Documented Life Art Journal/Planner

This weeks prompt for Documented Life was to doodle a border, so I learned a new border and put it around the tag.. I colored the background of it black, which I like very much. I also sketched my "go to" lunch when I'm at the office. The cracker is cut off the Ritz box and glued on. I've been trying to take some pics through the week of what I'm up to....this week it was cozying up to the fire and exercising.

 This calendar is all about my everyday life, so there will be sketches of what seem to be mundane things. Those ordinary things are what make up our lives, and also the things that might be unusual many years later! Think if you had a calendar or diary of your great-grandparents...their "ordinary" things might be very different from ours today! I know if I draw my laundry equipment, it's going to look very different from what my grandmother used when she did laundry outside with a hired lady who came to help her.

Lately I'm not drawing from photos much, but drawing what is in front of me. On this night it was a large toy that Jeff bought for his granddaughter. It was a fairly complicated subject!

Planner Pages..

 Here is how the planner is working out: I love it! I actually use it (usually a fail for me with calendars). I like having the planner and sketchbook all rolled into one. I'm also printing out little pictures of things I like though the week, and gluing them in. Other little things like stickers from mail I got or the logo from places I went are also being glued in.

The best part is the extra paper that's taped into the journal...lots of space to make lists, or collages, or sketches. Because I have these papers taped in, I leave my regular sketchbook in the car on my ordinary errands. If I'm stuck in a waiting room at the doctor's office or pharmacy, I've always got paper handy for a little sketch.

Documented Life...Prompt 4

The prompt this week was to write a secret message, then paint over it leaving a single word. There is a LOT of writing under all that paint! The word I left is the word CARE, but I put the letter stickers over it to make it pop. The other phrases are also left uncovered for a reason. Like many moms/wives/caregivers/you name the hat you wear, I have tended to run around caring for others and forget myself...so this is to remind me care for me too. Granted it's easier now that the kids are grown and I'm no longer parenting all the time, so I'm learning!

Again the size of this is 5.5 inches by 3.5 inches. The paints are just craft paints...except those strips of paper with lots of colors. Those are papers that were in back of a painting I did a while ago...they caught the paint that went over the edge of the canvas. They were pretty though, so I saved them.

Move...fitness...

I picked a word to motivate me, or rather the word picked me while I was out walking one night. That word is MOVE. This little page is in my planner next to the weekly calendar this week. MOVE means several things to me, and among them is my desire to be healthy and fit. The little pic with the word "run" is my feet at our local indoor track.

Several people have asked how big the planner is. It's the pocket size Moleskine weekly planner. It measures 3.5 by 5.5 inches when closed. It's tiny, but I'm having fun in this little book!

Week 3 Prompt...Documented LIfe

 The prompt for week three of the Documented Life Project was to use an envelope from your mail, but I haven't been getting much  mail this week. I did use a postcard I received, and some vintage mail I picked up last week at an antique mall. This little pouch containing a shipping tag was made from one of those vintage envelopes.

 When you pull the shipping tag out, it has a drawing that I did a couple of years ago...it's actually from a bigger journal, and I just copied it and printed it out and attached it to the tag.

 Here it is all stretched out. The tag and pouch, the back of a post card from when I ordered Andrea Joseph's book, and some cool stamps and images from a letter posted from Hong Kong in the 1950s.

And this is the other side. My "to do" list ready to be filled, a page about Hawaii with another of my old drawings (Rainbow Falls), the front of Andrea Joseph's postcard, and the back of the shipping tag pouch.

This was fun to play around with! I was able to use my drawings again, which I don't do much, and I played with collage a bit more than I usually do. Mostly I wanted to take the mail theme and connect it to travel.

Moleskine Planner...art journal

 You've seen this page before...when you flip out the pic right page, you see the one below:

The things glued in are a pic of a bottle tree we saw on the way home, a movie receipt, an old Lexington, Kentucky postmark I found while antiquing, and one of our dogs curled up together.

Self Portrait...Week 2 Documented Life Prompt

The week 2 prompt for The Documented Life Project was to create a self portrait. I'd snapped this one a few days before so I used it. This is my mom, me, and my daughter. We are good girls, but also kind of feisty, especially when the chips are down.

Week 1, Documented Life Planner

When you fold out the drawing of my front door you see week one. My son-in-law drove us though horse country here in Kentucky and I drew the little scene from what stuck out in my mind after the drive.

My front door...

This week the prompt was to somehow journal about your front door. I added a little color to my drawing. My front door is not actually red yet, but it will be soon, so I decided to try it out on paper first!

The Documented Life Planner

Each week the creators of The Documented Life Project are giving us a prompt to used if we like. The first one was to somehow journal about our front door. This is the front door to my little bungalow. I don't have any paint or colored pencils with me, but I think I'll add a little color when I get home.

Documented Life Project: Planner

 The cover is sealed and ready to go. I added some charms...in line with my theme of MOVE. They are a travel journal, a car, a motorcycle and a bicycle.......and a smashed top from a bottle of Route 66 Route Beer.

 the front

and the back.

Hacked Moleskine

Ok. So, I really liked my the vibe I had going with the cover until I started collaging the pieces together. At one point I used a spray ink (usually a step I love) and I don't like how it dulled everything down. I went back in and brightened up the yellow and orange and white and I like it a bit better now. I think I'll just live with it a while and see if I can embrace a kind of grunge look. :D  After all, it's a planner; I have a whole year to mess around with this!

The spiral stamp and the Route 66 stamp are my first attempts to carve stamps a year or so ago. I like doing it and using my very own stamps, so I'll be doing more of that in the future!

MOVE: This is my word for the year. It means many things to me, including reminding me to get out and move my body, and to travel and grab little adventures whenever I can.

Hacked Moleskine

Today I started on my cover. I thought I might wait, but inspiration hit, so I'm off. This is the cover coated with white gesso.

 Next I used a little watered down yellow and red acrylic paint, painted on and then ragged a bit with a paper towel.

 Maps...gotta have some map on everything ;)  I knocked back the color a bit with some gesso with a little yellow paint accidentally mixed in...it's all good though.

 Doodled a little bicycle. This will get glued somewhere on the cover.