Documented Life Week 3

Despite catching a case of the creeping crud from my husband, I'm still doing good on all my creative commitments...so YAY and Snoopy-style happy dance!  

Today I've got this week's Documented Life spread to share with you.  (You can read more about DL and join in the *free* fun HERE.)  The challenge this week was to use an envelope from your mailbox on your spread in some way.  It occurred to me that I had just used all those Sweet Red Clovers from my care packages last week...and that made me feel like I was secretly ahead of the game...or a trend setter...I'm not sure which...but either way, I told myself "Calm down, big head!" and figure out a different way to use the envelopes this time.  Here's what happened:

Documented Life, Week 3

I used Distress Stains in Tarnished Brass and Victorian Velvet for the page backgrounds.  My envelopes are the middle piece of paper on the left page and the three tiny envelopes from my Anna Banana  (two on the left, one on the right).

Left page close up.  You can see the envelope piece in the middle (the paper that says "Very well, then I contradict myself.")  That envelope and the large paper on the bottom (that was the front of a very sweet thank you card) both came from a friend I met through the KIOS blog-a-thon.  On top of the card front you can see two of the three tiny envelopes made by my friend Anna and sent to me in a care package!

The words on the paper are all lines from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman, which you can read HERE in it's lengthy entirety.  I've liked that poem, or specific parts of it at least, since I first read it.  Some people think it's a very egotistical poem, and I can see that viewpoint, but I don't feel that it is...it seems like it is more of a poem about acceptance and empathy to me.  That's how I read it anyway.  

I jumped around the poem and just picked some of the bits I liked and wrote them down in no particular order.

On this page, starting in the top left, it reads "I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, (and under the card, which flips up it says) I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world."

Then on the papers and inside the envelopes, it says "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself. I am large. (and the quote continues on the next page) I contain multitudes."

The right page close up.  This girl was one I had drawn (but not colored) for 29 Faces...she was my ode to Mucha, who's work I love...  I think I liked her better not colorized, but oh well, she's still pretty either way...and I have a picture of her in uncolored form to remember her by, so it's ok.  I'm happy she's finally in a journal and not floating around my desk anymore.  Also, the background page for this was a piece of scrapbook paper that I added to make enough spreads for 52 weeks...and look at the bottom middle, there's an envelope!  I didn't draw that stuff, and this was just the next page in the DL journal, so I thought it was a funny coincidence that letters were the challenge and I already had a letter on the page!  Crazy!

The Whitman quotes on this page say "no two alike and every one good" (which is just a little phrase/snippet that I really liked) and the last line of the poem, which has always grabbed my attention: "Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you."

The line "I contain multitudes" is what inspired me to use Whitman quotes on this spread...because I was thinking of all the lovely care packages I've received since starting art journaling...every time I get an envelope, it contains multitudes of creativity, love, and inspiration AND lots of fun stuff for me to get to play with!  I am so grateful to all my artistic friends for the wonderful things they do for me, mentally/emotionally and physically!  You all are fabulous and I smooch your faces (after I'm not contagious...or from afar)! <3

And on that note, I'm off to take some NyQuil and sleep my cold away...

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?

Sick

More from the br sketchbook today...

I've been noticing a lot of sketches that have 'extra' lines lately...  

For instance, this GORGEOUS piece by Abigail Larson: 

I love, love, love this style.  I've seen other people do similar things, but this lady's stuff just screams at my eyeballs to love it!  You can see more of Abigail Larson's work HERE.  You can also support her art and buy (me a hoodie or) something HERE.  I don't know this gal, but I REALLY enjoy her work very much and wanted to share it.

So anyway, I've had this 'sketchy' style with the 'extra' lines on my mind for quite a while, and thought I'd try a quick version of it:

"I feel sick and tired, likely because I'm always trying to fit a square peg in a round hole..."

Clearly, I need A LOT more work, but I love the look so much I know I will be revisiting it again and again so that I can get better.  I think I did it a little backwards (aka all wrong) in this piece...I think I may have figured out how to get better sketch lines and therefore a better end result...  I'm going to be experimenting more...  Practice, practice, practice...till your sick of practicing, right?  It's the only way to improve!

I also got my ICAD card done for today.  The prompt was "junk mail" and the card is 3x5:

"I pretend that I'm happy.  It's a lie.  I'm sick of always saying goodbye."  This is water soluble crayolas (the yellow and blue) and then the girl and the green piece are both from the same junk mail envelope.  I was looking at the window of the envelope and thought it looked kind of like a car window, so I stuck the cute little kid in the window and viola.  Recently, I have been seeing a ton of really cool ideas/uses for junk mail envelopes that have the clear plastic window...people are amazingly creative!

Reciprocation

Two posts ago, I talked about the wonderful mail art that I received from my friend Cheryl...and how I forgot to take pictures of what I sent her because I was so excited to send it, my brain just went crazy!

Thankfully, Cheryl took some really great pictures and is letting me use them so I can share the girls with you. (Thanks, Cheryl!)

First up, the envelope:

Why hello...

I tried really hard to do good lettering on the addresses instead of just using my normal handwriting, which looks something similar to a 12 year old boys...after I did that, the back of the envelope just looked so blank and boring that I had to make it a little snazzier!  I'm really happy with that thumb...hands are the hardest to draw (I think so anyway), and hers is a little wonky but woo hoo for that thumb!

Next up is a girl on copy paper:

I think she's got that 'come hither' look.

Cheryl makes such wonderful collages that I thought she might like to have a girl to use in her art.  That's why I sent one just on copy paper.  

It works out really well to start out using copy/printer paper to practice your girls (or anything you want to practice, I suppose).  For one thing, it's cheap, so if you mess up or aren't happy with the end result, you can toss it without bemoaning the loss of watercolor or other more expensive paper.  For another, it's easy to draw on because it's smooth and you don't have to worry about funky textures getting in the way and making you have weird/off lines.  And the best part of all, if you do make a good girl on copy paper, you can cut out your girl and stick it to a canvas or journal page and it's so thin, no one will be able to tell it wasn't drawn on directly!  I don't do all my girls on copy paper first (not anymore), but if I have a page that's has a heavy texture or a very dark background, I definitely do!  So that's my shout out to copy paper...Hooray!

And last but not least, here's the girl I did with Cheryl in mind specifically:

Cheryl's Bohemian spirited lady

This girl is probably my favorite girl I've done to date.  One, because I can see where I'm improving, and it's nice to see my girl face obsession is paying off...I've made a lot of questionable faces to get to this point!  (Her hair makes me so happy I could squeal like a pig in mud!)  Two, because it was the first piece I've done with someone (my muse Cheryl) in mind while I made her.  And three, the most important reason of all, because I got to send her off to live with such a sweet, kind person!  Cheryl is so nice and says the best, most encouraging things about my girls!  I think I would want to do art even if nobody liked it, but to hear positive things about what I do...to know that someone likes my girls so much that they want one for themselves ...it warms my heart and makes me want to keep going and keep improving and just paint the sky with happiness!

Thank you again Cheryl, for being my first mail art giver and recipient!  I can't think of a nicer person to have as my first!

I've Got Mail (Art)!

Saturday, I walked out to the mailbox and found something something really awesome: Mail Art!  I am EXCITED!

This is the first mail art I have gotten, and my lovely friend Cheryl actually sent me two separate things!  On Saturday, when I first opened the mail box, I saw this peeping out at me:

My band-aid collage from Cheryl!

I love the girl's face (I have a thing for faces...aka an obsession) and I really admire Cheryl's collages...she is one of the people who inspired me to try my own collage that I shared a few posts back!  The ephemera on this piece is so neat...it makes me wonder if Cheryl has a big huge room full of old magazines and newspapers...and then it made me wonder if I can go visit Cheryl and her room and swipe some good stuff! (ha ha)

And then, today when I came home from work, as I was looking through the the mail, I was super surprised to find another piece of mail art!  (She's so sneaky!  I didn't know there were going to be two!) I saw this beautiful diamond among the coal (aka a big stack of bills...boo for bills!):

An envelope busting at the seams with goodies!!!

So, I opened (extra carefully) the envelope (because it's so pretty, I want to keep it!) and check out all the neat things that it contained:

Some really great sheet music...I don't know what song this is, but if I remember music class correctly, I bet it's a peppy song...IF I remember right...just know that music class was a long time ago...

This sweet patchwork heart napkin!  I also sew a little, so this is very cool  on two levels!

This beautiful bird napkin (I can't wait to use it!)...I am really going to have to check out the napkin section next time I go to the store, because I am missing out on some really cool stuff it seems!

This wonderful ATC (artist trading card)...I love silhouettes!  And this one has just the perfect amount of sparkly goodness...I wish I was a better photographer so you could see just how perfect it is!

And this amazingly gorgeous ATC, which I love, love, LOVE!!!  There really aren't enough exclamation points or letters UPPER CASE enough for me to express how much I love this ATC!

I am so happy and excited about receiving such lovely art!  Thank you, Cheryl, so very much for making my day with your beautiful pieces and fun goodies too!  I sent my mail art to Cheryl this morning before work, and I was so excited, I actually forgot to take pictures!  I was literally skipping into the post office...for the record, when an adult skips into the post office, the man at the counter looks at her very oddly...and that's ok...I was too excited to care!  

So, in a few days, Cheryl will get my mail art to her, and I hope that she will like hers as much as I like mine! (Or at least close to as much, because I REALLY like mine, so she'll have to pass out from excitement to be able to like what she's getting more...and while I hope she likes it, I don't want her to pass out...hehehe!)

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Cheryl!!!