Creating a book a month

As I thought about my creative intentions for the coming year, the 2 things I remained undecided about were whether to pick up a daily journaling practice again and what I could do for a mixed media fibre art monthly project. 
I considered re-joining the Life Documented group. This is the journal I created in 2017

The group is still very active and supportive, so if you want to develop a practice like this you could check out the FB group or their website which continues to offer weekly prompts. Also 2020 on Instagram.
Over the past week I've realised that what I would really LOVE to do more of is a small book format and I've decided to create a book a month!
I already have this class waiting for me

- so this will be my book for January. Will share my initial gatherings and thoughts about this project very soon.
I had already decided on a book for June when I completed my 2019 December Daily

''This journal format was so enjoyable, creating loose pages and then binding them together, and I was so inspired by this project that I am already thinking this would be fun to recreate in June - following the same prompts but with the focus on Winter and my birthday month.''
I also had a ball in 2017 creating small stitched books in Mary Ann Moss's wonderful online Stitch*Bookery class. Many of these I gave away or enjoyed so much I would love to create that format again

I've long thought of creating a fabric book and I was recently inspired by Nancy's blog post about Stitch Meditations. I know I often try things and after a short period want to move to another project so a fabric book for a month may be ideal.

 

If I should fall short of ideas/inspiration, remember I taught a class of Art Journal construction ideas and shared all those ideas in a blog post HERE.
And the extra bonus bit...all of these can incorporate stitch and fibre so also fulfils my other desire for a mixed media fibre art monthly project ♥
In 2012 I tried creating a book a month and I managed 6 journals.
January - Garden Tag Accordian

February - coptic binding

May - Tape holder book

June - binding online class samples into book format

July - taped journal

September- a huge journal from Mary Ann Moss's Full Tilt Boogies class

I wonder if I can manage more this year? I'm concentrating on small and gorgeous, mixed media and stitched. A couple may fill the need for a month of daily art journaling, but each will be a unique reflection of the month. I feel SO EXCITED to share my book creations with you over the next 12 months. Please share in the comments if you have any other ideas to inspire me for this project.

Creative Dreams for 2017

You can do ANYTHING, 

but you can't do EVERYTHING!

While I normally start a new year with big plans and a long list of projects that may seem impossible to achieve, I usually end my year with a "Ta Da!" list that never would have happened without the long list.... you've got to have a dream don't you?!
I know that creating is something that makes me SHINE so I'm making sure there's plenty of support for that! But be kind and realistic about what's possible for you. I was going to call this post creative goals, but changed it to dreams cos I usually have to review my expectations mid year and get a bit more realistic! January is dream time for me ♥ Everything seems possible....

ART JOURNALING
+ I am definitely IN with Effy Wild's Book of Days class for the year (link will take you to buying a full-year or first session option) Session One will take place between January 1 & April 1st. We will break in April, and Session Two will take place between May 1 & August 1. We will break in August and resume for Session Three which will run between September 1 & December 1. I find her style of teaching inspiring, and I adore her Facing Forward II class. The breaks will let me catch up and focus on other projects as well.

Effy's also co-host of Journal 52 (free weekly prompts for the year)
+ Documenting Life - I've had daily journals in the past, often in the form of a calendar journal, but in 2016 I just decided to include some memory keeping as part of my art journal.  I'm ready to go back to a separate journal for this purpose again and I'm going to follow the prompts of the original Documented Life 2014. More about that journal soon....

+ I really enjoyed doing Life Book again last year. In 2016 I managed to complete 30 pieces of art from the lessons on offer, and In 2015 I completed 23 pieces of art. I went through a phase of feeling really disappointed that I wasn't getting to the lessons but now I've decided I'm not going to take on Life Book 2017, but will attempt to complete more of the lessons I've saved from 2015 and 2016 - plenty to keep me going ;-)

 + My Word of the year is SHINE - read about that in my previous post. I'm doing Ali Edwards' One Little Word again to keep my on track 

+ I also have Spirit Wings by Kelly Rae Roberts  (purchased because I just couldn't resist the bargain from her 10 Year anniversary sale...class now available for $99 lifetime access)

and Grateful HeART journal by Alisa Burke because I love her stuff and I got it on sale!

If you need some cheap and FREE online art class ideas check out my list HERE.
FABRIC and STITCH PROJECTS
+ I was gifted Sue Spargo's embroidery class on Craftsy 

+ More quilts to be made I hope - this one is waiting to be finished : 

+ Mixed Media fabric art projects - like my banner

As well, I hope I get the opportunity to teach again this year - I'll be taking craft club at school again at the very least. 

You can do ANYTHING, but you can't do EVERYTHING! On reading over this post I'm obviously going to try though...if I get half of this done by the end of the year I'll be doing well! Are your creative dreams as big as mine? ♥

My 2016 Ta Da! List

At the end of every December, I like to take a moment to celebrate and share my completed creative projects from the year. 

Art Journaling has been a major focus this year. I began with a second-hand art book to alter and use for the Life Book 2016 projects along with Documented Life 2016 and daily journaling. I wanted to see my artful journey in one place, and also incorporate other art along the way.  This is how my art journal looks today : 

Go HERE to see every spread I've completed in 2016. I still have pages to continue the journey into 2017 and I am very happy about that. This is my latest spread for 2016 :

See my previous 2 blog posts for details of these pages.
The recent work I've been doing in classes with Effy Wild continue to inspire me to dig deeper, listen to my inner whispers, think about what I really want to do with my art : sometimes it's just to create something pretty, but I'm enjoying the self-enquiry and affirmation aspects more and more. And "doing the work" ie. creating every day, leads to more creativity. I especially enjoyed the Facing Forward II class and seeing how my faces are developing. I will definitely be completing the other 5 faces from this class and sharing them finished in 2017. The above spread shows my most recent from that class.

My word for this year has been TRANSFORM. While I didn't meet my expectations in some areas, I transformed in unexpected ways...Read all about that HERE. My word of the year informed the first page of my art journal and many more after

The above page was my first of my Life Book Projects this year. Check out my review of Life Book 2016 HERE. All my Life Book project photos are HERE.

I stayed focussed on my word with monthly prompts via Ali Edwards' One Little Word class. This was my March vision board

As well as these projects that lasted the year, I made a number of other things. In February I was back to work at school with a new diary cover.

In March I had a play day to celebrate a friend's birthday, and made these paper mache teacups

I finished my "Wild Women don't get the blues" quilt in May and won a merit ribbon for it in October!  

For my birthday play day I made crepe paper flowers : 

and made a quilt top - on the "to finish quilting" list for 2017....

My nephew and his fiance had a baby girl in August and I made them this quilt: 

In September-October I did lots in my art journal. And did my first face for Effy's Facing Forward II class

In November I taught 3 mixed media art classes - loved these. 
From Past to Present Artfully was a 2 hour class for Local history week at the public library

Mixed Media Fabric banners

Star Books

At school I took a craft club in the 4th term and made a christmas quilt - the children made felt decorations to hang on it

I've continued to make birthday cards : 

At the end of the school year my student librarians received handmade bookmarks from me as a thank you for their work

Then it was December and time to make some festive cards

and then my main batch of Christmas cards

I love to see all my projects listed like this in one place. And I'd like you to think about what you can celebrate creatively this year. How have you developed on your creative journey?

Now's the time to look ahead to 2017 : What choices are you willing to make so you can create art?

Wishing you Creative Joy in 2017

December Memory Keeping

As we end the year I decided I just had to do one last memory keeping page. December was jam packed, so not so much an artful page but it captures this last month and reminds me why I didn't get so many pages filled in my art journal ;-)

Still more pages left in this art journal to continue the journey in 2017

You can see my Flickr album with all my daily journaling spreads from the year HERE. 

November memory keeping

November was a month of wonderful creativity teaching 3 mixed media classes and children's craft club sessions alongside high personal stress from my eldest studying and sitting his NCEA exams and some extended family issues. As a consequence, time for my personal art suffered and I felt the lack. However, as I created my November spread retrospectively this weekend, it gave me back perspective and I remembered that creativity is always central in my life.

Click on the links to see my Banner Class, my star book class, and details of the Christmas quilt.
I wish that I had read this FB post by ELizabeth Gilbert last month : 

Although it's about her response to the US election results and her personal situation dealing with a partner with cancer, her question is uppermost for me. As I head into December and the business of the inevitable overwhelm of the season, as I reflect on my "One Little Word" this year and the disappointments over some of that (more later), her words give me positive direction with where I want to go next. 
As I head into school holidays I do so with the knowledge that Summer has arrived and I am entering my season of high creativity.  I can't wait to share more with you.
You can see my Flickr album with all my daily journaling spreads HERE. 

Journal October with LB2016 : Chunky Versals

I've changed the way I do "daily" journaling, and now do my memory keeping on a spread for the whole month. I did that for September HERE and a fun lesson from Life Book 2016 with Martha Lever was the perfect way to head up my October pages. She taught her Chunky Versals lettering and this is what I did with that : 

After September, I randomly chose a spread a few pages on in my journal and started swiping off excess paint as I made journal pages. 

Then I started using prompts from Documented Life to build my spread. Week 1 : hide something under your art, Week 2 : start with a doodle - the doodled October heading is glued down over some private thoughts about October. 

Week 3 : Draw a line down the middle and create 2 scenes. Thought I would start by dividing the rest of the page and doing half collage and half paint, but couldn't resist adding the flowers on the painted half. Then decided I should add a face since they've been a focus for October

and Week 4 : repeat a pattern led me to create a flower similar to those created HERE.

Week 5 : Incorporate the first letter of your name finished that page. I just tore appropriate words from the top of dictionary pages, and then found some lovely words to circle in the background. They didn't start with L but deserved to be highlighted.

The other page of the spread is photos and imagery that speak to me of the month - some are obvious (changing my wardrobe over to lighter clothes, mixed weather, winning the ribbon in the quilt show) and some only make sense to me unless explained (eg. the 2 chairs by the table = lots of time supporting study with my eldest for his big NCEA exams due to start next week).

Here's the whole spread that captures my October. Hope you have a fabulous November.

Click on the photo to see it larger. Go HERE to see my Flickr album of all my Life Book 2016 projects. You can see all my posts about Life Book this year HERE. You can see my Flickr album with all my daily journaling spreads HERE.