Artiscape 2016

I have been falling down on the job in passing along fun things to do.  This weekend is Artiscape, an annual event in Columbus, Ohio.  My friend Gaye Medbury is once again teaching this year, and her students all know she comes up with fun, fresh ideas each and every time. 

One of her classes is House of Thoughts.  How cute are these houses?  But a functional house as well because when you open the magnetic closure on the front, it's a book!  I was the recipient of a house book at Christmas, and I never cease to be amazed at how clever Gaye can be when coming up with new designs.  I know the students will be happy with their house books!  Be sure and sign up here! 

The other class Gaye is teaching is Journal du Jour.  This is a handy journal with a segmented binding, ready for you to record your daily thoughts or keep track of your convention adventures.  Gaye is famous for having her kits ready to go, everything precisely cut, thorough instructions, and with awe-inspiring samples to get your juices flowing. 

I won't be able to make it to Columbus, but I would be signed up for both of these classes if I were! 
Have fun, students!

Coming up Rainbows

The monthly themes for the Documented Life Project 2016 Planner are posted on Saturdays.  So I already had some April things in my planner when the theme was posted.  It is "Reaching for Rainbows - Creating Outside the Lines".   Oddly enough, the first assignment for the Pocket Art Card (for a month with Rainbows as the theme) was to work in black and white!

I removed the page from my planner with the April tab on it.  I ended up putting lots of colors of bright washi tape all over the page, kind of like a rainbow.  Very bright!  I put a sticker on the page with the monthly theme written on it.

For my art card, I decided this month I will change the size and make them business card size.  I made this decision based on the fact that I just purchased some vinyl pages that hold business cards. As my planner gets thicker and I realize that two separate planners will probably not be enough for 12 months, I have kept my eyes open for other options.  I can buy more binders (mine were Maya Road brand for $5 each from Amazon), or see what else is available.  The office supply store does have 9 x 7 binders, but they are not any bigger than what I'm already using (as far as the width of the spine).

But next to those binders were other things to fit that size, dividers, pocket pages, etc.  I always like having options of what to use. 

 

Before I added the washi tape to the left side page, I was pretty happy with things so far in my binder.  However, when I put that page back in the binder, next to the April calendar, for some reason it looked so "busy" to me.  Just overwhelming, too much stuff going on.  But I found a very simple solution.

I moved the business card pocket page between these two pages.  It really breaks up all that busy-ness, and it will even more so as each pocket gets a card later.  There is even a tiny pocket next to each of the business card pockets, so I can put tiny photos or mementos there if I want to.

Things have a way of working out just right!  

And I have also worked some more on my April calendar page, toning down those dirty white circles with some blues and greens.

March Turns to April

In the last post, I showed my weekly pages (DLP 2016 planner) for March 13 and March 20.  On the left side, you can see where I sewed fabric and a vinyl pocket page to the previous week.  On the black cardstock, I used green Dylusions paint and a new stencil I was trying out. Not sure what else will go on that page, maybe nothing else at all.

For the week of March 27, I went in yet another different direction.  I had some regular sized pocket pages, and picked the green one to use since I was using a lot of green.  I cut it to fit the size of my planner binder.  I put washi tape on the right side to keep contents from falling out of the pocket.  Since April was right around the corner, I punched a tab from scrapbook paper and stamped April on it. My birthday happened to fall during that week, so I will put some birthday notes and goodies in the pocket.

In the past, I never would have done this, but I got out one of my play journals and cut part of a page out to use for my April monthly calendar in the planner.  I liked how it looks with my green theme.

I drew circles for the days of the month, using a black water color pencil.   I had a vision in my head of what this was going to look like.  I used white paint to roughly paint in the circles, which activated the black watercolor.  Hmm... does not look like the vision in my head at all.  Maybe I should have used green instead of black.

But I kept going.  Stamped the numbers for the days, added a border, and days and month at the top.

I wasn't one hundred percent happy with it, but I'm keeping it anyway.  And it looked just fine next to the green pocket page.  Or, it did at the time....

Marching through March

As always in my DLP 2016 planner, I try to find new ways to make a weekly calendar.  In March, I was feeling the impending arrival of spring.  I had a children's book that had big sturdy pages with a lot of white(ish) space on them.  I cut one of the pages to fit my printer and used that for the week of March 13.  

For the week of March 20, I was in a  hurry and simply made a page from graph paper, embellishing it with greens and blues. Both of these pages are very simple, but I'm always going back and adding things to past weeks.  

I don't make a PAC (pocket art card) every week, but I do need a place to store the ones I do make.  I have some pages that store 4 cards, but it's too big for this binder.  I cut one in half, leaving the seam to hold the cards in, and sewed it to the outer edge of the page.  I put fabric over the vinyl of the pocket page so it would be easier to sew through without slipping all over the place.

One week's PAC assignment was to use leaves.  I cut the card from the same piece of practice scrap that I have used for several things already this year.  I punched small leaves from old book paper.

Another week's assignment was to celebrate white space.  I recently came across some watercolor flowers from a class years ago.  We painted around the flower shapes, leaving the white space.  I cut out a card from the larger class sheet, and stuck it in the pocket.  That way I'll see it and remember to go back to it and work on it later. 

I think sewing on the right hand side will move some of the bulk of this planner to the outer edge, rather than the center of the book, where a lot of bulk is already building up!

Blue Days

I have been playing with blue paint recently.  I went with friends Gaye and Pam to Indianapolis for the annual rubber stamp convention there.  I was disappointed one of my favorite vendors wasn't there (they had a conflict with another convention that day).  So I did not come home with new Archival ink pads or reinkers (number one on my list of things to get).  I did come home with stencils and some new colors of Dylusions paints.

I love these paints more each time I use them.  A little goes a long way, and when I use my applicators to apply the paints, I clean them off later on scrap paper and other journal pages... and always end up with more parts for collage and other projects. 

When I brought home the After Midnight (dark blue) and Calypso Teal, the Calypso Teal looked so close to Vibrant Turquoise which I already had, I didn't think there was much difference.  So I used them both on the page to compare.  Here are the results of my paint playing....

I have other new colors I haven't played with yet, as well as more stencils.

Saw this T-shirt at the convention and thought it was funny:

On the way home, we took a side trip to Nashville, Indiana, and stopped at the two stamp stores there.  It's always fun to stop at a stamp store, because there seem to be fewer and fewer of them.

We also performed research at the ice cream shop around the corner, just to make sure they were selling a satisfactory product.  :)

These oddities were in front of the ice cream shop, made from all sorts of metal parts.

Spring is here some days, and some days it still feels like winter.  I do like seeing more daylight at the end of the day!

March Planner Pages

Hello March... Even though my lack of posts here makes it look like I haven't done anything lately, that's not totally true.  I have made a few pages for this month for the Documented Life Project UnPlanner 2016.

I continue to find different ways to make a weekly date page.  I have a few pads of paper from the dollar store that have the days of the week on them.  Personally, I prefer the ones that start the week with Sunday, not Monday.  But I have scissors and I'm not afraid to use them, so the ones that start with Monday can still be used. 

For the March file tab, I used my punch to punch the tab from a notecard.  I used a label maker to print March on clear label tape.

 For the March calendar page, I printed the month on a kraft colored paper and wrote the days with a white gel pen.  I used the same paper to print a divided list and adapted it to make a weekly page.

I must have been tired when I stamped the days of the week on the weekly page.  I invented a new day, Sundax.  I just let it go and made a note that it was a new day of the week!  I just don't let little things like that slow me down anymore!  Adds a little extra uniqueness to the page!

Looks good on paper...

Getting ready to make my weekly page for next week for the DLP 2016 UnPlanner class, so it's time to post the page I made for this past week.   Even though I like printing the weekly form on different papers, I felt like the pages were all starting to look the same.  On this one, I already had the big flower on the back of the previous week (the flower sticker was to cover some smudged black ink on the cream colored cardstock.  The art itself is a freebie from class that I had printed on label paper).  I really had no plan, other than to not have the days of the week lined up normally.  I used a stencil to draw the words for the days of the week, and water color pencil to box them in. I'm happy that I ended up with something with a completely different look. 

Next, this is probably something I should keep to myself, but it is what it is!  I started the year with one page in my planner to show the weekly assignments we would do each month.  Then I needed someplace to put the monthly/weekly themes, so I made a page to do that.  Last week, I decided I needed a spread sheet to track what I had and had not finished.  I don't finish each assignment each week, and sometimes I don't do an assignment at all.  But since I work in such a random fashion (on the art cards, for instance), I needed to know what I still needed to do.  It's only the second month.  Who knows what kind of tracking page I will end up with by December!

I also printed out a year-at-a-glance page just for my personal use.  It was intended to go in the planner notebook, but it may end up on my bulletin board instead.  I got it from this website which has a lot of different types of pages to download and print.  A lot of journalers are using the Midori Traveler's Notebook.  I love the concept - pages are held in by elastic bands, and you buy the types of pages or inserts you want.  If you want to make your own, the website I linked to provides different pages for doing that. Just print what you want to use.

Waiting for tomorrow's assignment, and I feel the urge to paint something, so I may have paint on my next pages!

Taking a Leap

Thought I needed to catch up on posting some of my planner pages.  So, it's February now.  The theme for DLP UnPlanner for February is "Love Without Hesitation--Taking the Leap"... blah, blah, blah.  Okay, people who know me know that I'm sarcastic.  So that is what fell out of my head when I worked on that theme! 

Coincidentally, the same weekend the theme came out, I received an email from Erin Smith Art, where I have bought things online before.  (Caution, her items are funny,but some may find the language on some items offensive. Fair warning!)  Anyway, I printed the art on the right hand page directly from her website.  Seemed to fit perfectly for me.

The first week challenge was to use thread or floss, so I sewed around the art, plus made an art card with paper that already had a stitched pattern in it. I just realized the challenge for the second week was to use shades of one color.  I think that art card might do double duty and work for both weeks!

I'm dismayed to find my binder is filling up very fast.  At this rate, it will be full by the end of March.  We were instructed to get two binders for the year, so I do have more than one, but I have to reassess right now.  I'm now making my weekly pages with either paper or lighter weight cardstock.  There is one monthly assignment that I may skip, as it's not really speaking to me (the Dare2B assignments).  

Leaping onto the next challenge... 

Random Things

In no particular order (because these are not from the same weeks), new things in my 2016 Planner include:

Monthly view for February:

I had printed blank calendars on several different papers last month, and thought red would be good for February.  I used an edge punch to make the right side border... and accidentally tore part of the design.  A tab covers that nicely.  My planner is a bit flat because I haven't added a lot in the way of 3D embellishments.  I came across this birthday card a friend made for me several years ago.  I like the way it looks with my red February pages, plus it adds some dimension.

Miscellaneous things to use:

One of my weekly pages above, which was printed on scrapbook paper.  I'm finding I like to print on scrapbook papers.  I also discovered a stack of papers from the freebies in Somerset Studio magazine.  One is on the left, a good choice for February.  They have printing and advertisement on the back, but folded in half they make a good sturdy page ready for embellishment.  Came across the giant playing card and I'm not sure yet what I will do with it, but it seems right for February.

Art card and List 10 card:

The small art card on the right was for an assignment to use something from a flyer or magazine.  Instead, I used some numbers from the selvage edge of fabric.  I sewed it to the card, which already has paper with mark making from one of my play days.  I used it last year in the DLP journal, and enjoyed finding a use for this smaller piece.  (Seriously, these selvage edges are as popular as the inside of security envelopes.  Just do an internet search for fabric selvage images and see all the things people are doing with these scraps that were meant to be thrown away.)

 

One of the monthly assignments will be to list 10 things (last month was 10 books that influenced you).  I happened to have a pad of blank lists, found on a sale table once.  I collaged and stenciled a large tag where I will place my list, and added a batik fabric tie at the top.

 

The first month of the DLP Planner is behind us.  Moving on to the February challenges. 

Seeing Red

I have not yet read the prompts for the coming week (#4) of the DLP 2016 planner, but I did start my weekly page early and really love it.

For my background page, I used a scrap piece of bristol board from a play day in the past when I tested new stencils and paints.  I have a stash of papers like this and never liked this one, but for some reason, I decided the to use it as the weight is good for a page in the planner.
I used vintage labels for the days of the week, cutting them in half so they didn't take up so much room.

I put washi tape on the left side and added a nice little art element with the bird, which was on a gift tag last year from friend Gaye.

I couldn't decide how to separate the days of the week.  A strip of black washi tape between each one seemed too much.  Drawing a dark black line with a permanent marker didn't seem to strike a chord with me ether.   Ah.. my Inktense black watercolor pencil.  Still my favorite tool.  I quickly scribbled lines around the page and between the days.

I held my breath and applied water to the pencil lines.  You never know what it will actually look like until the pencil is activated with water.  But I really liked it.  It was just the grungy look I was going for, and I really liked how the acrylic paint resisted the watercolor.

 

The piece of bristol board I used was pretty big before I cut it down.  In addition to the acrylic paint on it, it had a shimmery spray that I had also tested.  Rather than cut the page to the exact size I needed, I kept it long on one end and folded it over, so the part where the holes are is double thickness.  I glued down some kraft paper under that flap that was formed and put some decorative tape over the edge of the flap.    

 

 I'm not sure what will go on that page, so I guess I'd better go look at the assignment now! 

 



Play dates

Forgot to post this earlier, but this is what I played with for Week 3 of the DLP 2016 planner.  I still have to finish some of it. 

Left:  the Dare2Be card.  I edged the page with my printed label stickers, then printed out the free download to put on top of that.  I picked my word to use (hopeful)... I have a lot to say about that on my card as I feel I have been challenged in all areas of my life in the past year or two. 

Middle:  My weekly date page.  I printed the template on scrapbook paper that I cut to size to fit my printer.  I used my hole reinforcers that I decorated last week.  For the days of the week, I cut the words from a small pocket size datebook from years past.

Right:  I printed out the template for a To Do List and attached it to a really pretty envelope, then punched holes on the left so I can put it in the planner.  Inside the envelope are some notes and ideas about those things I need To Do!  The envelope is held closed with an arrow shaped paper clip.

Three of the days on the weekly calendar have the word "snow" on them!  brrrr... I know it's winter, but it seems like we always get a lot of snow all at once. 

Holey Moley

I've been wanting to do something fun with hole reinforcers.  I started by stamping designs in black ink. 

 Then I sponged on different colors of stamp pad ink. That's all there is to it.  Quick and easy.

 Or so I thought.  I seem to have taken up permanent residence in the Land of Oblivion.  In the picture below, notice that the sheet on the left has no hole reinforcers on it.  That's because they are on the reverse side of that sheet.  How I could have been so oblivious to stamp and sponge the whole sheet without noticing that is beyond me.  But when I realized it, I just turned it over and repeated it all over again.  But you know, once I have used up the reinforcers, that back side of the sheet with all those holes would make a nice embellishment.

 As will my scrap paper where I worked, with all those dots. 

The Land of Oblivion provides lots of happy accidents as a bonus to its residents.

Getting Organized

For some reason, I have trouble with this new planner project.  Not with making my pages, but gathering my thoughts about what to do each week.  Simple solution...  Make a page to go in my planner that tells me. I copied part of it directly from the website and printed it on cardstock to fit the page size.  I need to double check that I have the information right, then embellish the page some and permanently attach the vintage plastic divider tab.  This will come in handy for my scattered brain.

One thing I missed about last year's journal is that I had a place in the beginning of my book where I listed all the assignments for each week and month.  The great thing about this planner is that you do what you want with it.  So, I made some pages where I can record the assignments.  I simply used a ledger type paper, put some reinforcement at the edge and punched holes.  I printed the DLP header off the website to put on the first page.

I have not completed this week's assignment, but I feel a whole lot better about seeing at a glance what I need to do! 

I Feel Dated

Played around with the Week 1 assignment for DLP 2016 off and on this weekend.  I'm trying to follow instructions and figure out exactly what I'm supposed to do this first week. As usual, I do have a way of straying off the beaten path.  It's only week 1, so that doesn't bode well! 

What I have done so far is:
Monthly divider page for January.  I used a black cardstock page, collaged some map gift wrap tissue from a  Christmas gift along with some vintage postage, and two rows of washi tape. Added a label tab for the month, used a corner rounder, and called it good.  (Note to self:  When using the corner rounder, do it before adding the month tab.)

January Calendar:  Printed off a blank calendar from the downloads, lettered the month, and stamped the numbers.   (Note to self:  Next time use the other calendar, the one that starts on Sunday.  I get very confused with weeks that start with Monday.)  I printed one of my journal pages onto label paper and put labels on the left side of the calendar, and some washi tape on the right side.  Used the corner rounder, and called it good.

Instead of using one of the downloads for the weekly view, I used a timecard.  And instead of making an art card this week, I used the back of the timecard/weekly calendar to make an art card.  I have a plastic sleeve this will go in, with holes punched on the left for the three ring binder.  The front (weekly) part of the card is pretty self explanatory.
For the art card part, I lightly painted it with acrylic paint.  I noticed the words about lost time and time out, and left those visible.  I added on random words all over the card (Archival stamp pad ink) from a word stencil.

I still need to add my notes about technique as well as the challenge and prompt. 
January Challenge:  Trying something new (for me, this Unplanner will be something new).
Week 1 Prompt:  Incorporate 16 into your art. 

Not totally happy with everything, but I don't hate it.  Not going to go back at this point and change anything! 

Twenty Sixteen

Happy New Year!  I always feel like I have a fresh start on the first day of a new year.  I don't make resolutions, no sense setting myself up for failure.  I do like to have goals in mind, but there is no punishment if I don't accomplish them all.

I have unfinished business from last year, mainly my Documented Life Project 2015 Journal.  There are several weeks that I skipped over, and I will finish those.  The assignments will be a nice change of pace from whatever else goes on this year.

I am already suffering from Journal Indecision for 2016.  That is not a good way to start the year.  It is not uncommon for me to have more than one journal going on at the same time.  But this year I am very indecisive about what I want to do.

I usually have my "grid journal", a small journal for writing that has graph paper pages.  I couldn't find one this year and ended up buying a larger lined journal (above).  It will mainly be for writing, but I will also add stamping and stenciling, washi tape, other fun stuff.

I have also signed up for Documented Life Project 2016, the Unplanner.  This is a three ring binder with inserts.  I have played around with their generous downloads of pages for calendars, weekly planner, lists, etc.  I'm anxious to see where that will take me! To see what it's all about, watch their video here.

Before I got my lined journal, I bought this book, Year of the Doodle.  I really love the images of ephemera used on the printed page. I didn't get it to doodle, but planned to use it for my writing journal.  Then I decided that I sometimes need more room for certain days than what that provides.  Not sure what I'm going to use it for yet.  Maybe an idea journal.  I'm always jotting ideas on scraps of paper while I'm working, and then they end up lost or accidentally thrown away. 

So, that is the State of the Arts at my house on this first day of 2016.  Hope everyone has a most wonderful year ahead, lots of creative ideas, and a heart full of joy!