Pastel Christmas unPlanner Pages

A new year HELLO to all of you!

A new year means the end of a year-long project. It is hard to say goodbye to DLP. I have now participated for three years, and it'll take some adjustment in my brain space to not have these art prompts. I am not quite sure what I'll be creating in 2017 yet.

Meanwhile, here is probably the last post for my unPlanner! 

To know more about how you could make an unPlanner, see the project challenge and artists HERE.

I chose a pastel Christmas theme, with pinks, purples and blues, using PaperArtsy fresco chalk acrylic paints. They are like icing on a cake!

For my divider, I painted a Bethlehem scene with NeoColor2 crayons and the fresco chalk paints. In the circle, I wrote out the Christmas story from Luke 2. The scene was inspired by a children's book illustration. The "stars" were made using stencils:

April 2016 - Private Collection 16.2

and one of Mary Beth Shaw's new planner stencils, 

 Planner Winter Stencils4

My watercoloured doodled calendar got a colour treatment too, with some stamping and simple journaling. Whew! Only 3 days in all December was spent by ourselves! But it was good, very good. :)

I have the monthly view calendar available as a printable if you're interested in using it in your own planners. See HERE. 

I played for hours on my December, and I just want it finished now, so I left some parts simpler. 

I made a scalloped pocket to house the PACs by using a scallop punch and stenciling with the same circular stencil as used for the "stars" on my divider. The background is similar to the page on the right in my Dec 4-10 weekly view photo above.  The ''be strong and courageous'' phrase echoes my 2016 OLW: Strength. See my January post to see how I documented it in the beginning: 

I procrastinated with the art challenges this month, but sure had fun when the ideas finally flowed.

The one above is actually the prompt for November, but decided to include it in my December: use something from the bottom of your purse. I had wrapping from a Hershey Kisses candy, so I made little "beads" from the foil wrapper to attach to the ribbon, and used the little paper slip that comes with each candy. I like it!

For this one above, the prompt was to use crayon, so like many of you in the fb group, I used Inktense pencils, sopping up the pooling colour with a silk ribbon before it dried, dying it and making the colours look pastel instead of the vivid look you get by using water sparingly.

 I used the paper from the reinforcement stickers as a stencil on top of the watercolour wash background.

The phrase is one line from the Holy Sonnet XV by Donne. I was so struck by the words from the poem when it was beautifully recited during our church's Christmas Eve services, that I knew I needed to include it in my unPlanner somehow! The rest of the poem is printed on the back of the previous PAC. 

This PAC is for the very last prompt of the year: to use GOLD. Well, I was so pleased, as I was already using gold throughout December! I kept it simple using this beautiful stencil by Gwen LaFleur, called Decorative Curvy Ornamental Stencil. 

I was feeling nostalgic of this whole project, so I tried to use as many as the unPlanner kit downloads I could. See the days of the weeks at bottom of page? Those are from the weekly view ones. :) 

I sewed a page protector to the backside of the List 10 to house my double-sided tag.

Loving the Geometric Sky stencil by Mary C. Nasser!

The "crown" trim is made using an old EK Success punch. 

More candy wrapper "beads".

The ribbon, I sent through my sewing machine and made it ruffly and messy. :)

Flower stencil fun with the November 2016 StencilGirl club stencils by Mary Beth Shaw. LOVE LOVE it.

"This stuff" is from the unPlanner kit download kit. 

And there it is. The end of 2016. It's been so fun and rewarding. Loved connecting with like-minded creatives on the Facebook Group and on Instagram.

 What next? I did sign up for Inspiration Wednesday 2017, so you should see posts about that in the future.

Thanks so much everyone for your encouraging words the whole year long! I will miss this!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

December Daily Album Part 2

Hi, everyone! :)

okaaaaayyyyy. before you think I've gone off the deep end, making something Christmas-related in July, I must say that this project I am about to show you is a continuance ofthe StencilGirl/Imagine Crafts Christmas in July blog hop yesterdayyyyy....okay?  :) :) :)

I have been having so much fun prepping my December Daily journal. I want it ready for quick documenting in December.
My previous post
HERE
describes much of it, but in this post, I will include three things:

1. Give you more details on how I made the book.

2. Show you a few of the pages I've prepared, including some step by step photos.

3. TWO videos: a before and after flip-through.

Book Assembly

I used the same method as the first book I ever made. Here: My Coptic Stitch Bound DLP Journal
and here: My Handmade Journal for DLP.

For the front and back cover, I simply used one of the gelliprints. I didn't explain this in my previous post, but of the 15 sheets of cardstock I gelliprinted, three of them are coldpress watercolour paper. I folded one of the watercolour prints and glued it shut, doing the same for both front and back. This creates a bit stronger cover. Note: you might want to use a stiffer and thicker substrate, like chipboard and decorate however you want.

I learned the coptic stitch method from these videos:
How to Make a Sketchbook: Coptic Stitch

and the assembly from this one:
Coptic Stitch Binding Tutorial by Sea Lemon.

Keep in mind that it requires practice to get perfect results. I don't mind that my book isn't perfect bound. It adds whimsy. ;) In fact, if you watch my video flip-throughs, the book is quite wobbly and loose.

Spine

For the ribbon I simply cut a 24"length of sheer ribbon, hand-dyed, opened the book to the middle, threaded one end through the second and the other end through the second last coptic stitch, pulled both ends through, and tied a bow on the outside spine. :)

 Inside Pages

Since I first printed each sheet of paper front and back, then folded the papers and sewed the book "signatures" together, the design of each two-page spread don't exactly work together, left to right, so I will alter each page so they coordinate, as I like the look of unified pages.

Here is an example of what I mean:

Day 1 and Day 2

Before

Looking at the spread above, I make observations:

Red on left, lots of pink on right. No turquoise on left side.

My eye demands that I need to have a visual triangle of colours and images spanning the two pages.

After

1. I smoosh some pink paint on left side, covering up more of the white area at the top.

2. Another turquoise flower on the left, using THIS GORGEOUS STENCIL and for the third element, I add some of the turquoise paint on top left corner with a stencil (of course;) ). There. Now I have three places with turquoise. :)

Circles, same thing. Date circles (uneven - asymmetrical) and the circle cluster at the bottom right. :)

For the circles, I punch out circles from an old Christmas craft book, paint with some color, stencil, glue to page, doodle with white gel pen, and draw the number on an old painted book paper and cut out. Add some shadowing with black Pitt marker and black Stabilo All pencil. 

I made this cluster of circles after watching Rae Missigman's latest video on StencilGirl Talk. She paints very loosely and she also uses pencil to add more detail marks, so I do the same. I love her loose and carefree style!

I start with four various-sized white circular smudges. Then I add purple smudges with a Silks acrylic glaze, then apply the marvelously fun Amplify Neon by Imagine Crafts, brushing it with some golden metallic paint. Lastly, some turquoise dots, white gel pen and pencil squiggles.

I looked at this lily stencil and thought it looked close enough to a poinsettia. A modern and funky twist on a traditional Christmas flower. :) I first stencil with white paint to make it pop from the red background, then with the turquoise (Americana Bahama Blue craft paint). Next, I add dots with Golden Fluid Iridescent Gold Deep (Fine) paint. To finish it off, I made some loose marks around the petals with a brush and white paint.

Day 3 and Day 4

Before

Observations: 

I love the blocking the 6x6 Decorative Folk Flower Screen stencil achieved.

I like the contrast of the turquoise thread in the middle (messy stitching of the signatures).

The dark green on lower right makes the whole spread unbalanced, as there is no other spot with that colour value.

Too much white around the whole spread.

The gold chevron washi tape is there because I pulled the thread through the paper too tightly while binding the signatures. LOL. An oopsie made pretty. Will add more gold in other places to make it look on purpose.

After

I feel like I have too many patterns and textures going on, which is partly from the high contrast of white and red in the middle there. When I go back to fill in my December 3rd and 4th, I will fill in more areas with solid colour. I'll probably journal and put photos in the middle, leaving only some of the lovely pattern showing in a few places. Won't see much of the grid, which I might regret...

 

The mini scallop shapes are made using one of the cute designs from the StencilGirl April 2016  Private Collection 16.2 club sheet.

I added more dimension to the square in middle with the Amplify stuff, further framing the square in middle.

The filigree design is stenciled with the Decorative Filigree Ornament Stencil by Gwen LaFleur. 

December 16 (I skipped to this page in my book, as I had ideas for this page. :)

Before

Observations:

That big swath of pink in middle left will need to be toned down.

More turquoise on left to balance the amount on right.

I will need to go off the page on right with a similar colour value as the image on top left corner.

After

Step-out picture below:

I apply that lily stencil again to top right, starting with white. This stencil and mask is part of a set, and they all work nicely together. 

I add pinks and purples with stencils and finger smooshing. :)

First purple, then pink mini scallops, then the funky hot pink puff balls. Christmas ornaments, right? ;)

Squiggles with pencil and white gel pen.

Here I add the puffy stuff in different shapes.

Have you seen the little video I made demonstrating this product? Here it is:

Pink mini scallops on white edge. All so yummy and textural and colorful.

I made a little video flip-through of my pages before I added the extra embellishing and refining.

And another after:

I hope you enjoyed my very long blogging here. I am totally loving this little work in progress book! 

Don't know what I mean with a December Daily journal? Check out Ali Edwards' plan. She journals daily through the whole month of December in a scrapbooky style, with photos and journaling. I hope to include both in this journal. We'll see, though. I change my mind so much. I might just use it for fun art journaling.

Thanks for visiting! I appreciate any and all comments and questions! Bring it on!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

Christmas in July Blog Hop

Hi all! Welcome to the StencilGirl and Imagine Crafts Christmas in July Blog Hop! :)

I have had an amazing time with making my project for this fun hop. I have never participated in a Christmas in July project, so it was bit of a learning curve. But can it get any better? I get to play with my favorite stencils (from StencilGirl, of course!!) and some great products by Imagine Crafts! I am so excited to show you what I've made. 

Three things:

1. I love gelliprinting.

2. I love creating handmade books.

3. I have attempted a December Daily journal but I overthink my design every time, and so I don't get one ever finished during December, as it is a busy month!

So....this blog hop gave me the opportunity to pre-make one, and that's what I've done.

So the first pic is how my book looked originally. Then I got more ideas. And more ideas. So, it looks different now. I created more contrast and added some additional funky texture. Read on. :)

Step 1: Gelliprinted 15 sheets of white cardstock, BOTH sides. For this step, I did not spend much time thinking about the design of each print, I just got lovely textures, patterns and colours down.

 I used many different stencils (You will see them listed below.), using various colours of Golden paints including: Golden brand Primary Magenta, Teal and Turquois (Phthalo) and at least three crafts paints: Americana Bahama Blue, Americana Neon and Apple Barrel Fushia, plus white paint.

Decorative Folk Screen stencil by Gwen LaFleur.

Decorative Medallion by Gwen LaFleur

Deconstructed Single Lily Mask and Stencil by Traci Bautista 

Deconstructed Bold Lily Mask and Stencil by Traci Bautista

Deconstructed Lily Mask and Stencil by Traci Bautista

and Flicks by Lizzie Mayne.

Many more stencils and pages of course. 

Step 2: With metallic thread, I messily stitched each edge, somewhat along the paint lines on the edges of each print. (The 8"x10" Gelliplate is slightly smaller than the cardstock.)

Step 3: I folded each gelliprint in half, making signatures. Signatures are usually made up of several sheets of paper, but I pretended that each single sheet was one signature.

Step 3:Using the coptic stitch method, I stitched all the pages together with teal metallic thread. 

Now it is ready for my December Daily entries and the decorating!

You already saw the cover:

I added more detail to the initial gelliprint with paint and white gel pen. My favorite part: the puffy shapes you see!! THAT, my friends, was made with this fabulous magic puffy stuff called Amplify Neon by Imagine Crafts! I made a little video to show you how it works. See 

HERE. 

You doodle with it like you would a normal small-tipped bottle, and then you apply a heat gun to it until it puffs up. You stop heating it when it doesn't move anymore. So cool and so fun! See the product here: 

Imagine Crafts

When cool, I added golden metallic paint to it. Yummy!

After finishing the cover, I was fully into Christmas themed mixed media and had to actually work on the inside of my book. 

I have always loved white Christmas trees with pink and turquoise decorations, but hubby prefers Charlie Brown trees, so that's what we always have. So why not use pink and turquoise to my heart's content on my journaling pages? I say YES!! So here are some in process pages:

See the yummy puff balls? That's the Amplify product. 

Well, I had more pages and photos to show you, but my phone is being glitchy tonight! I will blog more about this project soon.

Thanks for visiting and do not forget to enter the giveaway! ;) :)

Blog Hop Order

July 9:

StencilGirl Talk

Mary C. Nasser

Kristie Taylor

Karen Gaunt

Neva Cole

Nadine Carlier

Monica Edwards

July 16:

StencilGirl Talk

Janet Joehlin

Cindy Giltrap

Anna Friesen

Alison Heikkila

Martha Lucia Gomez

Roni Johnson

July 23:

StencilGirl Talk

Gwen Lafleur

Carolyn Dube

Carol Baxter

Mark Melnick

Jowilna Nolte

Terre Fry

What would a Blog Hop be without a GIVEAWAY??!!!

We'll be picking one lucky winner

to receive $100 in Gift Certificates – a $50 Gift Certificate for StencilGirl Products and

a $50 Gift Certificate for Imagine Crafts!

Take your time and visit each blog showcased July 9, 16, & 23 and leave your comments.

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!

One comment per blog please.

You will have until Saturday, July 30th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

The winner will be notified by email and announced on

StencilGirl's Facebook page on Sunday, July 31st.

Best of luck, faithful followers and new visitors! 

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥