calendar cutie january 2017 | free download

I'm such a geek, I find joy in setting up our calendars for the coming year. There's something about transferring over birthdays and anniversaries, school holidays and pending vacation dates that brings a smile to my face.

The new year is {almost} here and I've created a 2017 collection of monthly free downloads so we can all be ready to greet 2017 with hope and gratitude.


Click here to download your January Calendar Cutie and be sure to check back the third Friday of each month for the next month's freebie. You can also click on the widget below to share with your friends!

After printing and trimming, I popped my Calendar Cutie into a 4x6 frame I embellished with washi tape a few years back. 

Find more downloads here.

top ten blog hop 2016 | a few of my favorite things

Welcome to I Love It All, the blog. I'm Monika, my photo is the 5th one over on the top row in case we've never met, and I'm so happy to have you dropping by for the Top Ten Blog Hop today. There's also a hop over on Instagram and even more inspiration over on YouTube for all you video fans out there.You may have arrived from the blog of the crafty and creative Melissa Elsner...but if not, no worries, just keep clicking to the next blog {direct link at the end of this post}where you'll be inspired and may even have the opportunity for giveaway prizes from each of the participants, too.

Here are a few of my favorite things this year...

Lists

I love mini books and I love creating lists!

I've played along with the 30 Days of Lists for 12 challenges and have used mini albums for 11 of those classes. For the December 2016 challenge, I decided to use a travelers notebook {see my notebook and lists here} for a more low key approach but ended up decorating my pages after all.

I've not done a blog post sharing all my lists for this challenge, yet, but I did share them over on my Instagram if you're a list nerd like I am.

Mistakes

Mistakes happen. And when they do, I try to find a way to repurpose the boo boo's and make them usable. Honestly, sometimes a boo boo projects ends up being some of my favorites. Here's the blog post sharing what this journal looked like before I embellished my mistake.

I used this notebook to letter quotes for an Instagram challenge.

Art Journaling

I've been inspired by the freedom of art journaling that I've been seeing on Instagram this year. So many talented gals are doing bible journaling using markers and scrapbooking supplies and watercolors and I love it. My girls had a watercolor set and I had this stencil, so I decided to use them to embellish some pages in one of the Gratitude Journals I'll be using in 2017.

Art journaling is definitely a style that takes me out of my comfort zone, but I'm having fun just playing around. In the end, that's what it's all about...having fun.

My Creative Process

Sometimes it can be daunting to sit down and begin a project. With this post, I wanted to show my own process of beginning with blank pages and how my mini book projects evolve from

the before...

during the pre-embellishment stage...

...and then the after.

See all before, during and after pages of my list mini album in this post.

Smashbooking

Curating a collection of papers and ephemera makes me happier than it probably should and when I make new journals for the shop, I tend to want one of each for myself. I can't always do that, but when I do, I try to make it count.

I used this one to participate in a bible lettering verse challenge.

Gifting

My husband loves to remind me that some of my most often purchased and most Pinned items are goodies I've made for him {and then added to the shop} for his birthday, anniversary and Christmas. I guess that makes him my muse, right? 😉

I'm a fan of hidden journaling, are you? For this page, I had to tell Mr. wRight to go back and flip up the playing card to read the note.

Here's the post with a few pages I shared. But mark your calendars for January 3rd for the full reveal, just in time for Valentine's Day inspiration and gifting to your own Mr. Right. 

I used this journal {pictured below} and in my January post I'll share how to use the optional embellishment kit to create your own treasured keepsake love journal.

So yeah, he's the King of my Heart and he's right...this and this and this are all customer favorites.

Giveaway

Thanks for hanging out with me, I hope you found at least one thing to inspire you to pull out your crafty supplies today and have a little me time creating something new.

THE PRIZE

13 cover color choices | with or without initials inside heart

THE GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next up in the Top Ten Blog Hop is Laura Whitaker

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Gobble Gobble 'til You Wobble | Free Download

Here's hoping that you, your family and friends enjoy your day of Thanksgiving.

My little gift to you is this free download in three colorways. Designed to print on letter size card stock or {my favorite} matte photo paper which really makes the colors pop. I use Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper for prints purchased from the I Love It All shop, so  if you have that, it's even better! Or, you can always upload to your favorite photo printing site and let them do all the work for you.

DOWNLOAD HERE

or click below

Download and print this cute little poster for your gathering. Trim it to 8x10 and the logo won't even show! It's just a whimsical reminder that we're all going to wibble wobble a bit more than we did the day before, so have fun with it.

Find more charming art prints in the I Love It All shop and here are more freebies from the blog.

30 days of lists | days 14 - 18

Wow, it's hard to believe it's almost December. And that means that registration is now open for the December 30 Days of Lists challenge. I thought it might be a good time to finally publish the rest of my lists from the September class, so here's days 14 - 18. Links to Days 1 - 13 are at the bottom of the post. And here's the mini book kit I used:

And the decorated cover...

THE LISTS

Day 14
My Favorite Teams

I crinkled this list horribly in my border punch and had to cover it up with the carnival tickets.  And the crinkle on the right side of the page, I just have to be happy with that, I couldn't think of how to cover that up.

And in my never ending search to repurpose letter stickers to find the letters I need, the "E" in teams is actually the number 3.

Day 15
Pets I Have Loved

I changed the title of this list up a bit. Honestly, I don't want another pet right now. The fur balls inside the house and the havoc our puppy is wreaking on my landscaping outside have me thinking the pets we have now are more than enough.

Day 16
Lies I Tell Myself

The arrow die cuts are part of the mini album design, you can buy your mini book here, and I just added the title to the flap...to read the list, one must open the flap. The page flags are from the Target Dollar Spot and sent to me by a friend.

Day 17
My Best Tips For...changed to My Best Recipes

shipping tag | metal rimmed tag | glassine bags

The pink outline is from a sticker sheet where I just cut around the negative. The number one used in 17 is an exclamation point without the period since I ran out of the number one stickers in this set.

Day 18
Casting for The Movie of My Life

I have overheard my my Mother-in-Law, in the past, tell me that I'm the family's Cindy Crawford. I'll totally take that compliment and remember it forever!

I spent way more time on this particular list than I ever thought possible. I usually just look at the list prompt and begin journaling, but not this time. Would you have problems with this list or is a no-brainer for you?

DID YOU KNOW?

Registration for the December 30 Days of Lists challenge is open and you can register here!  

DISCLAIMER | I am an affiliate of the 30 Days of Lists class and will earn a small fee if you use any of my links to purchase the class. As you can see by the number of times I've taken classes, I believe in this adventure and think you will enjoy it, too.

HELPFUL LINKS

30 Lists mini albums

Find inspiration from my 30 Days of Lists posts, including past classes.

Find my List Love board on Pinterest here.

See how I prepped a few pages for my September 2016 journal.

Find my list for Day 1 here.
Days 2 - 4 here.
Days 5 - 8 here.

Days 9 - 13 here.

art journaling in my field notes gratitude journal

I have admired the talents of many lettering, doodling and art journaling people on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. But, I just never felt that I understood it. You know? I was at a total loss to even know where to begin. I do consider myself a crafty person, but not necessarily an artistic person.

And then I just decided to get out and play with the girls' watercolor set. I still don't understand it any better, but if I don't try, I never will.

Oh man, am I hooked! I love it. Really, really love it. I love that the pages get a little crinkly from the watercolor. They get less so when I slather the page with some Gesso, but I kinda like it better when it's crinkly and textured.

             Midori Standard Size Gratitude Journal  |  Field Notes Size Gratitude Journal  |  A6 Size Gratitude Journal 

I decided that I'm going to carry around this size Gratitude Journal with me in my purse {but it comes in other sizes}. I'll have it with me during the down time I have while waiting school pick-up lines seems like a great time reflect and document my thankful thoughts. It's quiet. There are few distractions. And it's a much better use of my time than scrolling around on my phone on social media.

PAGE DECORATION

I went ahead and decorated some pages with watercolors, stamps, washi tape, journaling cards and a combination of all of the above. For me, I find that starting with something other than a blank, white page encourages me to begin, to just do it.

I'm loving this new-to-me technique of using a stencil. I used a Copic marker with the brush tip end to highlight letters and numbers significant to our family. You can see how I did this by scrolling back to the last photo.

WATERCOLORS AND STENCILS

So let's begin with my new love of watercolors. Using the stencil from the Dollar Spot at Target, I alternated between blue and several greens and varying intensities of paint on the brush and then added a sticky note to the left side.

With the paint that was left on the stencil, I placed a mini shipping tag on top and got this.

I used a different stencil, this one by Heidi Swapp, and worked on getting an ombre effect. It wasn't large enough to cover the whole page and I didn't stagger it to cover the whole page, thinking that I might use that white space for journaling.

Before using the stencil for the watercolors, I used some medium molding paste to make this page. Since it was the same design, I thought it might be fun to layer the stencil that was still wet with the watercolors on top of the molding paste to get another layer of texture.

WASHI TAPE

This is the reverse side of the page with the paint covered mini shipping tag.

A pennant shape made from a book page scrap and a red shipping tag both held in place with washi tape.

STAMPING

Combining watercolors, washi tape and stamping to create this page layout.

I stamped the mason jar on the right side and embellished the washi tape strip on the left with a journaling spot.

I use this stamp I designed in the Original Gratitude Journal and decided to give it try here, too.

JOURNALING CARDS

Adding in journaling cards gives one the opportunity to have more pages, or to add another layer and sometimes both. On this layout, I stamped the background and layered a journaling card on top.

By adding washi tape to the top of this Project Life card, I will be able to lift the card and add some {hidden} journaling underneath.

Do you see how I added enamel dots to the bike tire spokes?  Clever me.

This journaling card was attached to the page on the reverse side by adding a strip to the back. So the front is the bike and the back is blank and adhered to the adjoining page with washi tape.

RANDOM TECHNIQUES

Attach stickers in random ways.

And even doodle, if that's how you roll.

THE ORIGINAL GRATITUDE JOURNAL

The Original Gratitude Journal still appeals to me so much. Turning the pages to see what the next page design will be is so fun and full of promise. There might be room to doodle, stamp or just write. And that's part of the allure of a mixed media journal.

What's your preference, a mixed media journal or a notebook insert full of blank pages?

And, did you know that the #30lists challenge is always open for registration? { affiliate link }

Helpful Links

#30Lists mini books

Find inspiration from some of my #30Lists posts, including past classes.

Find my List Love board on Pinterest here.