More - June Ponderings

Fabric book for Mom several years ago 

My Calendar Journal pages for June are taking shape. I have used 2 magazine pictures from my collection and found that they inspired several thoughts.

A word list includes: Friendship, sunshine, shadows, blossoms, fruit, lovely breezes bring coolness and fresh smells of nature around me.

The second picture is of women and children at the sea shore. These thoughts are the beginning of a poem:
*Shoreline play, chasing the waves
*Watching the never ending surf
*Running in the wet sand
*Wonderful seal smells
*Mommy's joy
*Precious memories

The Monthly Muse Catch Up

To Muse is to:
• To dream
• To ponder
• To reflect on - a song, a poem, a story, a life event
• To wonder, to marvel

So, The Monthly Muse was launched.

Let's do some catch up. 
Add magazine cut-outs of your favorite things to your monthly pages. The left side includes the title for the month, the theme, items I am grateful for, a word list, a color list, drawing ideas and two columns for notes.  The right side has a small calendar, cut from a full year calendar glued to one upper corner, two rectangle outlines for drawings surrounded by open area for ideas, notes, and things I want to remember such as special happenings that month.  Please share with us how you personalize and add to the page set-ups for your journal.

My January:
Theme: Beginnings, learning
Gratitude: Writing community, rain
Word List: Winter, cold, stormy, rain & snow - grateful for every drop.
Colors: Blue, white, green sprouts
Drawings: Sketch 365 challenge, leaves, tangles
Notes: craft plans, ideas, writing craft, work on design elements, time management

My February:
Theme: writing
Gratitude: for focus
Word List: wisdom, discernment, compassion, grace, love & kindness
Colors: pink/purple sunsets, grey-blue rainy skies
Drawings: practice illustrations for children's books, design notes & ideas, flowers
Notes: empower, leave toxic situations, find community

My March:
Theme: Spring is coming
Gratitude: New friends!
Word List: confidence, contribute, trust, solitude, journaling
Colors: green, pink, lavender
Drawings: finished one sketchbook and started another "Anything Goes" sketchbook, love watercolor best, consider giving away acrylics.
Notes: editing classes, finding where I fit is a life-long process, write one short story per month - join challenge, use photo images for story prompts more regularly.

It's time to gather our ideas for our May pages.  Have fun with it, maybe start by adding the set-up outline and pulling some magazine pics for inspiration like I do.

----------- next time -- making our envelopes for magazine cuttings -----------------

 

April 2017 - The Monthly Muse



Calendar Journal 2016

Spring is a season for new beginnings! 

So how about an artsy Calendar Journal?

 I have been considering several definitions for MUSE.  These are my favorites:
• To dream
• To ponder
• To reflect on a song, a poem, a story, a life event  
• To wonder, to marvel
So, The Monthly Muse began.


Here's the story: While browsing through craft books, I stumbled upon an idea for creating a monthly planner and making it artsy.  I used too many page as signatures for my 2016 book, resulting in several blanks I plan to go back to sometime.  I used watercolor paper, stitched binding, monthly tabs, and a fabric cover.



Calendar Journal 2017

For 2017, I reduced the page number by half and created my planner with a fabric cover that reminds me of my Mom.  I used fabric I had bleached with a design, beaded, and applied lace reminiscent of my mother’s generation. For the center stage, I used a pair of my mother’s dressy evening earrings. This time I used heavy stock paper not watercolor.  It can only handle a tiny bit of water.
 

Let me show you the interior set-up. The left side includes the title for the month, the theme, items I am grateful for, a word list, a color list, drawing ideas and two columns for notes.  The right side has a small calendar, cut from a full year calendar, glued to one upper corner, two rectangle outlines for drawings surrounded by open area for ideas, notes, and things I want to remember such as special happenings that month.



 My WIP April pages include:
Theme: Spring
Gratitude: Time in seasons, months, weeks and days, my writing group
Word List: Taxes, classes, trust
Color List: pink, green, sky blue
Drawings: leaves, sunflowers & poppies
Notes:  Do No Harm

Have a go and share what you chose to do.  It is perfectly OK to start your Calendar Journal in April!  It is your book. It’s wonderful whenever you start.   ------ some Jan/Feb/March catch up next time -----