have a look at the scene around here:

Here’s the full completed page. The left side paper is the back of the paper bag/kraft paper, and the right side paper is a green textured cardstock. I added in a receipt from our local grocery store from my late evening trip to get some much desired ice cream. I circled the time stamp on the receipt (7:00pm!).

I’m really enjoying writing right on my photos, adding extra little bits of story. Here I used my white gel pen, and also doodled on some of the photos too. I’ve got some washi tape as a background detail, and I wrote some funny things my four-year old said today right on top of the tape.

I kept on doodling – I drew some sudsy bubbles on the dog, and labeled my dad in the photo. The journaling also mentions that he bathed the dog with us, but he’s not really identifiable in the photo so I thought I’d make that clear and have a little fun with the open at the same time. During this day my husband and I were chatting on facebook, and I included a screen shot of our chat window. We used to write a lot of emails to each other way back when (and send postcards), and I still enjoy communicating with him in that way. It makes my day, often.

I made these date tabs for each day of my week in the life week. The cardboard is a torn starbucks cup sleeve, and by the leftover ink on the corner of this one, I must have been using it to stamp texture on something else previously.

I didn’t think I would title each day’s page, like a traditional scrapbook page (nor did I especially want to title them), but it seems I am doing exactly that. Old habits die hard? Not sure. It adds a little to the story, which is nice. I used vertical pieces of washi tape in a pattern, and made my title on top in just my handwriting and an alpha. When I first started scrapbooking (15 years ago? more? eeps. I don’t know!) I ALWAYS hand lettered my page titles and I find the more I get back to paper (after years of digiscrap), the more I still love hand lettering and handwriting. The imperfect and wonky nature of it is all part of the charm, and the documenting – it’s mine, and will always be a reminder of me, if anyone returns to these pages without me.

(something else I have loved nearly all my life is the comma splice. sorry about that, can’t help it)

This is the completed page. I printed the photos at home, using a digital template to divide a 4×6 photo size to print multiple photos, and cut them apart. The template is one I made for my December Daily photos (the folder for which is still on my ‘desktop’!).

When I was prepping my book before the week started, I made date tabs for each day of the week. I stamped the date with my date stamp onto a piece of ledger paper from my thrifted/vintage paper collection, snipped them into slender rectangles and stapled them onto a torn piece of corrugated cardboard that is actually the underside of a Starbucks cup sleeve.

Doodle scribbles in white gel pen make a gentle pattern in the background, over a magenta gouache wash on a vintage book page. A flower shapes punched out of an index card, with a clear button on top. I like to make my own details and embellishments, and I like to use what I have.

I prepped the interior pages with colours and some pattern ahead of time. This kraft page, which is a paper grocery bag, got some circles stamped with the end of a paper towel tube. I used some kind of craft paint varnish, so it just made translucent patterns. I only thought to do this because it was one of the first bottles I pulled out when I went looking for some craft paint to use. Happy surprises are so much fun. I used Ali Edwards’ ‘daily sheets’ to jot down things during the day, and when I sat down to write the journaling for this page (the next morning), I was able to write a summary of the day from all those notes.

One of my photos from today. I haven’t been taking too many photos at all this summer so far, so this is a perfect project to get the camera back out and back into taking more photos. I normally shoot in P or sometimes Av, but since I’ve started using the camera more this week I find I have it switched to Manual, and am actually enjoying changing settings to get the shot I want, and then editing my RAW images. This is a major step in my attitude and skills with my DSLR! Loving it.

I used pre-primed artist canvas for my cover. I wanted some kind of fabric, but something that was more stiff than floppy, and we just happened to have a giant roll of this canvas in the closet. Serendipity. So i hacked a rectangle off and trimmed it down to a daily scrapbooking manageable size (whose dimensions I do not recall).

Then i messed around with the dregs of my cheapy bottle of gesso and covered the front with a thick and uneven layer of it. When that was dry, I messed around with some colours of gouache and a paper towel to blot the wet paint off. then i had a go at ink splatters, which was good until i smudged them so had to do some gesso again in parts… i recommend skipping the accidental smudging part, but it did wind up adding some depth with the additional layers of gesso and paint.

i made the title spot by tracing the shape i wanted onto kraft paper (which was really grocery store paper bag paper), cutting it out and outlining the shape with some markers. i stamped the words with a stamp set i found at a thrift store one day (what a great find!), i filled one of the words in with my white gel pen. I sewed that to the cover with some golden thread that I bet was not meant to sew paper to canvas with, but looks pretty cool anyway.

I wanted the interior pages to be all mixed papers, mixed sizes, and they are mostly from my collection of vintage/thrifted papers. I did not purchase anything new to make this book or get started on this project (whoops, i did buy a roll of masking tape), which I think is really fun. I really like to see what I can make with what I have. The result becomes much more “me” than if I approach it otherwise.

So I cut and trimmed and experimented with a pile of papers and narrowed it down to this stack – i suspect i may have too many pages in the book that won’t get filled, but that’s okay. i’ll think of something. i arranged them inside the canvas cover and then sewed them all together with my sewing machine (which truthfully did not appreciate the workout, but I should have used a larger, stronger needle) with whatever thread i could find that already had a bobbin wound. that’s how i wound up with pink stitching.

Inside, I stuck to my really fancy pants strategy. I made polka dots by stamping craft paint with the top of a glue stick. I doodled with sharpies. I made circles out of craft paint glaze/sealer stuff with a paper towel tube, and made a grid using the edge of an itunes gift card. I messily painted and let the mess stay where it landed. I dripped. It will all just become my background “patterned paper” to whatever I decide to lay down on each page.

i have a collection of gathered ‘ephemera’ to use as embellishments. most of these items are also thrifted and are being given new life as embellishements – i have cheeky and fun cards from board games, words chosen from flash card sets, library card catalogue cards, trimmed pages of ledger paper and encyclopedia pages, tickets, buttons, punched shapes from random papers, a sewing notion flower, and some handmade embellishments (the heart and the felt/paper circle). Elsewhere i have a small stack of washi tape that will get a lot of use too. As each day progresses, I will be looking for bits and pieces from that day that i can “smash” in there too, that will add more to the story of each day.

I can’t wait to make time each day to play and write!

Week in the Life is inspired by Ali Edwards:

This week I am making time for documenting our everyday along with Ali Edwards and her Week in the Life project. I spent last week making and prepping my book / foundation pages, which was a lot of fun. I can’t seem to make the binder album / tidy clean page protector pages style work for me (although I love appreciating the ones that others make, and find them inspiring!), so after a minute of pondering it I threw that idea out and went about making my own in my own style. I’ve also been hugely inspired by Donna Downey lately and her Inspiration Wednesday videos, as well as Amy Tangerine’s journal making style. I think all influences are pretty obvious in my result! The past month of so of life has not been conducive to craftiness, and I am relishing the chance to bust out some gouache and sharpies!

Ali Edwards has a free download of ‘daily pages’ for recording the little things as they happen, and they are a huge help for me, since i easily forget things if i don’t write them down. I also know myself and my style, so I am making my actual book as the week progresses. I know if I wait until next week to ‘do’, and just ‘gather’ this week, it just won’t happen. I admire those who can work this way, but I know that it doesn’t work for me, and I am SO okay with doing things my own way (BIG ‘Wink’ to that, if you know me personally!).

I noticed when I was working on my page for yesterday that I used the daily pages for reference, telling the story of the day with the events i recorded, but didn’t use all of the information. Since I recorded a lot that I didn’t transfer to my actual page, I think I will compile all the daily pages at the end and bind them and add them somehow to my book. I like saving the notes recorded in the moment as well.

I have lots to share about my process and progress, but the day has already begun and needs me to be present, so more will have to wait! I look forward to following along with Ali and everyone who is documenting and sharing, I love community creative endeavours like this!

[supplies: a paint swatch, a ultra-fine point black Sharpie, a white Sharpie China marker, a purple-y Sharpie from the 80's glam set, a red pencil crayon that i found loitering in the living room, a turquiose ballpoint pen from the kitchen]
(see it on flickr)

happy swimming!

so, last night found me sorting through my little kid’s markers, tossing out those ones with fading, scratchy colourand that kind of thing.at the end of it i had a nice tub of happily colouring markers — so what else could i be expected to do with them but doodle!

Because I’m essentially a scrapbooker at heart, I journalled a little bit about our “Today” on the back of the index card, along with the date, just handwritten in the Sharpie.

The two holes at the top are for the binder rings I’m keeping all the index cards on.  I made a little minibook with a clear acrylic cover that I will add something to at some point, and a chipboard back cover (i disassembled a blank mini book from a scrapbook store that i have been storing for ages…) and popped a random assortment of index cards and similar papers inside, just waiting for their day to come.

[supplies: a yellow edged index card found in my box of small papers and tags; crayola kids markers and similar; one ultra-fine point Sharpie; one white Sharpie Peel-Off China Marker (love those things)]

a half hour or so creativity play before bed time, i dig that. i coloured the  background with pencil crayons whilst watching something on the tv, then played with the other layers standing at my dining table before turning on the dishwasher and calling it a day.  ….a good day!!

[supplies:   this is a card catalogue card from a junior high school library. i meant to use the other side with the book info, but clearly forgot. the blue-y background layers are strips of a packing tape transfer made from some artist papers from a stampington somerset memories magazine. the hearts and the "human" are my 4 year old's drawings. yes, she calls them "humans" - SO funny. the pink journaling strips are post-it notes cut up. recycled newspaper pencil crayons stolen from my 4 year old (O'Bon), again, and a black Bic pen, and a white gel pen. fancy stuff! oh, and a kid glue stick]