I'm Back - and November Catch-Up

I returned last night from Albuquerque and had fun babysitting the two boys, but a few weeks with a one- and four-year-old have worn me out! One day I took them to the Abq Balloon Museum for story time and craft hour. They had a blast (though you wouldn't know it from the look on Grant's face) and it was a nice change of pace from staying in the house!

November Documented Life unPlanner Update

I've been trying to stay current with the DLP planner but haven't been home long enough to do much posting!  Here's Week 2 - the background is "smooshed" paints and I added several cutouts and die cut leaves.

The art challenge for the PAC this week was to start with a photograph. I had a duplicate 2" x 2" photo of all four grand boys so I used that along with some stitching and doodling on a pre-painted background.

 For the Dare2B card this month, I decided to use "thankful." I added a black card stock spine to an art pop card from Roben Marie Smith and wrote my list with a Faber Castell Pitt artist pen.

I switched to kraft card stock for Week 3 and used a chevron roller stamp with white ink for the background. The yellow flowers were stamped with paint and stickers added to centers.

This week's art challenge was to use pen and ink only. I loosely sketched a scene I'd seen on Pinterest and watercolored it to evoke fall trees. It came together so quickly.

I used the back of the Dare2B card to add my List Ten. This month's prompt was to list your life advice in ten words.

Week 4 is also kraft card stock (the back of week 3). Again, I scraped a few paints on the background and added Art-to-the-5th circle stickers (halved) for the dates.  I also doodled white white pen to brighten it up. For Thanksgiving Day I glued on a stamped and colored fall wreath that I found in my stash.

For this week's PAC we were to explore pointillism. I struggled with this one. I finally used a gelli-plated and stamped paper for the background  and just kept adding dots in a few colors to enhance the abstract design. It's not my favorite! When I finished I felt it still needed a focal point, so I added the stamped and gold-embossed title.

I added all four PACs to a cut-down pocket sleeve, embellished with a stripe spine and scalloped border.

There were still three days to go for November, so I added a kraft half-page calendar for this partial week.

I didn't have much ephemera for my monthly pocket picks, as I spent most of my month babysitting one set of grand boys or the other.  Instead of my usual pocket page protector, I used a large black tag to add some photos. I love black tags embellished with white pen and colorful hole reinforcers.

Front

Back

So that was November!

DLP unPlanner - September

It's been another two weeks since I've posted. I stay busy enough to seem to avoid blogging! Keep saying I'll do better... We did babysit the two boys from Austin (ages 4 and 15 months) for four days and my husband has also been laid up with a bad bout of sciatica so those are my excuses!

The theme for September's DLP is "Roll Call - Being Accountable."

This is my monthly divider, using the Bo Bunny divider that was in the kit, along with a pocket and tag as I've done each month.  I use the tag to add the month's theme. I used similar colors of Distress inks for the tag and embossed the three hearts in white. The ribbon is hand-dyed.

On the back of the monthly divider is the monthly calendar.

This is the first week of September.  I'm using the kraft calendars this month.

The PAC art challenge for the first week was "Add an Organic Element." I used a previously painted card and stenciled a leaf in white. For the organic element I wrapped a stick from the yard with a fuzzy fiber and tied it to the top of the PAC. The words are very old clear stickers.

Here is the weekly view for the second week. The dates are an exclusive stamp set by Rae Missigman for DLP. I love it but it only goes to - luckily I was able to make "eleven" from the "seven" stamp.

The art challenge was to stitch on the PAC so I used a section of a "mop-up paper" for the base and added gelli print circles for the flowers and book page leaves. I machine stitched all in place and hand-stitched the tiny yellow circle of dyed paper towel in place.

And this is the third week, the week just ending. I used pink and yellow paints on the background but it turned out pretty dull because of the kraft card stock. I then used a small chevron roller stamp and white ink to lighten it. The dates are written on little banners punched from security envelopes.

The PAC challenge this week was to make marks in black and white over a colored background.  This background is painted with several colors; then I stamped the flowers in black and added white and black doodles throughout. Adding black and white marks to any project really makes it pop!

The List Ten for this month is to list 10 things you hope to gain as you grow older.  I printed the "list TEN" template on white paper and secured it to kraft card stock. I added colorful artist paper and colored hole reinforcers to the spine and border-punched the right edge. For the bullet points I used the centers of colored hole reinforcers. On the back I randomly stenciled a few colors and added some random items laying on my desk! I love being able to use up "stuff." Finally, I added paint splatters in pink and orange.

Front

Back

Documented Life unPlanner 2016 - catch-up on August

As I explained in the last post,  I've been busy! Though I haven't posted, I have stayed current with each week's calendars and challenges.  So here's the remainder of August. With this month finished, we are now 3/4 of the way through the year with only four months to go! 

I have completely filled my second binder and will now have to start a third. I love how chunky my two binders are, but really wish they could all be in one volume. This photo shows the binder as closed as it gets! For this binder, I did not use the kraft one that was included in the DLP kit. I found this one at Target and adore the pattern so much I will not even decorate it. The black and white  make all the colorful inside goodness really pop!

Week 2 Calendar (I chose not to do a Dare 2B card this month)

Week 3 Calendar (week of birthdays)

List Ten - 10 Places You'd Like to Visit in the Past

Front

Instead of using the regular List Ten template, I used a skinny, scalloped-edge page from the DLP kit. I used the centers of painted hole reinforcers for the bullet points. I covered the back with a painted collage sheet and added a "to do list" printed on kraft. Again, I love white pen on kraft!

Back

Week 3 PAC

This week's challenge was to document a happy event during the week. Since it was my birthday on Friday, that was my focus. This was an old journal card (with the face, "me" and a colorful background printed on it). I added lots of paint and then adhered the macarons image from a planner printout.  I doodled a bit and called it done.

Week 4 Calendar

Week 4 PAC 

The challenge was to highlight a favorite number. I chose "4" for my four grandsons. I stamped several different sizes of 4's in gray and pink inks on the background and then stamped the large 4 in black. I then doodled in white to "highlight" the number.

To hold this month's 4 PACs I used another stacked page protector. The photo below shows the front; the third and fourth cards are on the back.

Week "5" - last few days of Aug.

Since there were only 3 days left in August, I used only half a calendar page. The colorful circles for the dates were pushed from an old Stampers Anonymous catalog. The scalloped border is cut from a security envelope. Love those black and white designs.

Monthly Pocket Picks

I changed it up this month for the monthly pocket picks. Usually I use a page protector and fuse tool to enclose the bits and pieces of my month. Since this month was so busy and I had lots of photos, I decided to create a card stock fold-out.  Below is the "booklet" folded up. I had to add a tiny decorative clothespin to hold it closed! The spine is made from a decorative file folder I found at the Target $ Spot. I like the black contrast with all the colors. Most of this booklet is covered with the artist collage papers that were included in the kit. They are the artwork of Rae Missigman and Sandy Keene (co-moderators of DLP).

Front

 The top flap opens up and reveals a postcard I received from an art friend in New Mexico. It was so cute I wanted to save it.  I added a black tag with photos of Drew and Grant who we babysat early in August. To the right you can barely see a tag from some flip-flops I bought this month. This flips open.

Top flap open revealing the front of the left flap

The left flap is dedicated to my birthday. There are photos of flowers I received from my husband and the cards I received. The title, as well as the sequin border, were cut from one of my cards and adhered to the page. The label and ribbon are from the box of chocolate that Kelly and her family sent me, along with their note.

The center page has photos of all the boys and activities we did last weekend in Austin. On the right, I covered the back of the shoe tag with black paper and added a photo of an art piece I received in an art swap.

Top, left and right flaps opened

Lastly, this is the back of the booklet. Since we stayed a few extra days, I added a few more photos from that time as well as the stickers from the 2 ERs we visited!

 And with that, this binder is finished! On to September and the last quarter of the year!

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!

Catching Up... Documented Life unPlanner - May, Weeks 3, 4, 5

I've got a lot of catching up to do with my Documented Life unPlanner - several weeks' worth and many experiences to document!

May - Week 3

Weekly Calendar

List Ten - the prompt was to list ten songs that "make your feet move" but I changed it to my favorite songs (This is printed on the back of last week's "Dare 2B" card to save space.)

PAC: Art challenge - to use a circle sticker (I used three and embellished them. The background is made with Color Bursts.)

May - Week 4

Weekly Calendar (added a few photos from trip)

PAC: Art challenge - to incorporate favorite stamps

May - Week 5

Weekly Calendar (last two days of May)

This is only half a page (added to the back of a postcard).