My "Art" Journal & My Thoughts About it.

Notebook Before:
While pretty, its a bit plain. Why not dress it up a tad?



After:


Okay, didn't spend a lot of time on this tonight but I got it done. Which was the whole exercise. Complete it. Don't over think it. Who ME?! Gosh, does this woman have insight to me personally? I kept it simple. Using what I already had. A plain notebook. I grabbed the very first sheet of paper that I came to. Seriously. Cut it to 5" wide and 8" high. Double stick taped the top part and set it aside. I inked the edges roughly on purpose. I didn't want it to be perfect. That was the lesson to myself. This journal is to spark ideas, jot notes, phrases, doodles, whatever. So I needed to focus less on "getting it right" and just getting it down. Or done. Whichever it may be. Adhered the roughly inked paper to the top and repeated for the back. Randomly cut lengths of semi coordinating ribbon. Again, purposely did not measure and didn't care if it matched exactly. GO ME! I just stopped thinking and started cutting and tying.

So that was my basic piece. But it needed "something" to inspire me, intrigue me, keep me focused. But what? Awe, just the thing. A sticker from my bestie that is a quote from Abrahamn Lincoln and happens to be just one of my favorites which was "It's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years." Don't you just love that? Isn't that perfect for daily reflection and inspiration? So I slapped that sucker on there and COULD have called it quits. But my brain kept saying "BE" --- interesting. Be what? Be true. Be yourself. Be anything you want to BE. Hmmm... Yeah, lets add that! And so I grabbed my box of random letters and BAM wouldn't you know, they coordinated. No effort on my part at all. Hmmmm... Yeah, I like that!

Now what? Well, I had those assorted letters out and the word "inspire" was running thru my head so I spelled that out too. But what I really loved about it was that each letter was unique in itself. Nothing coordinating. Again, a gentle reminder to me to just get these moments recorded because in the BIG PICTURE of things, thats what is going to matter most. It won't be "Gosh, was that girl color blind? What WAS she thinking when she chose ____" At least it shouldn't be. What I am hoping for is that everything I do will show the LOVE that I have to share, my real everyday moments, my imperfections and faults, my talents, basically the real me. So when someone looks at this when I am gone, they'll think "wow. She loved so many and really captured life while she was here." Isn't that what we're all scrapping for?

I liked this excerise alot. Total motivation to get these moments down on paper! So this is my journal. I'll jot down the things that inspire me as well as everyday moments and see what I come up with. Think I'll carry it around in my purse for awhile so when I see an idea or think of something I can quickly record it for later. I have a terrible case of oldtimers and even though I have the best of intentions to remember those important details, most often than not, I forget. :)