Less than a month ago I came across “The Documented Life Project” which combines, if you follow their pattern, using a planner plus adding art journaling with one weekly challenge. There are some free video tutorials as well as fee-based workshops which are excellent. Roben-Marie Roberts Smith, Lorraine Conte Bell, Rae Missigman, Barbara Copeland Moore and Sandi Keene are the five ladies who have organized this into a year long project complete with a closed facebook page for sharing one’s finished projects.
One could use collage, painting (either water coloring or acrylic), doodling, scrapbooking, anything that you enjoy in which to organize your planner and art and journaling facets of yourself. There are no do’s or don’ts. This gave me the information tutorials to know what to do and the freedom to play on my own. I also take pictures of the album/planner pages so as to incorporate it all into my Project Life album pages. Project Life will focus on people and events with a sprinkling of thoughts whereas DLP will focus on the thoughts of the interconnected week’s events and people therein related to the prompt.
Since I started so late in the year, I worked on Week 17 Challenge: utilize a food box into your journal. I looked around and saw this cereal box from the health food store and saw how it related to what I had just started: clearing out my old Hospice papers from when I retired 3 years ago. It also related in other ways which became visible as the week progressed. I foresee SoulCollage cards arising from this collage, as well as others, of this tip-in cereal box with box parts re-placed and a collaged on statement relating to Passion (for hospice), Peace (as someone is dying), Giving Back (to others), Natural (die a natural death):
Then I worked on my calendar side with coordinating colors for the daily dividers, etc. I also included a To Do List and a top tip-in on my calendar page honoring my start of the DLP.
Finally I played with gesso combined with pink, cream and gold acrylics to form the foundation on the back of the tip-in to provide a base for more journaling carried over from the middle page within.
I took pictures of the various layouts and added to the Documented Life Project facebook page as well as into my Project Life album for this year. I keep both journals/albums open and move from one to the other, getting inspiration and enjoyment from each.