DLP unPlanner - July

A few weeks ago I posted the beginnings of the July pages in DLP unPlanner; today I'm posting the rest of July.

July's theme was "I Vote Yes" - Saying Yes to New Experiences. Not sure how closely I followed that theme but July is done!

Below is the calendar for the second week of July when I was on my retreat.

The prompt for the PAC that week was to use a stencil. I posted this before I went on my retreat but to refresh your memory, here is that PAC.

Weekly view for third week of July. I used a darling line drawing of Lindsay Ostrom (from an ad for her class) which I colored and glued onto the calendar. I love her girls!

Week 3's PAC art challenge was to use a black background. Although it's hard to see in the finished card, I did start with a painted black card! Then I stenciled over it with a dark violet, added circle stickers and embellished into flowers with several layers of paint, rolled a chevron roller stamp with white paint over all and finished up with lots of machine stitching with orange thread. (I was trying to duplicate what Rae did for hers and it ended up being similar but different!)

The List Ten for Week 3 was to list ten favorite or meaningful gifts you've received.  I used a small piece cut off from a calendar divider I had partially used (about 5" square) and covered it liberally with paints, stencils, stamps, doodling etc. and added the list.

List Ten front

 I did the back similarly but added a vellum quote to the center.

List Ten back

Here is the fourth week (current week). As you can see, I have not filled in Sat. or Sun. yet! The background was done with scraped Dylusions acrylic paints and a light wash of white ink with a chevron roller stamp.

The challenge for this week's PAC is to use a border. I found a scrap leftover from some crayon melting/printing experiments from years ago. I glued it to the PAC base and added a cut scalloped paper border which I doodled on. I saw the flower shape in the print so outlined it with black and white pens to define it.

I included the four PACs into my planner by stacking them in half of a 4-pocket page protector. I used decorative paper and painted reinforcers for the spine with added stitching and then closed the right edge with washi  tape.

The end of the month is my favorite - the Monthly Pocket Picks (adding bits and pieces of memorabilia to a page protector to document the month).  This month I used a full page protector and added my own custom divisions with the Fuse tool. I love using black tags with white pen!  These pockets include highlights from July - Drew's 4th birthday, my annual retreat, little Mitchell's very first haircut, the Grapevine stamp convention, a few purchases and a little shaker pocket to commemorate the 4th of July.

Front

Back

Can't wait to start August!

A little something for me...

When the "She Blooms" paper collection from Bella Blvd was released, I just had to get it. I loved all the bright colors and fun flowers and the touch of black and white. (Click on the link to see this collection if you haven't already seen it.)

Tracy (owner of The Little Blue House) did a beautiful two-page layout sample using the collection and I finally got around to duplicating one of the pages. It is perfect displayed on the 12x12 Bo Bunny clipboard I got at Christmas. I will use this for any future granddaughter I might have, but in the meantime, I will try to find a decent photo of myself and keep this in my art room. It makes me happy just looking at it!

And one more...

I forgot to post this last project from the retreat. It was hanging up right in front of my computer

 and I didn't "see" it!

This is the little banner made from toddler-sized jean pockets. Aren't they just the cutest? 

This project is super simple - add some squares of patterned papers to each pocket, make and adhere a rosette and a few pieces of ribbon, and add letters. I added Stickles to the letters and the edges of the rosettes. The pockets are threaded on a piece of twine with torn strips of fabric between each one. Easy peasy!

More Retreat Projects

The first day of the retreat, while everyone is arriving, is purely a social one and dedicated to setting up our work areas.

On the second day, we have a variety of make-'n-takes provided for and taught by members.

Jan taught this cute three-dimensional crazy birds card.  The two front sections curve out as does the firecracker.

Roxanne taught this 8x10" mixed media canvas using Tim Holtz tissue wrap, Distress Paint, modeling paste, and Distress Inks. The tag is stamped with images from the Tim Holtz "Americana" mini-blueprint stamp set and attached to the canvas.

We also made the very popular Pinterest-inspired ribbon flags. I had previously made one for myself so this one will go to my daughter if she wants it.

And that evening, mixed media artist Rita Barakat (sponsored by Marcos Paper and Faber Castell) taught this mixed media project on sticky-back canvas using gelatos, gesso, modeling paste and texture cream paint.  I have added this to my art journal.

These projects, along with the patriotic book, were not all that we did over the weekend! There was plenty of conversation, laughter, eating and just fun girlfriend time! If you ever have a chance to go on an art retreat with like-minded friends, I highly recommend it!

"Vintage Patriotic" AG Art Retreat

Every year at the annual art retreat with my online group we spend at least one day creating our own book using the retreat's theme. This year was vintage patriotic and, since I love everything red, white and blue, this book was so much fun to make!  I spent most of yesterday finishing it up and am loving the chunkiness of it.

Here is the cover which I made before the retreat as I wanted a fabric cover and some sewing on it. I used canvas for the front and back covers, backed with denim for the inside covers.  I knew it would be a chunky book, so I decided to bind it with rings.  There are four 1 3/4" rings on the spine, tied with many ribbons and fabric strips. The book is about 3" fat!

Inside front cover and first page: the vellum pocket on the inside cover holds a tag pocket made by one of the attendees. I documented about the retreat on the little "notes" tag.

Second and third pages (the 3rd page features my father and his WWII service). The photo opens to reveal a mini copy of his discharge papers and some information on his tour in Germany. He was wounded and spent a few months on the hospital ship pictured in the lower right. He always carried this photo in his wallet

Fourth and fifth pages: the photo on the left are family members of a good friend; the right page is a vintage Bingo card with a small flag I sewed.

Sixth and seventh pages: back of Bingo card features the 4th of July; the right spread is for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The seventh page above opens to reveal this spread featuring the Statue of Liberty:

Eigth and ninth pages featuring the Star-Spangled Banner song and flag:

Ninth page booklet opens up showing information about the flag:

Tenth and eleventh pages honor the Women Airfare Service Pilots of WWII. Our former neighbor, Betty Jo Streff Reed, was one of only 1,074 WASP. The top photos are mounted on a card that flips up to read her story.

Twelfth and thirteenth pages: on the left are photos of my dad and I in 1950 in the annual Memorial Day parade in my tiny hometown; the right page is about the women's rights movement in the early 1900's.

Page 14 (highlighting one of my favorite vintage images) and page 15 which is a double-sided pocket made from a paper bag to hold many of the tags that were swapped and that I created during the retreat:

Back of pocket page and inside back cover:

Tags in the pockets:

This was quite the undertaking but I'm so glad to have created (and finished) it! Several pages highlight personal memories and will be a nice keepsake and remembrance of the 2016 retreat.

On the road again...

It's time once again for another adventure! This week I will be attending an art retreat close by in Grapevine, TX.  I belong to a small online art group and our 11th annual retreat is from Wednesday through Sunday. I've been to all except last year when I contracted a bad case of pink eye the night before the event!

This year's theme is "Vintage Patriotic" and we will each be creating our own personal book using that theme. I've been busy gathering and packing supplies and trying to narrow down some ideas for the book.  Looking forward to seeing these lovely ladies again (we're from all over the US) and having a fun, creative weekend.

Yesterday I spent the day with a good friend making cookies for the retreat - approximately 7 dozen. These are so, so yummy and I think they look pretty cute too!

I have finished this week's PAC for my planner. The art challenge for this PAC was to use stencils.

PAC - July Wk. 2

Here's a step-by-step:

1. Sprayed Dylusions pink, yellow and orange inks through a dotty stencil.

2. Applied yellow paint through a herringbone stencil (hard to see).

3. Added white paint through arrow stencil and a tiny oval stencil. (The white mixes with the Dylusions inks which are not permanent.)

4. Glued and machine-stitched on "dirty" paper towel pieces for texture.

5. Attached some tiny word stickers (Tim Holtz).

6. Outlined words and arrow with black pen; ovals with white pen.

I will share my weekly view calendar upon my return as I still have several days to annotate.

I hope the remainder of your week and weekend will be creative - I know mine will be!

DLP unPlanner - July

It's the beginning of July and I'm current with my planner! So glad to be finally home and able to work the week while it's happening.

The new theme for July is: "I Vote Yes - Saying YES to New Experiences"

Front

I don't always keep to the theme but it's nice to have a starting point. For the July divider page I went with red, white and blue - love these patriotic colors and what better ones to use for July?

I used another of the Bo Bunny calendar dividers and added a portion of a Bo Bunny July paper for the center. I also used a journaling card for the pocket and stamped various-sized stars randomly over the background. I colored in the border with a marker slightly diluted with water.

For the tag I inked a star embossing folder with red ink and ran a manila tag through the Cuttlebug. The ink transferred to the tag without a lot of fuss! I added an image and star cut from a vintage design journaling card, two self-adhesive ribbon strips (very old!) and stickers to spell "YES!"

Back - monthly view

I used the back of the calendar as it was, also coloring the border and adding a striped piece of paper for the spine, some washi, stickers and stamps. This is still a work in process since there are still several weeks to go.

Front

Back

I didn't want to use a full weekly view page for the first three days of July so I used the pocket from the divider that I had cut off. I divided it into three days on the front and then decorated the back with stickers and paper cutouts. This is adhered to the left spine of the next week's page as a tip-in.

Week of July 4 - 10

I printed this week's page on kraft card stock and decorated it with red, white and blue stickers, paper, stamps and washi.

PAC

The art challenge for this week's PAC was to add texture in any way. For the background I repurposed printed color name strips left over from a box of upholstery samples my daughter had given me. This hardly shows now but with mixed media you never know where the process will lead you. At least I know it's there!  I then colored this with Neocolor II water soluble oil pastels and added texture paste through a stencil.  Next I dripped red acrylic ink from the top down and added white crackle paste through drywall tape. I tore a heart from a fibrous, handmade paper and tied on an old Jenni Bowlin cardboard button with baker's twine.

The new prompts will be posted tomorrow and I'm ready!