A Documented Life

I welcome 2014 with open arms and a hopeful heart.  Two major events in 2013 challenged me greatly; the illness and eventual death of a loved one, and a signifigant health issue of my own.  I know both are a part of life, but accepting that in no way diminishes their impact.

Honestly, I'm still trying to center myself, and to further that goal I have joined a group called The Documented Life.  It's a diary/art journal/sketchbook/smash book rolled into one.  I found out about it just days before the new year, so was a little late to the party.  While most people were altering a moleskin planner, I was anxious to get started and used what I had... a 5x8 Strathmore journal.

My covers, both inside and out are decorated entirely with prints from a gelli plate.

Not having planning pages I just added a small calendar for each month.  You can also see my monthly tabs.  Many of the group members made beautiful tabs.  All I did was take some stickers, write the months on them and attach them by folding them in half and letting the adhesive to the work.

Washi tape was used to attach tip ins.



 

Some of the tip ins were plain paper for sketching and watercolor paper for "wet work."  But many were just whatever I had lying around.  A sample of something or other:

An envelope:

A folded tag:

A paint color sample from the hardware store:

 

My word for 2014 is simplify (with the subgroups declutter and regroup). 

 

At a visit to a doctor, the technician was having trouble with the EKG machine and had to do mine over.  She tossed the bad one in the trash, and when she left the room I promptly retrieved it.  I knew it would come in handy eventually.  Another unusual tip in.

 

And I just love the way the washi tape looks on the edges of the paper.

 

 

 

Obviously, we can do what we want with our books, but there will also be prompts from the organizers of the project, and I'm looking forward to the first one, which should be coming within the hour.