Bullet Journal and Art Journal

Bullet Journal and Art Journal

This year I decided to return to a journaling format I used a few years back to record daily life as well as to keep a record of my word of the year. I am also intrigued with many of the aspects of bullet journaling as a means of documenting life and tracking some of your habits. As I said at the beginning of the year, I'm using a Leuchtturm 1917 journal with grid pages. My post about why I chose this journal is here.

In this journal this year I am working through how to live out my word of the year, fruit. Previous posts over the past few weeks have highlighted how I chose this word, how I do a word study for my word, doing a mind map for my intentions for my word, and then, this past Friday, about the difference between intentions and goals. You can access all of these posts by clicking on January in the blog archive column on the right side of this page.

Some of the other ways I'm using this journal is to record events through weekly page spreads:

I"m also tracking a few things this year:

My non-fiction reading list

Birds I spot on my walks and in my backyard 

And finally, I'm adding in pages as things happen or as I am inspired. Such as a page remembering our weekend in Traverse City, MI to celebrate my daughters 40th birthday with a girls road trip.

Then there is a page of some of the little phrases I say a lot. These little sayings or mantras tend to reflect what we value or things we've learned over time. They tend to reflect who we are and can serve as reminders when we need encouragement or motivation. This page also gave me an opportunity to play with the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pen set I recently purchased.

So far, I am enjoying the Leuchtturm 1917 journal. At first I was concerned with shadowing - seeing the shadow of what your writing or the items you glued on the following page. But as I have gone along it hasn't bothered me too much. I love the grid paper and its a nice sturdy journal. But because I like making journals and binding books, and because I like a variety of journal and art styles, I have a second journal going. I made a junk journal out of an old book and I'm using it to play in and to do pages for different art challenges or groups I participate in.

#livingyourword2020 #junkjournaljanuary, #getmessyartjournal, #gmseasonofhome, #jan202020creativechallenge

If you choose a word of the year and are looking for ways to live it out through the year, I am a part of a faith-based Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year 2020. Join us!

Some of the art supplies used in this post:

Vintage paper packs, Dennison red border labels and tags can be found at Found On Brighton Etsy.

Disclosure:A note about Amazon links on my blog:

I am giving Amazon affiliation a try, which means I may receive a small percentage off sales made through clicking on the Amazon links found on my blog. There is no additional cost to you.

Completed September Tag Book

Last month I was inspired by a challenge Roben-Marie Smith to use shipping tags for art. I took this mini tag book I had found at a thrift store and decided to make an art journal about some of the things I like about the month of September. My completed book:

I really enjoy making books. Whether I fill them completely or not, the joy for me appears to be in the making! I made an accordion book for my next project and intend to fill it with things that connect to my soul for the Get Messy art community Season of Connections.

For most of the year I haven't felt like going thrifting, but I took some time last weekend and went to some estate sales and thrift stores and had a great time. I'm adding a few of my finds to my Etsy shop this week. Tomorrow my sister and I are taking a much needed and long overdue sisters adventure day. We'll see what we can find in Lansing, MI!

Meandering 2.11.2017

"Meandering: adjective; the act of following a winding or indirect course. Ramble, roam, zigzag, circuitous. A blog post about a variety of things; a little bit of this and a little bit of that."

After a three-month break, due to the holidays and a sister who had,  not just one, but two surgical procedures in January, we finally got together this weekend for a day of hunting vintage. Last year on one of our Grand Rapids hunting vintage days we visited a place called the Craft Outlet.. The day we found it was their last day of business before moving to a new location. So yesterday we hunted down the new location and were we pleasantly surprised. Not only did we find a lot of great deals but their new location in in a renovated warehouse! Seeing as we who love old buildings, vintage, repurposing and renovation the ambiance of this store made the visit there so much more special for us!

This place was so great! Good thing we found it because we found nothing at the many thrift and vintage stores we visited. Our day would have been a total bust except for the Craft Outlet and simply being together! Oh, and a good visit together to Target!

In the past few weeks I've worked on a few art journaling projects:

I finished my intentions page for my One Little Word journal.

I started journaling odds and ends in one of my Traveler's Notebook inserts, filling it with quotes from books I'm reading, documenting some of my life, and adding in prompts occasionally from groups I belong to. I was really missing The Document Life group and happened upon the rebirth of this group as "Life Documented" through a blog post from one of the former admins.

This quote speaks right to my heart and soul!

Last week a new theme began in the Get Messy Art Journaling community: the Season of Art 101. We're going back to basics and playing with different mediums. The first week's theme was watercolor and I chose the prompt about beginnings.

I'm putting my Season of art pages in the journal I started for December's 30 days of lists. I got too busy at work to do much art so I didn't fill the whole book. It's a great size with 5 x 7" pages.

Well I've meandered enough for one day! Tomorrow my sister and I will be vendors at Kalamazoo's Vintage Market. We're looking forward to a day of hanging out with lots of people who love vintage things. Enjoy your weekend!