Calendar Chronicles - A Documented Life
Wow, it's already the end of April! I'm looking back on the past year. April-April, an intense year for me, challenging but good. Growth... Stretching... Mixed Feelings... Hope....
It seems like a good time to revisit the Calendar/Documented Life Journal in a blog post, a transition point in my year. This journal has become more personal than I first thought. I'm following my own path, less travelled rather than keeping in step with the online group. I need to simplify. It's time for a break. For now, less is more. It's okay.
I'm having fun developing the monthly calendar pages, surprised at how therapeutic the process is. The grid paper makes it easy. The daily squares/rectangles are 6x8 squares each. I outline them with a FaberCastell Pitt pen. Then I cut painted tissue paper, deli paper, or other paper to fit the sections and glue them on with a glue stick. I really like using the tissue paper because I can see through it to trace the rectangle and can see through it enough so the stamping slightly shows through. It's a way to add intense color without the use of wet media. Then I stamp the numbers for each day on top of the tissue paper. Easy. (The tissue paper painting and marbling are taught in the Marbling & More online class and the studio Art Journaling 2-day workshop. Info is found at valeriesjodin.com)
At the end of each month I look back and write some "highlights & insights". The one below is for March. It also goes with a Documented Life Project challenge of cutting out of a magazine, but it doesn't really look like that here. I had a strip of art cut from a magazine with the three trees and sun with some layers. I don't know who the artist is. I had it in my collage collection because it was simple and strong. I cut out the cloud, glued it on, added tape I painted to the sides and some text, also painted, more painted and cut papers, and the writing.
I feel like I'm developing the calendar part more each month. Enjoying the process and the outcome. April, full of love, celebration, challenges, preparation, going to the next level, and yes, more HOPE!
At the beginning of the year, I decided to use some things I don't normally use in my journals. Those things include stamps, washi tape, and photographs. Below, I included those things in the pages and a surprise folded postcard from one of our favorite stops in Seattle, Le Panier French Bakery :) These pages record the fun with my Dear Ones celebrating family birthdays in April, and our visit to the American Car Museum in Tacoma Washington.
What about May? I'm going on an Adventure...