Documented Life UnPlanner 2016 - Week 4

 Week 4 - January 23

PAC Challenge - Add a piece of a receipt from your week

Monthly Pocket Picks

This is my calendar page for this past week. I used spray inks on the background, then stamped the flowers and added painted paper circles for the centers. I had to paint the petals white many times to hide the spray inks and even now you can still see them bleeding through. I wrote the dates on half circles punched from the inside of an envelope. (Save those envelopes that come with your bills if you pay online!)

This is the back of the page. I used some Distress Inks with a gelli® plate and added painted paper scallops. I machine stitched around the vellum envelope and then glued it on to make the pocket for the Pocket Art Card for the week.

This is my PAC. The background is just collaged torn paper scraps. I stamped the flower on a Target receipt (I bought a few planning supplies from the $1 Spot), cut it out and then glued it to the card. I covered it with gel medium to try to protect it from fading, but most of the register ink came off anyway. You can still see a little on the lower petals. I also added a few of the cute Target icons.

I'm still working on the "pocket picks." Since we have a fifth week in Jan., I will be adding to that this coming week.

I've been sick with a cold since we got home from Albuquerque, and then yesterday developed pink eye. Grant came down with it the day after we left and my husband got it a few days ago. And now me... :(  Tomorrow I leave for Austin to babysit for Mitchell on Monday. They aren't too concerned that I will give it to him as we were all exposed last weekend.

Documented Life UnPlanner 2016 - Week 3

Week 3 - Jan 16
Week 3 Prompt - Use Text from a Flyer or Magazine (for PAC)
List Ten card - List 10 books that changed your life

Above is the front and back of this week's page. It was printed on kraft card stock which I colored by scraping yellow and turquoise paints over. I like how white pen shows up nicely on darker pages. I used several photos on this as it was Grant's first birthday celebration in Albuquerque on Sat. and all four grand boys were there. I wanted to journal the memories.

These photos show the front and back of my "List TEN." I didn't list books that necessarily CHANGED my life, but ones that were significant for various reasons. At first I had a hard time thinking of any, but once I started, the titles flowed! I used some collage paper for the spine and border-punched the edge. On the back I printed out a kindness quote, colored with watercolor pencils, and added some washi tape and a banner.

I cut out the word "dream" from a flyer and glued it over a painted and collaged background for my PAC this week.

This is an extra addition - a place marker which I made from a strip of printed acetate that my friend gifted me. I corner-rounded the top and added some dyed ribbon. I scraped yellow and pink paint on the back to give it some color and added painted hole reinforcers around the punched holes. I punched the holes so that it would stick up over the pages.

Documented Life UnPlanner Project - Week 2

UnPlanner Week 2 ( Jan. 9)
Monthly Theme: Going out on a limb; Trying something new
Create a "Dare 2B-----" Card using a word or action to focus on for the month
Week 2 Prompt: Choose quote and cover all but one word
Add a list

I printed out the weekly calendar page on white card stock and used some "under paper" to decorate the Sat. and Sun. areas as well as for the scallops. I added a photo of Mitchell for the days we babysat.

Dare 2B card - front

Dare 2B card - back

I printed the Dare 2B card on kraft card stock and added my word for the month: KIND. I used an artist paper (one of those included in the Somerset Magazines that I've collected for years!) for the back of the card as well as the scalloped edge and the spine. I machine-stitched the edges and added a quote and dragonfly stickers on the back.

PAC card

The week's prompt is supposed to be used on the PAC but I misunderstood and just used my word ("Be Kind)." (Hey, it's an unPlanner and we can do what we want!) It was made with several layers of paint, stamping and more dragonfly stickers. The PAC is like an ATC card and is actually the same size - 2/5" x 3.5"- either horizontal or vertical.

List - (and pocket front)

This week we were to add a list of some kind so I printed one of the downloads titled Awesome Stuff. Since this was the week of CHA (Craft and Hobby Association trade show), I decided to list some of my favorite products that were revealed at the show. I also created a pocket out of another artist paper from Somerset (I think those are going to come in handy!), folding it in half and sewing around 

the edges. 

So far I am really enjoying this year's project. The planner is already getting filled with fun, colorful pages and I'm looking forward to more weeks and establishing a "groove."

It's been too long!

I've been a bad blogger! Life just seems to get busier and busier and the blog suffers! Since my last post, I've been to the Heirloom Productions Stamp Convention in Grapevine, taught classes, had our LBH belated Christmas party and spent a weekend out-of-town at a friend's house for a "mini-art-retreat." 

We also babysat our 10-month-old grandson, Mitchell, at our house for several days and we just returned today from the weekend in Albuquerque celebrating the first birthday of another grandson, Grant.  My daughter and her family from Austin joined us so we were able to see all four grand boys at once!

Mitchell and Grant getting acquainted

Grant and Mitchell enjoying the grass and leaves

Grant's first cake experience - he didn't eat much!

I've also been working on the last two weeks' of the Documented Life UnPlanner Project. I'll detail that in another post. Hopefully I'm back on track for more regular posting!

Documented Life Project 2016 - the unPlanner!

It's 2016 and time for a new yearly challenge! I will be participating once again in the Documented Life Project.  Instead of working in the Dylusions art journal like last year, the Art to the 5th ladies are taking an entirely new approach for 2016.  Here is the blurb describing the "unPlanner" from one of the coordinators, Sandi Keene.

"Art to the 5th started a firestorm two years ago with the ORIGINAL Documented Life Project - a way to plan and document your life with art through community. We gathered 50 jaw-dropping top industry artists to inspire and stretch your art skills.

But being the art geeks that we are...we are not happy with just an ordinary planner...we are going to turn the planner world on its head once again with our new project for 2016. Introducing - The Documented Life Project 2016: The unPlanner!

We have designed a brand new system of year long documenting, planning, art challenging, life changing, community building, list making FUN that has us dancing in our studios! So sharpen your pencils, clear your desk and grab your friends  - join us for DLP 2016. It is going to be a year long amazing adventure!"

If you are at all interested in participating, check out this link for a short video explaining the project and to sign up. http://www.arttothe5th.com/journal/2015/11/25/documented-life-project-2016-are-you-ready  It's a nominal $12 for a year-long adventure!

  

So this year we are working in a kraft ring-bound planner. There are some downloads included in the class for various monthly and weekly pages as well as different lists. There is a monthly theme and each week you create different projects. 

For Week 1 we create the monthly divider, monthly view calendar, week view pages and a "pocket art card" (like an ATC).

Here is what I have done for this week.

This is the January divider. I actually copied Sandi's ideas on this one since we're just getting started and I wasn't quite sure how to proceed!  The strip with the tab on the right and the "ToDo" list are cut from the Bo Bunny calendar dividers that we are using (but unconventionally!). I sewed them,  along with a strip of painted paper,  to the divider. The list is a pocket which holds a painted tag on which I glued the monthly theme - Going out on a limb: Trying something new. The second photo shows the tag.

I didn't want to leave the inside cover blank so I added the "Don't Forget" pocket from the original divider. I watercolored it and used washi tape to stick it on. The kraft calendar label at the top was from the packaging of the kit. I typed up the monthly schedule and added it to the front of the pocket so I wouldn't forget what to do each week! The ribbon is hand-dyed seam binding using Dylusions spray inks.

This is the back of the divider. I used lots of scrap painty papers and doodled and painted petals.

I don't like the idea of having empty pages, and I might not have time every week to art on all these sides, so in the future I think I will print the pages back-to-back. 

This is the monthly view page. I like the look of both black and white pens on the kraft paper.  I used some washi tapes and some painted paper pieces to add color.

Here is the back of the monthly page which, again, I didn't want to leave blank. I scraped on some paint, stamped with paint and doodled.

This is the weekly view page. Because January started on a Friday, I didn't want to have a half-filled page, so I just started with Monday the 4th, especially since the first few days are represented on the January calendar. I printed this download on white cardstock. I will be mixing up the kraft and white throughout the planner. I used some watercolor on the headers, painted paper circles for the scallops and some stamping. For the left border I used small squares cut from a painted collage sheet and then doodled between. (I "stole" this idea from Sandi as well.)

And, lastly, here is my pocket art card. Our challenge was to somehow use #16 on the card. I painted and stamped the background and then added the chipboard number circles that I serendipitously  found on my worktable last week while cleaning up! For some reason the G in "begin" doesn't show in the photo but it really is there.

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Whew! Congrats if you've made it to the end of this post! This was alot of work this week but some was just figuring out the sizes and engineering the printing of pages. Tomorrow the second week's challenges will be posted so so far I'm up-to-date!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! May you have an art-filled 2016!

It's finished! I completed the last spread in my Documented Life Project journal on Wednesday, just in time!  I am quite pleased that I created a spread for every week, even if a little late sometimes, and that I tried to follow most of the art challenges and journal prompts.

Week 53 - Dec. 26
Art Challenge: Storytelling
Journal Prompt: Storytelling as an underlying fabric

For this week I wanted to sum up what the experience of DLP meant to me. I used the idea of the woven fabric of relationships and that art is the common thread that unites us. 

At Thanksgiving my daughter gave me a box of upholstery samples left over from when they bought a chair. She didn't want to just trash them and thought I could maybe use them. Of course, I never turn down any supplies!  I cut small pieces of the different swatches and glued them in a heart shape over a loosely watercolored background. I challenged myself to leave white space as that is usually impossible for me!

I used journaling labels for the days of the week. The circle sticker inside the heart is the DLP 2016 logo sticker that came with the new 2016 kit.

I outlined the heart and journaled around it. Finally, I glued some randomly placed string on top of the heart to represent the common thread.

This last page is bittersweet - I'm relieved to have finished all the weeks' pages but also will miss the weekly challenges.

Here is my finished journal, just bursting at the seams! It doesn't close and has expanded exponentially.  I have yet to decorate the covers as I didn't want to mess them up while working on the pages. I also intend to print out the weekly challenges and attach them to the back pages.

This has been a very gratifying and challenging exercise for the year. It will be a keepsake for me to remember all that happened in 2015, along with 53 spreads of art! Thank you so much to the original Art to the 5th gals - Robin Marie Smith, Rae Missigman, Lorraine Bell and Sandi Keene.

For 2016 I will be participating in the Art to the 5th Documented Life 2016: the "unPlanner." I can't wait to see what the gals have in store for us this year.