Documented Life unPlanner 2016 - Finished!

I spent the last few days of 2016 finishing up the last few weeks' of December in my Documented Life unPlanner. Whew! I did it! All 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days of 2016 in three (yes 3!) stuffed, lovely binders. I got behind sometimes, due mainly to our travel schedules, but I did keep going... This will be wonderful to look back on in a few years and relive all the memories.

So here are the last few weeks.

Week 2 - Dare 2B card

I used a tag that I had gotten at a demo at a scrapbook convention ("be a blessing today" was stamped on it already). I added washi tapes and inked the background. "Dare" and "2" are stamped.

I added the List Ten for Week 3 on the back of the tag.

Week 3

The background is acrylic paint. Lots of washi tape and stickers. We had the boys this week so I had several activities to add.

The PAC challenge for this week was to add crayon. I used Distress Crayons for the background over collaged book text and also colored over the stamped trees with them. I doodled with white pen.

Week 4

This was Christmas week as well as leaving for Mexico. I stamped with red paint and a chevron roller stamp (love that stamp!) for the background. I used labels for journaling and also wrote inside the white stripes. The "believe" card for Christmas Day is attached with a washi tape hinge and opens to reveal some journaling and photos.

The art challenge for this week's PAC was to use colored pencils.  I was inspired by the colors and metal work of Mexico. I bought a small silver heart ornament there and drew it on my card. Both the heart and background are done with colored pencils.

Week 5

This background is watered down acrylic paint, stamped with white flourishes (barely visible).

I couldn't leave the back of this page plain, so I added some artist paper and then journaled about the year and the experience.

The PAC challenge was to use gold paint or ink. I used a "mop-up" page for the background and added a few artsy stickers. Then I stenciled the leaf with gold paint and edged the card with the paint. I "stole" Rae Missigman's idea that she used on her card - adding 365 tiny marks to symbolize the 365 days of 2016.

 I added the five PAC cards to a cut down page protector and embellished the edge with circle stickers cut in half.

Monthly Pocket Picks

I had lots to include for this month. I picked up a postcard in San Miguel of all the pretty, unique doors. I used that for the first "page" of my monthly pocket picks and collaged photos from a brochure on the back.

Then I used a page protector for the other items, mostly photos, for the rest of the month.  I added photos from babysitting Carl and Mitchell on the front and photos from our trip on the back of a large black tag. Then I fused smaller pockets on the right edge to hold other miscellaneous photos from the month. One pocket is filled with gold sequins for New Year's Eve.

Front

Back

Here is the third binder holding the last four months' of the year.

And this is what a full year of my life looks like! It spreads out to about 12 inches when not contained with a book band!

Can't believe it's done! Now I need to decide what to do for 2017. I'm thinking of using another Traveler's Notebook for a planner/art journal. I guess I'd better hurry up and start, as we are already a few days into January.

Documented Life unPlanner - December, Week 2

Before I share the second week's page, here is the Pocket Art Card (PAC) for the first week. The art challenge for the PAC was to use a photo transfer.  

I first collaged several text and music scraps to the background, covered it lightly with gesso and then coated it with gel medium. Once that was dry I did a gel medium transfer of an inkjet copy of a group of birds. I was pleasantly surprised that the transfer ended up just above a line of music so it looks like the birds are on a ledge or limb!  The transfer was a bit too light, so I outlined it with charcoal pencil and added some gelato for color in the background. There is a piece of washi tape at the bottom. Not crazy about this one, but it's done!

This is the weekly calendar page for the second week. I used a holly-patterned background stamp (Anna Griffin - very old!) with red ink for the background and then went to town adding stickers, washi tape, paper cutouts etc to get the details of the week in.

The art challenge for this week's PAC was to document what you are learning right now.  I am trying to improve my hand-lettering and learning to do brush lettering, so I wrote that out as my title. (I have a lot of practice to do!) The background is a gelli-printed paper.

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!

Remaining October PACs

The last two PACs of October are finished!

Week 4

Art Challenge - Repeat a Pattern

For this card I used an under paper (previously painted scrap paper) as the background. For the repeating pattern, I cut small rectangles of a gold candy wrapper and stitched horizontally through them. I used a variegated thread and left the tails for extra texture. I looked through my box of "found words" that I save from book pages etc. and found this appropriate phrase. Done!

Week 5 (actually just one day!)

Art Challenge - Incorporate the First Letter of Your First Name

Again, I used a pre-painted scrap and glued on a few other scraps. I found the "S" clip which was perfect for the focal point. I also added a border made from overlapping s's. To finish, I added scribbles at the bottom with black ink for some added texture and depth.

On to 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!