Last year I worked in the suggested planner but didn't like having a dated spot for each day. Made me feel like I HAD to write something every day, which isn't going to happen. Same thing with letters vs postcards. A letter seems endless to me cause there's always another sheet of paper; but a post card has a finite amount of space so I can see the end in sight.
Anyway, this year the official workbook is a large mixed media journal but I knew I didn't want to work that big and I know I like to work on individual sheets of paper so that I can run them thru the sewing machine, and not worry about paint going down in the seams and getting on other pages. So I dug around the studio and found a landscape format ACCO binder about the right size and tore up enough Bristol board to have 60 pages. As you can see in the pics, they'll all be hole punched on the short left side and stacked onto the metal pins of the ACCO binder. Mine is kinda like this in shape, but smaller and older with metal pins instead of the plastic ones shown here. And brown cause I haven't decorated the cover yet. I like it cause it's easy to add and remove pages.
The first two weeks are done and so far I'm keeping up lol. We'll see how it goes. I'm notoriously bad about sticking with year-long stuff. But I think this format and the lack of pressure to fill in the day blanks will help a lot. I am journaling a bit on the back of each one, mostly observations about the backyard birds, or dog walks, or how the stars looked at 6am when I threw out the day's birdseed.
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| Both pages started out with book text collaged on, then some color from a variety of mediums, then white paint washed here and there. The top one is simple - a few collaged circles and some doodling. The bottom one has gelli print circles, color from Neocolor II crayons (that I *had* to have and don't use near enough), some of the truly ridiculous amount of washi tape I've stockpiled like it'll be the world's currency after the zombie apocalypse, some of my hand carved stamps stamped with Distress Stain instead of stamp pad inks, and a bit of doodling. The smeary black is Stabilo All pencil, which I love and need to stock up on. Having only one makes me nervous. |
Leslie you make me chuckle about all those "supplies" you have and saving them for some reason lol...I like your approach for the year. When I've been working on my big pages I have been creating "test" pages that I will probably use to create a smaller book....love both of yours and all the colour.
ReplyDeleteI am like you too about the supplies. In fact if the zombies come and want to have a journaling day before the apocalypse they have all they need in my studio! Love the idea of the separate pages. I have yet to embrace the sewing on paper idea, but that looks like something I will need to try this year! Pages are looking good! We can help each other keep on track for the year project as I am like you, losing energy part way through.
ReplyDeleteLooks good, fun and colorful and interesting. I do make the "day" page for my journal with the intention of using it strictly to track artsy happenings. BUT, I often forget or don't do something artsy so this year I decided it's okay if not every day has writing in it.....like you I'm using a journal I already have and a size that works for me (about 6x9). I'll be inserting some pages throughout the year because I like to stitch too.....I only made it to Sept last year so will see if I can finish the year this time :)
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