Journaling by 5s - Session 2

I'm back with Session 2. I actually did the first three sessions all in one day, but I am spreading out the blog posts to avoid too many photos.

Session 2's prompts were to add collage and recycled materials to create texture. I used quite a variety of materials that I'd saved for awhile and I will note what I used below each photo.  (It is helpful to have a box or basket of saved scraps and interesting pieces to use in this exercise.)

Pg 1

patterned paper, napkin, Tim Holts tissue paper, vintage ledger paper

Pg 2

napkins, "under" paper, tissue paper, dictionary paper

Pg 3

ledger paper, scrapbook paper, napkins

Pg 4 

dictionary paper, magazine scrap, punched patterned paper, napkin

Pg 5

tissue paper, napkin, magazine scrap, patterned paper

Pg 6

napkin, magazine scrap, inside security envelope

Pg 7

napkin, music paper, scrap of instructions from sewing pattern

Pg 8

Tim Holtz tissue paper, magazine scrap, other tissue paper

Pg 9

magazine scrap, music paper, tissue paper, punched circles from magazine

Pg 10

magazine scrap, music paper, napkin, hand-painted tissue paper

Pg 11

napkins, magazine scraps, gelli-printed deli paper

Pg 12

tissue papers, magazine scrap

Pg 13

napkin, tissue paper, punched circles from magazine

Pg 14

OOPS - somehow didn't take photo of this page in this session!

Pg 15

napkin, punched tissue paper, hand-painted tissue paper

Pg 16

magazine scraps, piece of fibrous paper

Pg 17

magazine scraps, piece of fibrous paper

Pg 18

under paper, inside of security envelope, magazine scrap

Pg 19

tissue papers, gelli-printed deli paper

Pg 20

napkin, magazine scrap

The pages are still not looking like much but they are improving! I was happy to finish this step in exactly the fifteen minutes, though at one point I was a bit worried! Basically, I just grabbed a scrap and slapped it down with gel medium. After the timer went off, I went back and made sure everything was glued down properly.

Up next, Session 3...

Journaling by 5s - Intro and Session 1

I want to get back to art journaling this year. The past few years I've been doing a lot of "memory planning" in Traveler's Notebooks and it's taken a lot of my time. So my goal for 2018 is to do more art in journals.

Sometime last fall I discovered an interesting concept on You Tube which was started three years ago  by Shannon Green. It's called "Journaling by 5s" and is designed to quick-start the journaling process. You can find more information in Shannon Green's video here.

Briefly, there are five sessions of ten prompts, each done in 15 minutes on 20 pages (5-10-15-20) Shannon and many people did this in a composition book, glueing together groups of five pages to strengthen the paper. I didn't want to go to all that effort, so I found this album in my stash which had exactly 20 pages (perfect!) and the paper is quite sturdy. Some people have done this exercise on loose papers and then bound them together. This is great for spreading them out to dry. I just placed loose deli paper sheets between the pages as I worked.

You set a timer for 15 minutes for each session and do two prompts during each session.

Session 1: Use paint and inks (creating background)

Session 2: Collage and recycled materials (for texture)

Session 3: Use stamps and stencils (for pattern)

Session 4: Add images and words (focal point)

Session 5: Pen and pencil work (for details)

Being a bit rushed keeps you from overthinking the process. There is no time for decisions - you don't think, you just do! It is spontaneous and you have to go with the flow.  After all 5 sessions, you will have the makings of 20 journal pages. Some might be "finished;" some might need more work. Not every page will be a masterpiece but it is amazing how the pages evolve and turn out.

So, ready, set, go! Here are the results of my first session using acrylic paint (Dylusions) with both a brush and a credit card "scraper", Distress stains and a few spray inks (Adirondack and Dylusions). I limited my paint colors to yellow, blue, red and pink; stains to blue and orange; spray inks to green, orange, turquoise, red and purple.

Pg 1

Pg 2

Pg 3

Pg 4

Pg 5

Pg 6

Pg 7

Pg 8

Pg 9

Pg 10

Pg 11

Pg 12

Pg 13

Pg 14

Pg 15

Pg 16

Pg 17

Pg 18

Pg 19

Pg 20

As you can see, none of these are particularly pretty! Thank goodness they will have four more layers! I did well with the time frame, even having an extra minute or two to go back and add more on a few pages.

Stay tuned for Session 2!

A few cards for swaps

There hasn't been much going on here except for putting away the Christmas decor and getting the house back to order. And I think my mojo stayed in California as I haven't felt very creative lately.

I am participating in a few card swaps in January so I did get those done.  These aren't due until the end of the month but it doesn't hurt to be ahead of the game.

Our group is sending cards to the children at St. Jude's Hospital for Valentine's Day.  I was supposed to make two but ended up making two each of two different cards. (It's just as easy to make two as one when all the stuff is out!)

The dinosaur is a free svg file from SVG Cuts. I thought it would work for boys. I didn't have an appropriate stamp so just hand-lettered the sentiment.

This one would be good for a girl and is mostly stamping. I bought the little hedgehog stamp from Lawn Fawn at the Heirloom Stamp Convention in Grapevine last weekend. The heart stamp is very old.

This is a Valentine for a Valentine card swap. The background was made using  Distress Ink directly on an embossing folder and running it through a Cuttlebug. The felt heart strip and ribbon are from my stash and I have no idea where they came from.  The stamp is an oldie from PSX (2003!) but a favorite - I stamped it on kraft card stock to match the base card.

I'm Back!

Happy Belated New Year! I wish everyone the very best in 2018.

We returned New Years' Eve from our San Diego Christmas vacation with the family. It was a great time, but exhausting being with four little ones five and under for the entire week! But I do miss them already!

After a much-needed morning sleep-in on New Years' Day I've been catching up on my December Daily. There was lots of activity in San Diego so it was a challenge to fit most of it into the traveler's notebook.  I am now officially finished and the book is bursting at the seams!

Days 23 - 24

The reindeer pocket on day 23 was the holder for a gift in my recent swap. It holds a tag with journaling.  On day 24, the journal card opens to reveal a vintage Christmas image and journaling. This was a special day as we met the parents of our oldest daughter's significant other after 5 years' of dating.

Christmas Day - Day 25

This was supposed to be a quiet day at home before leaving for San Diego on the 26th. But it turned out that the flights were all filling, so we flew to Albuquerque and spent Christmas with Dana, John and the boys before leaving for San Diego from there the next day.  The "joy" tag is also from the recent swap, the vintage Santa is from one of this year's Christmas cards and the top of the right page is a Christmas card from a friend years ago.

Days 26 - 27

We arrived in San Diego on the 26th and the entire family came in at different times. The decorated glassine pocket holds a tag with journaling. The "Ballast Point" image is a napkin from a brewery we went to. 

On the 27th we went to the San Diego Safari Park.  The two older boys were treated to a helium balloon ride which they loved. Later we grilled at the Air B'nB and had a fire in the fire pit and made s'mores.

Days 28 - 29

Day 28 was the Hollywood Bowl Parade by the harbor and the 5K Run which my three girls and one son-in-law ran.

On the 29th we toured the Midway aircraft carrier. The boys had a blast. After that they played in a large fountain in the park and we went to a Japanese steak house for dinner. Carl and Mitchell had never been and they enjoyed the show!

I had so many photos of the ship tour that I made a tag flip for them (see below).

Days 30 - 31

We went to the San Diego Zoo on the 30th. I pieced together several smaller scraps of patterned paper for the background and added photos and a title from the zoo brochure.

We returned home on the 31st. I decoupaged part of the Southwest napkin to the background paper and added "home" from a Michael's sales flyer.  The word strip at the bottom of the page is washi tape.

Back page - Jan. 1

This last page is for the new year. The background is tissue paper and the "peace" is a die cut from one of this year's Christmas cards.

And, I am FINISHED!

Here is the humongous album now. I think I will have to tie it closed!

This was such a fun project, my second year doing a December Daily. If you have never done one, you should really think about doing it next year. You can assemble your foundation book way before December to make it easier and any book will do.

Again, Happy New Year. I wish you lots of creative time this coming year!