A Documented Life and One Last Lovely Day

Isn't it amazing how much stuff you can get done when you're trying to avoid doing something you don't really want to do?  Well, maybe you are someone who just jumps in and does the boring thing to get it over with...I thought I was too, but it seems that's not entirely true...

A while back, a friend of mine asked me to sew something for her.  I really didn't want to, but I can't say no to her, so I agreed to do it.  At least a month ago, I got all the stuff to make it...and it sat there for various procrastinating 'reasons'.  But this past week, my glorious vacation week, I commanded myself to get it done before I had to go back to work.

So all week long, I avoided the fifteen minutes of time it took me to sew this thing for my friend by devoting a lot of time to things that also 'needed done'.  

It started out with me realizing I needed to clear my sewing desk (the one legitimate task on this whole list) before I could start sewing.  And I couldn't just dramatically sweep the clutter into the floor (which is my normal cleaning technique)...oh no...it was 'a place for everything and everything in its place'...and of course, some things had no home...so I had to make one for them...by cleaning and organizing the other places in the house...you know, so I could put the sewing desk clutter away.

And then we ran out of clean plates, so the dishes needed done.  And since the kitchen was clean, it was the perfect time to make some of those sugar cookies I've been craving for so long now.  And then my husband asked me to make him some banana bread, and how could I deny that?  (full disclosure: I am never swayed by what he wants...normally I'd tell him to make his own dumb banana bread...but I was procrastinating, so I made it...)  ...and then the kitchen needed cleaned up again...

And then, since I have to wear clothes, the laundry needed done before I have to go back to work...all of it...like summer clothes before I could pack them away...and winter clothes that I just hauled out...and then of course why not just wash everything and have it done with?  And that was the perfect time to see if anything didn't fit anymore (by trying on everything) and make a Goodwill bag...

And then since the studio (which included everything...down to sorting the smallest scraps of my ephemera stuff) and the kitchen and the laundry room were clean, the bathroom was the only one left, so I cleaned that too.  And, if you've been reading the blog for a while now, you know how much I don't clean...or don't like to clean...or don't like to even think about cleaning...so you know I was giving sewing project avoidance my all.

And then there was Morning Pages, and art journal stuff, and hanging some art around the house, and blog posts, and reading, and playing with Fusco the drop-off wonder dog...and...and...and...  The list could go on....and on and on...  Finally, I just had to knuckle down and sew.  And, yeah, it took me fifteen minutes...total...cutting, sewing, stuffing...everything, start to finish.  Quick, somebody yell "Shame on you, Sweets!"  

Nah, you don't need to say it, I already feel ashamed of myself...and snookered.  Like I snookered myself...  I mean, this whole time I could have been doing absolutely nothing of any importance and here I cleaned the house and made food and did responsible adult things everyday this week.  WHAT!?!  That's crap-ola... 

Just kidding about the crap-ola part (mostly).  All the stuff I got done did technically need doing...at some point.  Despite my laziness and general not caring about cleaning, I do like it when the house is in good order.  I'd just rather be doing other things...and I have a problem with cleaning up after grown people...I'm looking at you, husband!   ...but, since I bit the bullet and did it anyway, I do have to admit that I feel a certain amount of relief and comfort when the house is tidy.  And honestly, I think it makes me more creative as well.

I've worked on a lot of art this week, and did get several things done (you've seen some of them in the past couple days) and I've got something else to share with you today.

Have you heard about The Documented Life Project?  I bet you have, especially if you're on Pinterest...it seems like I see it every time I check in there...probably because it looks so AWESOME!  

"One part planner plus one part art journal and one part weekly challenge equals an amazing year of organization, inspiration and community."  That's the tagline.  If you want to find out more, or join in the *free* fun, you can find out more HERE and HERE.

This was actually a right place, right time project for me, because I've been wanting to redo that bill calendar I showed you a couple days ago.  The ladies doing this project/challenge are using/suggesting a Moleskine weekly planner, but since I am trying to use what I've got on hand when possible, I decided to convert a K&Company SmashBook that I've had since FOREVER (as in since they first came out...yeah, that's quite a while...).  I think SmashBooks are cool, but for some reason, I'd not been able to force myself to use the ones I've had (I have two...because they are so cool looking!).  Some people struggle with blank pages, I struggle with the thought of ruining already cool pages...but I powered through, and there's no going back now...

Here it is so far:

Look at those tabs!  Hubba hubba!

I put the monthly tabs in for quick reference.  I made them myself from my sweet stash of scrapbook paper...again, something I have (quite a bit of), but hardly ever use...same reason as above: don't ruin something that's already pretty!  I realized that it's better to just use it...they will make more paper...  To make the tabs, I just cut little squares of paper (about 3"x3"), folded them in half, rounded the corners with a corner punch, and used a tape runner to adhere them to the pages.  I wrote in the month names and used some Tim Holtz Idea-ologly Label Letters next to the handwritten.  I don't know how necessary the tabs are, but they just look cool, don't they?

Here's one of the pages.  It turns out that a smash book has enough pages for about 30 weeks (if you are doing each week like a two page spread), so I ended up adding some more pages with scrapbook paper.  I forgot to take a picture of it, but I found that the best way (for me) to add pages was to use some jewelry wire I had, loop it around the spiral binding, and then masking tape the ends to the paper I wanted to add.  Then, to cover the masking tape, I glued (or taped, really, with double-sided tape) scrapbook paper over top.  It was a little bit of a pain, but it worked really well without adding too much bulk.

Like I said above, I did each week of the year as a two page spread.  I drew in the calendar bits myself.  At first, I was being meticulous, with my ruler and accurate measurements and straight lines, but then that got boring and was taking FOREVER, so I just winged it the rest of the way.

As you can see in the picture, I also added monthly calendar pages as tip-ins on the pages where the first of the month landed.  The two pictures above show a tip-in closed and then an open one.  I used scrapbook paper (again) for those, using various washi tapes to adhere them.

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." - C.S. Lewis

This is the first page in the book.  I (washi) taped in two envelopes (one on either side) to the the little vellum advertising page at the beginning of the SmashBook.  I also left on the protective plastic cover thingie that the book comes in (I just cut off the part that goes over the pen/glue stick combo thingie...maybe it's called a SmashPen?), that way my cover will stay neat and clean...I like to reserve covers for the very last so they don't get messed up as I work in the rest of the book.  The clear plastic cover also gives me two pockets for holding various things (like another envelope...that's the yellow you can see peeking  at the top left of the left page).  

And I think that's it for the book so far...we'll just have to wait for the new year to see how the Documented Life Project will work.  I had fun making my little journal/organizer/whatever-you-want-to-call-it book, and I'm proud to say that I used ONLY what I had on hand to make it; I didn't buy one new thing!  That's an ongoing aspiration for me...to use what I have in my stash...so I can have room to buy more things!  I really need to yarn-it-up, because if I could go through my stash of yarn, I'd have A LOT more room...but I digress...

So today is my last lovely day of vacation...it's been wonderful...*sigh of happiness*  I don't want to go back to work tomorrow...*sigh of sadness*  I've decided that I was meant to be a House Frau... but one who doesn't really cook or clean all that much...so maybe Lady of Leisure fits better...  Yeah, definitely that one...  Unfortunately, art supplies are not free, so (hi-ho, hi-ho) it's back to work I go.  I've heard people say they couldn't stay at home all day, because it would be boring, so they work even when they don't have to.  Can I just slap those people?  I make my own fun...as long as I could afford art supplies, I'd be fine.  So if any of those 'bored' people want to switch places with me, that would be awesome.

What about you?  Are you meant to be a House Frau (like I was)?  Or do you prefer to go to work (and if so, can we switch places)?  What about Documented Life?  Have you heard of it?  Are you going to see what it's all about and attempt it with me?  Or do you have other fun projects planned for the new year?

Begin Again

Well, as you can possibly tell, I did not get to all the KIOS blog-a-thon posts.  I'm calling it a half marathon, as I did get to day 16.  So that's something, right?  Now I am gracefully bowing out and lying down at the side of the track while someone pours Gatorade down my throat because I need the electrolytes...  

But just because I've been a lazy blogger doesn't mean I've been a lazy artist...I have been a busy bee in that area indeed.  I've been piecing things together a little at a time, working on a lot of different things at once, but  I do have two things (TWO THINGS!!!) finished and ready to show you today.

In a moment of insane boredom...coupled with the fact that I needed a new bill calendar for 2014 and the fact that I REALLY did not want to go to the store...I decided to upcycle an old calendar I had on hand and made this:

Goodbye boring blank cover.  Hello pretty girl face cover!

I'm so stinking happy with the way her face turned out!  Doesn't she look all fresh and innocent and ready to face a new day and a new life?  *squeal of delight*  Wow, how much do I wish my face could look like that!?! ...and that my attitude could support that face!  My attitude wants me to go back to bed and sleep for a few days...and my face has pillow wrinkles on it and eyes glazed over with the mild confusion of someone who just woke up...hehehe...  But in my dream world, this girl's face is my face, and my attitude is looking forward to good things!  Slowly, I am making that happen, but it seems like I'm taking my sweet time getting there.  Can't I just have inner peace now?  Ugh! :)

Inside page of new (old) calendar

I cut out A BUNCH of scrapbook paper squares and glued them down on the old pages...then the decided not to stick (probably because I was impatiently trying to work on all the pages at once instead of letting one page dry and then going on to the next), so I covered them over with a gesso wash to make them stick together.  That worked, but, in the end, I could have saved time by being patient and waiting for the current page to dry before doing the next page.  I have learned my lesson for next time...probably...

Depending on laziness level, I may actually have a do-over bill calendar.  As you can see in the top picture (at the edges of the calendar), this book is a little disheveled.  The pages kept trying to fall out, so I had to tape them together, and now the book is really thick and I just don't know if I'm happy with it as a calendar.  But don't fear, if I do end up making another, the one I showed you today will end up being an art journal, so it won't be wasted!  I like that cover girl WAY too much to toss her in the trash can!

Ooh!  Before I forget, I got a really nice thank you card from Jen (you can check out her blog HERE), who was my buddy I sent a care package to for the KIOS swap.  She sent such an AWESOME thank you package...now I feel like a wiener that I didn't send a thank you to Sara, who sent me my care package that had an inspiring collage and some beautiful origami paper cranes (which caused me to have insane jealousy, because her folds were so PERFECT!)!

Here's what Jen sent:

Such a nice surprise!  I can't tell you how much I love the art card at the bottom right...that image makes me SQUEAL WITH DELIGHT!!!  AAAH...LOVE IT!!!  

Thank you for the lovely thank you, Jen! <3

In other news, I started reading The Sound of Paper (now known as SoP for the purposes of not having to click the underline button...)by Julia Cameron (the author of The Artist's Way).  My sister gave me this book a LONG time ago, and I started reading it and doing the exercises in it...then got distracted by shiny things (as is my tendency) and never finished.  (On a side note, I am really good at getting to the half-way point and then walking away...semi guilt-free.)  

If you are familiar with Julia Cameron, you know about morning pages, which are three hand-written pages a day about whatever you feel like writing about (in case you aren't familiar with them).  I guess to get the creative juices flowing...which (I think) is the point of this book (SoP) and possibly all her books...I don't really know...that's just what I gather from this book so far.

Anyway, one of the first exercises in the book is to create an  intuitive collage, where you pull various images that 'speak to you' (aka grab your attention) for whatever reason, without questioning the images, and make a collage with them.  Then write about the collage/analyze the images you chose.  I decided to make my collage on the notebook I planned on using for morning pages, and here it is:

I used the before-I-glued image, because the glue I used makes the images look really dark in photos...it looks just like this in real life, but take a photo, and it ends up super dark.  Anyway, the after-glue version looks exactly the same, but with neatened edges...

Not to get into it too much, the thing that surprised me about the collage was all the flower images I picked.  Don't get me wrong, I like flowers.  But they don't tend to be a recurring theme in a lot of things that I make.  And the magazines I used to make the collage weren't just full of flowers...most of the images of flowers came from ads in the magazines.  To get all hippy-dippy on you for a minute, it was like I subconsciously sought out the flower images.  In my mind, flowers are connected to growing, so maybe it's a mental pat on the back from me to myself for personal growth.  Or it could just be that I like flowers...

I don't know if I'll end up sticking with Julia this time or not...she's got a lot of hippy dippy, which I tend to be resistant to.  Although, because of art journaling, I'm learning to accept hippy dippy as it applies to me.  AKA subdued hippy dippy...which is basically learning to understand the principal behind the fancy, flowery, over-the-top wording of said hippy dippery.  I do know that it takes me FOREVER to write three pages worth of long-hand, so logistically, I can't see me doing morning pages everyday...I just don't have time for that/question my willingness to make time for that...but I've done morning pages three times so far and have already had a bit of a mental breakthrough (which I will probably end up sharing in another post), so maybe there is something to be said for making time for morning pages after all...

Now I'm off to make some art...or do morning pages...or eat...meh, I'm off to do something...