More Pages from My Smash Journal

Here are a couple more spreads from my Project 365 Smash book. I think this thing deserves its own gallery, since I am committed to keeping up with it all year! That being said...I've missed a few days...gotta get back on that! 

Anyway, I've decided all my photos are going to be square with the film frame (I use Vingette for Android for all my photos), which will add cohesion throughout the whole thing. Plus, square is fun for a book this side. And I can print off 6 on one sheet of paper! 

One thing I do is doodle, swirl, or write across the backgrounds of the plainer pages. Since my book has a lot of those "found" papers, I may be doing this often. But it adds a punch of color I can then work over and use to inspire doodles! Plus, I LOVE the Soho watercolors you can grab at Jerry's (thanks for talking them up, Jodi!); they're vivid and lovely and smooth, and practically glide over the thick paper in the Smash book. 

I've decided to pair down on what I use in this journal. It's mostly colored pencils, markers, and a box of scraps and trim I put together. Basically, anything that I can put down with double-sided tape. And washi tape. No acrylics or stencils in here! The photos are the focus of the book, and the little captions I write to remind me of the important things that happened that day. 

My chipboard letters have come in handy, and I've doodled a bit with the watercolors. I love pommegranates right now!

And here, I wrote inside a stencil scrap! 

Sometimes, the layers can get intimidating. Here are the stages I work in (and a few more spreads are halfway finished....):

• Doodle and swirl with watercolors
• Tape down photos
• Stamp date near each photo
• Tape down collage papers
• Write a sentence or two near each photo
• Embellish with colored pencils, markers, and other elements

I'll post more spreads next week. I think I'll make a little link on the sidebar so you can keep up with my pages!

Happy, Smashing Discoveries

Week two of the Smash book. Roughly. I cheated and chose two photos from the 14th, which means this is four days' worth of journaling. Or photoing? Is there a word for this? 

A few happy discoveries:

1. I already have a perfect stamp for this -- that written 'date' is from my line at Paperbag Studios.
2. The itty-bitty cloud punch I got for $1.25 at Tuesday Morning makes the cutest clouds. I punched them out from a painted paper cast-off on my desk. 
3. The paper takes watercolors pretty decently, so I decided to write with them across the paper as a "background" on the plainer pages. 
4. I made my own tagged paper-clips with a bag from Staples and little banners I picked up on clearance years ago. (Here's what the Smash version looks like.)

The other fun part about finishing this spread was using Google Hangout for the first time. I was still a little sick over the weekend, so instead of going out to Becca's, I added her in the video hangout, as well as a few other art friends. We chatted and doodled and painted. I find I'm apt to spent more time in the studio when working along-side someone -- not talking, necessarily, but while they, too, are creating. And ever since Skype made three-way-calling a premium service, I've not used it as much. I'm pretty sure I'll be 'hanging out' more now that Google's version has proven tons of fun!

And here's something I realized as I worked in the Smash book:

People say these are art journals for scrapbookers; I think they're also scrapbooks for art journalers!

Smashing!

Yes, I did it. 

I bought a Smash book. 

It happened a little like this: 

“I really can’t stop thinking about those Smash books,” I said. 

“They look really cool,” Becca replied. 

“But I can’t really justify getting one, even with my coupon.” 

“I was thinking of using them with my photos.”

“Yes! We can have an easy journal devoted to our Project 365 photos! And can keep each other in line!” 

*Zooms to Michaels*

Paraphrased, of course. I think my fever’s finally broken, but it’s done this before, so I’m still under blankets, warm, and taking medicine. I’m quite loopy, too. And may be making poor decisions like designing a tattoo in Gallifreyan for my right wrist (I feel lopsided, with only one inside my left wrist). 

Right. The Smash book. 

I decided that, with the coupon, it was worth it to grab something easy to put my photos in. Right now, I’m posting nearly daily on my Tumblr (not really for the past two days, as there is surprisingly little to photograph when you’ve spent three days in a recliner watching TV and doodling in a Moleskine journal) and printing them every four days or so to Smash ‘em in the journal. The fact that my phone takes amazing pictures and I can post directly to Tumblr ensures that I'll never lose any of the pics, and will always have a place to find them all from any computer.

And it’s nice. I don’t intend to make it as artistic or painted as my art journal, or to do a ton of work in it. That’s not what it’s for. Instead, this journal is simply photographs. Taped down, with a little bit about what happened that day, where the photo was taken, etc. I already have several creative journals going, so working in the Smash book is relaxing. No backgrounds to make, or paint to get out. And that’s the magic of it, I think. I was chatting about this with Christen and realized the easy, slightly-less-spontanious nature where the photographs speak for themselves is perfect. Don’t want ‘em overshadowed by everything else.

(Here's a tip: You can connect your smartphone via Bluetooth to a CVS photo kiosk and print 'em instantly from there; I did this in Oklahoma City when I visited Deina and the photos come out perfectly!) 

Think how cool it’ll be to look through it come December 2012.