Hacked Moleskine Planner

I used some scraps of the painted watercolor paper to make monthly tabs. I laminated them with a bit of packing tape, and cut and glued them on. They are short little tabs so that the elastic band slips over them easily.

I went to moleskine.com and printed out some monthly calenders to paste into the front. I need to be able to visualize my whole month this way.

Hacked Moleskine Planner

 I made some progress on my planner today. I taped in one page for each week. Those pages fold over the lined page to the right of the week's calendar. I'll use them for notes, drawing, or whatever trips my trigger at the time.

 Taping those pages in is a bit of a trick to get it straight, but I finally got them all in. I used Washi tape that I already had (and had never used) to tape them in.

 Some of the paper is 90 pound watercolor paper.

 Some is sheet music, some are shipping tags. I use shipping tags in other artwork, so I thought it would be fun to use them here too. I almost always do a checkered border on them...it's something I use on my journal pages a lot.

Some pages are from old ledgers and maps. I gessoed some ahead and some will have to be done as I go along. It didn't occur to me to gesso them first until I was half way through the book.

Hacking a Moleskine Planner

 I'm hacking a Moleskine Planner with the help of The Documented Life Project. I think many of the folks are using these more as a journal, like I did my old calendars in my journals. I want mine to actually work as my planner, so I picked a small pocket size Moleskine planner. I chose a weekly calendar, but I'll be taping in monthly pages too. There will be pages taped in to draw or make lists on, and that's what these watercolor pages will be cut into. I'm a little worried that the pocket size won't work out as well as the larger one that most folks are using, but it's the size that will fit into a handbag, so that's the one for me.

Here's a bit of Washi tape I'll use to tip the pages in. I didn't have any red (and you always need a bit of red for energy!), so I cut up some gift wrap to use too.

I'll be using the weekly pages, and I'll be incorporating lists like those in the Bullet Journal. I've never been able to find a planner that really works for me, so I'm hoping that cobbling one together will work for me.

Life Map

Another exercise from the workshop I'm taking part in. A map of milestones...emotional and physical. Places my path crosses...

Tree of Life

This page is the result of an exercise in a workshop I'm taking this month. I'm not going to go into explanations, as it's part of many exercises, but I just wanted to to post because I'm back to journaling and painting and drawing. That was my goal this December: to get back in the the swing of it!

Route 66 Travel Journals

Playing around with some little Moleskines and ink. Just have to add a drawing of a vintage sign or stamps or something. I've had a  long break from drawing...bit of a block I suppose, but I'm back.

She sells seashells down by the seashore.

More doodling around on Bingo cards. I still might add some watercolor to the seashells. Makes me think of nice sandy beaches and warm sun on this cold day!

 Small pieces that have to be seen close up to catch the background, which is made with paints plus ephemera including maps and trading stamps.

Shake the World

In a gentle way you can shake the world. ~Gandhi
Doodling away on another Bingo card.
Indian Ink, marker, acrylic paint, and stamps.

Mark Twain Quote

I've been playing around illustrating quotes on old Bingo Cards. Here is the first one. This one is marker, Indian Ink, and collage. The little kids are from an old envelope that license plates came back in the 50s. Things get slow at the shop in the winter, and I sometimes work on small art projects in  my office.

Route 66 Giants...and a little color

Adding some color to the tags. So far so good. I'm not sure how this is all going to go together, so I guess we will find out together!

Route 66 Giants

Today I'm at the shop and since it's a little slow, I decided to work on these tags...they are (or will be) 3 of the giant muffler men along Route 66 in Illinois. I will probably watercolor them and add them to a larger mixed media piece on panel. That's a cool thing about journaling and/or mixed media: you can work on bits and pieces in a small area or while traveling, and then put it all together later.

Route 66 in Texas...

More borders. This is a border I use a lot in my journals. Mindless and fun to do while watching the political debates.

Now I have to decide what these panels are about...yes, I work pretty spontaneously on these.  I like to do it that way, because the idea is to have the same feel as my travel journals, which are very much "on the spot" and contain drawings and journaling that is all freehand...usually straight to ink with no penciling in. It makes for wonky, fun drawings. I've decided to make this panel with Texas sights.

In my job as an antique dealer I have access to lots of old books, maps, and print items to use! Sometimes I use a bit of gesso to knock the print farther into the background. 

I love the old neon signs and unusual advertising gimmicks on Route 66. They often show up in my drawings.

India Ink and Spray Ink..

One of the panels started looking appealing, so I added some green ink sprayed on, and then picked up my India ink pens and started a little border like I use on many of my journal pages.

Playing around with adding some color. I use a brush, and I also use my fingers alot...like a toddler :D

 I like the print peeking though. These are all relatively small pieces, so details that you experience up close become important.

I do these very much like I do the backgrounds in some of my sketchbooks. It's basically art journaling, but done on a base that's easier to display.

In the beginning...

I'm starting some new pieces today. I primed and then gathered together some vintage papers to use as  a base.

I glued some on the artist panel. Eventually, I'll paint over these papers, and add more vintage paper, but bits of this print will still peek though. It adds a nice bit of depth. In these I've got vintage checks, trading stamps books, play money, foreign phone book pages, ledger pages, and pages from an old stamp collectors book. I like to do several at a time while I've got my brush full of glue.

Now to let them dry, and get out the paints! Some of these will have a Route 66 theme, and I've included papers from Dwight since it's along the old road, Others are a mystery, even to me. Sometimes I get ideas about what the subject will be after I see how the colors turn out.

The Scribble Project

Yesterday, I while I was at the shop, I doodled on a page from The Scribble Project. Fun, and it gets the drawing muscles loosened up!

The Scribble Project is the brain child of Australian illustrator Lisa Currie. Hop on over and do your own doodled interview!