April PACs - Weeks 3 & 4

WEEK 3

I'm a little late finishing up my PAC for week 3. The art challenge was to create a pocket and fill it.

I actually copied Rae's PAC for the week as I thought it was adorable. I used a library card pocket which is a bit larger than the 2.5" x 3.5" PAC. In the DLP kit we received a sheet of "artist paper" with tiny square stickers. When you remove these, you are left with a "holey" colorful paper which I used to cover the front of the pocket. In the negative spaces, I alternatively colored black solid squares and black dots. At the top I drew black stripes with a Sharpie.

To fill the pocket I made a black tag and added two tiny photos of Carl and Mitchell who I was babysitting that week. I added a bit of washi tape at the top, doodled with white pen and added a hand-dyed ribbon.

WEEK 4

This week's challenge was to "fill your art with numbers."  I started with a card that had been painted with pink, orange and white paints.  First I stamped a background number stamp in black ink. Then I stamped with larger numbers in both white paint (didn't show up) and then pink paint.  I used a favorite roller stamp with white paint all over the card but that was very faint also. Finally I stamped the large numbers with orange paint and outlined them with white Signo pen. I also wrote around the numbers what they symbolized. (2 for my husband and I as a couple; 5 for my children; 4 for my grand boys.)

And here they are in the page protector. I cut a 4-pocket protector in half vertically and used washi tapes on the "spine" and the cut edge.  The pockets were a little too big for the PACs so I cut about 1/2 inch off the top and then sewed the bottom one up about 1/2 inch.  I've been loving the variegated thread!

Still have to finish the weekly view calendar and the monthly pocket picks and then on to MAY!

Documented Life unPlanner - April Week 2

I printed my second week of April on the back of the first week to save room in the binder. I scraped pink, blue and yellow paints across the page to add some color. The dates are stamped on banners I punched from security envelopes - love the tiny patterns inside these junk mail envelopes. Then I just started added stamping, doodles and stickers for the things going on this week. I finished this up early as I will be flying to Austin tonight to babysit for a few days.

I am not doing the "Dare2B" card this week. For the PAC, the challenge was to draw a face. Eek! Oh no! I thought about stamping a face but then figured that wouldn't be meeting the challenge and a challenge isn't a challenge if it's easy, right?! 

I loved what Rae did for her PAC t his week. (See below.) She started with a water-soluble oil pastel background and some white paint where the face would be. Then she glued on a used tea bag before starting to draw and paint the face.

Rae Missigman's face PAC for DLP2016 Apr. Wk.2

So I started in doing as she did. I didn't have a tea bag so I used a piece of sewing pattern tissue - same color and a good start for the flesh of the face. I loosely drew a face with pencil and then started adding acrylic paints and then watercolors.  I tried hard not to overwork it - it's not perfect but neither am I! And I do like it far better than my attempts last year! Still need a lot of practice...

I finished it off by stitching with variegated thread. The DLP gals have been doing that all year and I found some very old variegated rayon thread in my sewing stash that I am happy to use up! The colorful thread just adds a nice touch.

Documented Life unPlanner 2016 - April Week 1

Here we are in April already! How time flies!

April Challenge - Reaching for Rainbows: Creating Outside the Lines

I am running out of room in the binder so I printed the monthly calendar on the back of the April divider using kraft card stock.  I used sections of the April printed divider from the kit to edge my divider and painted with Distress crayon.

 The pocket is a journal card from the April paper from the Bo Bunny "Calendar Girl" collection. (I bought a paper for each month and will be using bits and pieces from them for the planner.)  Since April showers bring May flowers, I doodled raindrops in white pen.

I am continuing to add a tag to a pocket on each monthly divider with the monthly theme on it.  For this tag I used gesso through a stencil and then added spray inks for a rainbow effect. The zigzag border is a very old sticker and I added a hand-dyed ribbon and computer-generated text.

On the back of the divider is the month's calendar. I used collage paper for the spine and half-circles for the scallop edge. I'm sure this will fill in more as the month progresses. I managed to use up more of that zigzag border too!

The first week only had three days so I used the remainder of the last week's page from March.

On the back I sewed a colorful printed transparency to form a pocket for the first week's PAC.  The challenge for this card was to use just black and white. I stenciled white paint on black cardstock, rounded the corners and machine-stitched around in black thread. Then I added a bit of fibrous handmade paper with two stamped butterflies. The top one is on vellum and just glued along the body. It fits down into the pocket and you can see it through the transparency.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can fit the remainder of April in this binder. Many people have already started another one!

DLP unPlanner 2016 - Feb. Week 3

This is my week's calendar for the third week of Feb. As you can see, I'm still using the fun red and pink color scheme!  Most of the background was colored in with watercolors - I tried for different shades of pinks/reds but got mostly pink! I added some patterned paper for a couple of the days. Lots of stickers and stamps...

This is the back - I covered it with a "throw-away" clean-up stencil paper and then added the List Ten directly to the page as I am quickly running out of room in this binder.  I will be finding different ways to add the items without making too many separate pages! The list for this month is "things I should never have done" and I'll be adding more as I think of them.

Here's my PAC for the week - the art challenge was "add a gratitude." I am very thankful for my wonderful family, and especially my little grand boys. 

 The background is simply an under paper from lots of painting and stenciling which I glued to the card. I typed the "grateful for" on the computer and hand-wrote "family," then added some fibers.  I think yarns and fibers are coming back in style and am so glad, as I have a bunch to use up!  

Instead of adding the card to a page protector like I've done the past few weeks, I decided to enclose it in a perfectly-sized glassine envelope which I punched to add to the binder ring. Below you can see how it sits above the week's page in my planner.

One more week in Feb. - I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by.

DLP UnPlanner 2016 - Feb. Week 2

I'm a bit behind posting the second week's pages. We've been babysitting off and on for the grand boys and that takes away from my art and computer time - not that I'm complaining!

First off, I forgot to post my PAC for February's first week's art challenge which was to incorporate thread or floss in your art. For this card, I did actually use a playing card as it is the exact size of an ATC or PAC. I have an incomplete pack of cards so I will be doing this again. I covered the front side of the card with a piece of old ledger paper, then machine-stitched a white felt heart on top. I hand-stitched around a small red felt heart with pink embroidery floss and glued it over a small, frayed square of burlap. The floss is also tied through the button which is glued on top of all. I doodled the red stitches for the border.  

I liked that the machine stitching showed on the back so I didn't decorate it any further.

The art challenge for the PAC for the second week was "use shades of one color." In keeping with the color scheme I seem to be using for February, I used shades of red/pink. I randomly painted marks on the front and back of the card and then glued on bits of similar colored papers. I found the bird image and quote in my saved stash so added it as a focal point.

To add these to my binder, I cut off the right half of a 4-pocket page protector, leaving me with two pockets to insert the PACs. I like that you can also see the backs. I added black and white washi tape (my favorite) for the punched edge. I added a bow paper clip to the top pocket to keep the card in temporarily but liked it so much I decided to just keep it that way!

Below is the weekly calendar for the second week of February. I printed this one on kraft card stock again and like how the colors show up. This is a mix of hexagon-punched collage paper, various stickers and paper cutouts and a washi tape edge.

This is the back of the calendar page. I was inspired by an art journal page tutorial in a recent Stampington e-newsletter and made it very similar to the original - paint, gesso, collaged papers, stamped hearts on book pages.

My binder is getting full and we're only 6 weeks into the year!

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.