cobain right there in the middle.  His music inspires me.  :) After I made the covers though, I never bound it, so it's been sitting in my studio, waiting for the right time.  I decided the right time is NOW!  Yeayyy!

 I used the binding method taught in Julie Balzer's Junque Journal Workshop.  It is filled with 40 spreads of 9x12 140 lb watercolor paper...

Here's the back cover...

No Excuses (planner) Journal:
I'm changing over from a desk diary to a plain watercolor handbook to document my days.  I'm using this one from Global Art Materials...

The desk diary was working fine.  I just thought it would be fun to draw my own calendars and have a place to do my daily journaling too.  More on that in an upcoming post.

and finally,

"Once Upon A Time" journal...
This is a journal I made in Roben-Marie Smith's "Ripped and Stitched" workshop back in 2013....

The cover is made of strips of handpainted fabric, and the inside is 9x12 white envelopes that are folded in half and gelli printed...

I am signed up for Brene Brown's "The Gifts of Imperfection" workshop, and I'm using this journal for the workshop lessons.  There are 12 lessons, and 12 envelopes in this journal - how perfect, right?

So, that's it.  It's going to be a fun couple months of journaling! 

Thanks so much for visiting me today!  I wish you a very merry Monday!!!

How I Use My Bullet Journal...

Hi friends!  Today I want to talk to you about the bullet journal.  It's a method of note-taking developed by Ryder Carroll, and it's been gaining popularity all around the internet lately.  I can't remember how I came upon this video, but I was intrigued when I saw it...



There is an official website for the bullet journal here:  bulletjournal.com.

Knowing that I have a swirly brain, and need structure to keep things in order, I thought I would give it a try.  I actually started in November in a composition notebook, and it worked so well that by January, I had invested in a beautiful orange Leuchtturm 1917.  It's the top book in this photo...

In my opinion, it's the ultimate notebook for bullet journaling!  I can't say enough about how wonderful the Leuchtturm 1917 is!  The paper is so smooth and lovely to write on!  The pages come pre-numbered, and there is an index at the front...

I tried making the monthly calendar in a list-form as per the video instructions...

It looked nice, but I really didn't use it, so I won't be continuing with that. 

Instead I bought a little 4x6 calendar to put in the back pocket of the journal.  This allows for future planning too; something that the bullet journal system lacks...

Here's my key.  I keep it pretty simple....

Sometimes I will do a weekly page where I track things.  (ignore the year on this, it was actually from 2014 - ha!)...

 My daily pages change and evolve as I go.  Here are some examples...

 

In my Year of the Spark workshop, Carla suggested doing a daily journal page divided into sections for various purposes, so I've been doing that and it's super fun!

I don't do a daily page every day though.  Only when I feel I need it.  If my brain is feeling jumbly and I want to sort things out, I will do one.  If I start my day with a solid plan in my head, I don't do one. 

I also put other stuff in my bullet journal.  Such as workshop handouts, and sketches...

Lettering practice...

Sometimes my pages are messy like this...

The main thing is - if I have an idea (or anything that I want to remember), I just open up to the next available page and write it down.

The two main things I always do are:  1.  Date every page.  and  2. Keep the index up to date. That way  I can find things when I need them.

My orange Leuchtturm is getting full, so I have a pink one ordered and on the way!  Click here to see all the fun colors they come in!

Do you bullet journal?  If so, how do you like it?

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments and I will do the best I can to answer them in the next post.

Thanks so much for visiting today my friends!  I wish you a fabulous Sunday!

Review of January's Journaling Plan...

Hi friends!  I've just finished doing a review of my Journaling system for January and I want to share how it went with you...

I know I posted this before, but here is a copy of what my plan for January was...

              Types of Journals for January 2015:

Name	What it is	When	Format
Art Journal	Story of my life in words, images, art, photos, ephemera, etc. Includes workshop lessons and any thoughts about them.	One spread each day	Handbound Watercolor Journal
No Excuses Journal	Desk Diary format: Specific purposes for the monthly and weekly pages. Follows a monthly color theme	Daily, weekly & monthly entries based on NEA system.	Barnes & Noble Weekly Desk Diary
Bullet Journal	Master To Do list, Commonplace Book, Workshop and other Notes, Project Lists, logbook, etc. (monthly calendar in back pocket)	Daily if needed	Orange Leuchtturm 1917 Squared Notebook
Writing Journal	Evening Pages (stream of consciousness)	Daily if needed	Silver Maya Journal

Here's a pic of the journals...

Notice there are only three.  That's because I never got going with the writing journal.  I ended up doing my daily writing in my Book of Days.  The bottom (largest) one is my Book of Days aka Art Journal.  The middle one is my No Excuses Journal aka Barnes and Noble Desk Diary (I started to alter the cover but didn't finish).  The top one is my Bullet Journal.

Here's another view...

So, how did it go?

What went well...
Planning to review my goals at the end of the month was the best thing ever.  I've realized that my attention span seems to be about one month.  Ha.  Now I can feel like I did well with my goals, and it's okay to change them up if I want to!  Yeayyy!!!

In the Art Journal:
I didn't quite make my goal of one spread everyday, but I came close.  I think I missed four days, so my book was actually filled on February 4th instead of January 31st.  That's totally fine with me.

Planner Journal:
Filled the January pages completely.

Bullet Journal:
Worked great.  Used it when I needed to, but didn't obsess over it. I know I haven't shared anything about this journal yet.  I will do a post on it soon for you. 

I have a new plan for February.  Some things will stay the same and some things will change.  I'm loving this evolving system!

How about you?  If you journal, how did your system go in January?  How many journals are you using, and what are they each for?  I am always soooo interested to hear how other artists are doing this.

Tomorrow I will be back and share my new system with you.  Thanks so much for visiting!  I appreciate you!

Artfully Inspired Update...

Just a quick share today, of a couple more pages from the Artfully Inspired Life workshop.

January's theme was "spark," and we were working on embellishing our own handwriting.  I had tons of fun making this mandala...

Now we are on to February!  The theme is "passion," and we are working on whimsical calligraphy.  I have discovered that calligraphy is especially challenging if you are a left-hander!  Wow!  I did tons of practice on scratch paper before I tried writing in my journal.  I did a search on youtube and found out that it helps us left-handers if you turn your paper sideways, so I tried it and it worked!  It's still challenging to hold the pen at the correct angle, but I am enjoying learning this new skill...

Thanks so much for visiting today! I appreciate you!

Part Two of What I Did on my Art Retreat...

Hey friends!  I'm excited to share the rest of the pages I got done at my art retreat with you!  These are all pages in my main art journal.  There are a lot of them, so I won't go into great detail on each one, but if you have questions, let me know in the comments, okay?  I'm posting them in the order they appear in my journal, along with the name of the workshop or challenge they were for...

For the Artfully Inspired Life Workshop...

For Journal 52 - Conversations...

For Life Book Week 2 - tags...

for Artfully Inspired Life...

for Life Book week 4 - Ballerina...

 

for Lifebook Week 5 - Affirmation Feather...

for Lifebook Week 5 - Dream Catcher...

 

for Artfully Inspired Life...

for Book of Days - Inner Landscape...

 

for Journal 52 - Silhouettes...

for Documented Life - Tribute to Georgia O'Keeffe & the Color Wheel...

this one is not for a challenge - it's a tribute to my sweet Michael...

for Book of Days:  Longing is a Portal...

Just for fun...

and that's it!  My journal is finished! It feels fantastic!



Since I got home, I have put the finishing touches on it, such as painting the front and back inside covers...

Stamping the title on the front, and attaching a piece of trim for a closure...

I'm excited to start my next journal!  I'll show you that one soon!


Thanks again so much for visiting today!  I wish you a wonderful Sunday!

What I Did On My Art Retreat: part one...

Hi friends!  I just got back from spending a week (yes a whole week!) at a scrappy retreat center with my friends Anne and Christina, creating like crazy!  We had so much fun!

I usually like to at least get one photo of the group of us when we go on retreat but I forgot this time - rats!  I did get one photo - of Anne...

Her painty fingers and happy smile pretty much sum up the week!

I got lots done, and rather than overwhelm you with all of it at once, I figure I will break it into two posts!

Here's what I got done in my No Excuses planner journal...

I finished my calendar grid for January (celebrating the color gray)...

a grey collage...

I did one of the weekly drawing challenges - a bunny...

and I finished up the last week of daily entries...

The animal photos on the right are a taped on flap...


Left side detail...

right side detail with the flap open...

I'm thinking about turning my No Excuses Journal into a 3-ring binder planner!  That way, I can stick all kinds of things in there, like  photo pocket pages, ephemera and more journaling!  It could be like my quirky version of project life!  How fun would that be?

Okay, so that's all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with part two of "What I did on my Art Retreat"!

Thanks so much for visiting!  I appreciate you so much!

Just to let you know...

Hey everyone!  I just want to let you know I haven't forgotten you!  I have some stuff going on that will take me away from blogging for another week or so (don't worry, it's all good stuff!).  After that, I will be back to daily posts again!

Have a great week my friends!

Rekindled by a spark...

Hi friends!

Just a quick share of a journal page...

The illustration was inspired by a photo I saw on pinterest.  Done with tombow markers, a waterbrush, and pitt pens.

I hope you are having a fabulous week so far!  Thanks for visiting!

Just Be (Journal 52 Week 2)...

The second week's challenge over at Journal 52 was   "Just Be." 

Here's what I came up with...

It was one of those pages where I had a story, but no idea how I was going to create the page when I started.  I just started playing with layers of stencils and spray ink.  Then I added some collage papers, doodles, and acrylic paint.  I found the image of the woman looking out into the ocean in a book and it fit perfectly, so I pasted it on.  Lastly some doodling, journaling and a title. 

I realized that lately I've been doing lots of planned pages; so it felt really good to jwing it with this one.  How about you?  Do you usually plan your journal pages, or are you  more of a "just play and see what happens" type?

Artfully Inspired Life Dailies...

A quick share of a couple more pages made for my Artfully Inspired Life class with Joanne Sharpe.  These were both done with Tombow Marker and a waterbrush...

I am so loving this class!!!

Thanks for visiting today!  I appreciate you!