Another Collage

Yesterday I woke up and could hardly move! My lower back is killing me - it might be sciatica. I've never in my life had back problems so this was quite a surprise. I cannot think of anything I did out of the ordinary to cause this. 

So, since I'm pretty much out of commission but can sit comfortably, I made yet another quirky collage. This one was very easy as Joanne posted it on her YouTube channel today and very generously made a free collage sheet of all the elements to share. Click here to get the collage sheet to make your own!

I printed the sheet out once at 100% and then again at 75% because it was a bit large to use in my traveler's notebook journal. I used the larger head, "wings," colorful strip and the word "live;" and the smaller body and words "out" and "loud." 

I glued all the pieces onto a patterned paper that I lightly gessoed to mute the background. I doodled a border and outlined many of the elements and was done. She called it "five-minute collage" but it took me longer to cut, glue and embellish!

I think she turned out pretty cute and I was happy to be able to accomplish at least one thing today! Hopefully my back will improve quickly or I will be going to see the doctor!

Journaling by 5s - Session 5 and "Free Play"

For some reason I either didn't photograph the pages after the fifteen minutes of pen and pencil work (Session 5) or I somehow deleted them.  This session took much longer than the allotted time - I did get something on each page during the fifteen minutes but it wasn't much.

In the original Journaling by 5s by Shannon Green, after all the steps have been done, you can have "free play" and take as long as you need to make the pages look complete. I took several days of doing a few things to each page and then coming back to do more. Among other things, I added washi tape, doodles and outlines in black and white pen, texture paste through a few stencils and some Tim Holtz "small talk strips."

Here are the first ten pages, mostly "done." A few still look like they could use something more, but I'm not sure what at the moment. I'm going to set them aside for awhile and then come back to see if I should add more.

Pg 1

Pg 2

Pg 3

Pg 4

Pg 5

Pg 6

Pg 7

Pg 8

Pg 9

Pg 10

I still have some details to add to the last pages so I will post them in a few days.

One more Art Marks page

Day 6 - Black and White

Black and white was an easy prompt - I had so many ideas but settled on white and black doodled flowers and some washi tape. Love how this came out - so very graphic.

I had just enough time to complete this before getting ready to go out of town. I was supposed to fly to Austin to help out when my daughter has surgery tomorrow and during her recovery as she won't be able to lift for several weeks (kinda hard when you have one that it under 2!). As it turns out, the flights all filled up overnight (I fly non-rev) so I am going to have to drive! I'd better hustle...

I'll be gone at least a week and then may go to Albuquerque for Easter. See you later!

DLP unPlanner - June

June Theme - Unraveling the Past: Embracing New Beginnings

Monthly Divider

For this month's divider I used the Bo Bunny June divider included in the kit and added kraft paper to the center portion of the front. I used the month calendar already printed on the back. The spine is covered with collage paper which I have continued throughout the planner. I used an "Art Pop" card from Robyn Marie Smith for a pocket for my tag which has the month's theme on it.

Weeks 1 and 2 - Weekly View Calendars

For June I printed all the weekly calendars on white card stock. For Week 1 I watercolored the background with a Distress marker. The dates are stamped on white paper squares and glued to half-circle collage paper stickers. Added some stamping, doodles, stickers and done!

I left Week 2 white but collaged bits of a floral napkin in some areas. The dates are written on pennants punched from the inside of a security envelope. I added some washi tape, stickers and stamping. Simple but done.

As you read this, I will be flying to Vermont for a week. My Mom's 88th birthday (Wednesday) coincided with my 50th (!!) high school reunion on Saturday so how could I not go - even though I'm still recuperating from our last trip! 

Then on Sunday I will fly directly to Austin to babysit my two grandsons for a week while their parents go on a cruise celebrating a friend's wedding.  So, this will be my last post for a few weeks...

Documented Life Project - Weeks 11 and 12

I've done it! With these two pages, I'm caught up to the current week! Prompts are posted on Saturday, so we're just a few days into this week and I'm ready to work on the current page!

Week 11

March Theme: Making your Mark (Doodles and Mark Making)

Art Challenge: Borders

Journal Prompt: "Borderline feels like I'm going to lose my mind"

For this week's spread, I cut painted papers into scallops, strips and circles to form the borders, doodling and making marks along the edges. I also used the bottom border for my calendar days. 

There are many painted, stamped and stenciled layers for the background.  I didn't quite get the quote, so just used "Losing my mind? No, it's just LIFE as usual" as my title. 

Week 12

same March theme

Art Challenge: As a Focal Point

Journal Prompt: Coming into Focus

For this spread I was inspired by a similar "mandala" I'd seen online a few years ago.  I first drew the focal point in pencil and then used a permanent black pen over it. Then I filled in each section with different doodles, using Portfolio watercolor crayons for all the color. I repeated the same colors on the right side for my days of the week and used the single word, Focus, as the title.

I am so happy to be caught up with all the challenges and can now focus on one spread a week!

More Documented Life Planner pages

Still catching up, but I'm getting there...!

Week 9

(Theme still Layers)

Art Challenge: Using at least 5 layers
Journal Prompt: "Give me a High Five"

For this week I used some new paints I wanted to try out. They are neon colors and are children's paints from Michael's. They are thin and fairly translucent, which is great for art journaling purposes, but I don't think they would give very good coverage for other purposes.

The art challenge was easy - there are way more than 5 layers on this spread! I started with book pages Mod Podged to the background and then I removed some of them while it was still wet, kind of like an image transfer. I covered that with pink and orange neon paints using a plastic gift card, then white paint through a burlap-design stencil and Dylusions orange spray ink through a number stencil. I also stamped, added washi tape, collaged the hand and added doodling, writing and more stenciling with molding paste.

I wasn't sure where to go with the journal prompt, but decided to trace my hand on some patterned paper and collaged it to the background. I added tiny photos of my five kids to the fingertips and added journaling to the effect that they are my biggest blessings and greatest accomplishment (thus a high five to me!). The number five is also a nod to the ""high five" in the prompt. Cheesy, but done!

Week 10

March Theme: Making Your Mark (Doodles and Mark-making)

Art Challenge: As a Layer Element

Journal Prompt: Surviving the Elements

This week we moved into March with the theme of Doodles and Mark-Making.  The art challenge was to use marks as a layer element and that was easy enough. I used Dina Wakley's acrylic paints for most of this spread and lots of stamps. I stenciled with paint through a plastic doily that was recently gifted to me by a friend (thank you Joan!) and added lots of dots and lines with paint pens.

Surviving the elements had me stumped until I decided to use the idea of "I'm in my element when creating and making art," which is what I scribbled on the right page as added marks.

I'm currently working on Week 11 and that will bring me up to this week!

Art Journaling Workshop

It's been awhile since I've worked in my art journal and I've missed it! I love starting with a blank page with no preconceived notions of what it should be and just playing.

I had signed up for a Strathmore Online Workshop (did I mention it was free!). When I received an e-mail that the course "Doodles Unleashed" with Traci Bautista was posted I was excited to get started.  This is a four-week course in doodling with many different mark-making supplies on large-scale paintings.  Traci's style is very different from mine and that is one reason I was intrigued and hoped to learn some new techniques.

Traci works BIG - the supply list included 18" x 24" paper for the substrate.  I didn't have anything that size so chose to work more comfortably in a smaller scale in my art journal.  Following is the two-page spread I created.  I even remembered to take photos along the way to record the process.

The first step was to add color to the blank page using stencils, masks and found objects.  I laid the following on the page: a few "gears" masks from Tim Holtz, a circular piece of plastic needlepoint canvas which I cut to make the one circle and a ring; a popsicle stick (lower right); a small washer (inside the ring); rubber bands in different sizes (upper left); and a piece of drywall tape (lower left).  I sprayed miscellaneous color wash sprays over these.  

Once dry, the next step was to add doodles with acrylic paints.  I continued with the circular theme, painting turquoise, red and violet rings and circles with a brush.

I then continued doodling - lines, dots, more circles - with oil pastels and some more acrylic paint.

Next came the addition of black India ink. This really started to make the designs pop and added much-needed contrast.  I also used Copic markers at this point - they add a subtle background texture.

The final step was adding white to the design using a white correction pen.  I would never have thought to use that - it is very opaque and really stands out.  Traci also suggested using paint pens and neon markers, both of which I didn't have.

This was a fun exercise and got me out of my comfort zone. I usually don't use such vibrant colors, but I am happy with the result and enjoyed just freely creating. I am looking forward to Week 2 using watercolors.