Week 1 : DLP 2015 and Life Book Tag

My daily journaling will be worked alongside this year's Documented Life Project. Like many, I am working in this large Dylusions journal which I have had sitting in my cupboard for just the right project : 

click on any photo to see it larger

The DLP 2015 project is free and there is a monthly theme, and then a weekly challenge and prompt. On the Art to the 5th blog, you'll find links to the blogs of the artists sharing their process for creating their pages.
Lorraine Bell mentioned in her video that she thinks she would like to use the first couple of pages to keep a track of the challenges - kind of like a contents page. I really liked that idea so I've ruled up my first couple of pages....
This one is ruled into 12 sections (it faces the inside of the cardboard cover which I'll have to art up later)

and the next double-page spread is ruled up with 52 spaces for the weekly challenges

This is week 1 :

Coincidentally, the first warm-up exercise for Life Book 2015 with Tam was using a book paper background and then various layering techniques....so my base here is a bit of that as well as the documented life challenge. I started my spread by gluing down various book pages, adding some watersoluble crayons which I blended with water and then brayered gesso over the whole. This photo shows the gessoed effect on the pages, and on the side, the watersoluble crayons before gesso on what will be an envelope

click on any photo to see it larger

Then the spread was transformed with some of my gorgeous new paints which I scraped on with an old credit card

It's been really hot here, and I was in the pool before doing my journal page. It definitely influenced my use of the lovely iridescent turquoise like the water, surrounded by fluro hot colours...if you click on the photo below you'll also see how that fluro yellow turns the turq gorgeously green where they overlap

As I started this spread, I knew I was going to include my word for 2015 and also that one of the mini lessons for week 2 of Life Book was going to be making a tag with Roben-Marie Smith - preview HERE. This is my tag :

Roben-Marie also shared a link showing how to use stencils as stamps - it's inspiring and on her blog HERE. I attached my tag to the outside of a handmade envelope

A modified version of my blog post about my intentions to do with my word is folded inside - that's the "Be your own goal keeper" part of this challenge

This is the full spread

In this detail shot you can see the layers include my intention headings, and the flowers are sometimes stamped directly on the page, and sometimes layered onto coloured book paper or sheet music before being cut out and glued as another layer.

The daily journaling on each spread will be in a section to one side 3 1/2". Here's a closer-up of this week's - and you can click on it to see it even larger of course

Weekly challenge 2 goes up on the weekend...can't wait