Let's Talk Projects/Classes that Overstay their Welcome

My first page - describing the purpose of my sketchbook and featuring one of my recent face paintings.

Last spring, I signed up for the Sketchbook Project (see this post for details).  My theme was "In  ten minutes," and I set it up as a smashbook, with prepared backgrounds that I could easily add to and thus create an interesting page in ten minutes or less. When I signed up for it, I thought it would be an easy project to complete. Plus, the deadline was not until the end of January. I started off with a lot of enthusiasm, but it soon languished on my desk with only the occasional entry. Now, with the deadline just a week away, I found the sketchbook and decided to finish it up.  Some pages feature my thoughts about the day's events:

The page on the left chronicles some of the things I accomplished in getting healthy; the page on the right reflects on Sept. 11 - ten years later.

The page on the left is about our vacation to Seattle and the San Juan Islands. The page on the right talks about the upcoming soccer season for my son's team.
Others deal with how I'm feeling about things in my life.

A page about some of the struggles in raising the kids.
A few are just happy art.

As you can tell from the title of today's post, I think this was a project that overstayed its welcome. I should probably have realized that before I signed up for it. I'm best with short-term projects.  I like online classes that are 3-4 weeks long; any longer, and I start to fade. I did fine at the "week in a life" and "photo-a-day for a month" photography projects, but I know I could never do Project 365.  On the other hand, as I finished up my pages today, I found that I really enjoyed them. And, in looking at my completed pages, I was happy that so many incorporated actual drawing and sketching.  These pages feel very different than my art journal pages, and they track the advice about making a sketchbook in the book, Painted Pages, which I'm slowly working through. So, although this does feel like a project that overstayed  its welcome, I feel like I still got something out of it. And, in the end, I'm glad I did it. It also feels good to have it completed. I'll mail it off tomorrow.
So, let's talk about it. . . have you ever started a class or project that overstayed its welcome? Did you regret it? Or was there a benefit to it? Do you feel compelled to finish or do you just let it drift?  I'll leave this post up for a couple days, as I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions!
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 "Let's Talk" is a semi-regular series designed to inspire frank discussion and sharing of information on issues relating to photography, art and blogging.

What ever happened to smash books?

Remember smashbooks? They were all the rage last spring and summer? They were the sketchbooks into which you could smash all kinds of ephemera from you daily life and add doodling and journaling to make an inspirational book.

Did you start one? Did you finish it? Is it still in progress? Want to know what I did with mine? Come back tomorrow, and you can read all about it!

What We're Doing This Summer

I was very inspired  by everyone's ten on the tenth posts, sponsored by Shimelle. I will definitely join in next month! If I were to have done a list this month, it would have been "Ten Things We're Doing This Summer," inspired in part by this fabulous post on what they are NOT doing this summer at the home of Havoc and Mayhem.  Since it's no longer the tenth, I'm not confined to that number.  So, instead, here are 16 things we're doing this summer. {Today's artwork is another page in my smashbook sketchbook, featuring a piece of the envelope I received in the "Good Mail Day" swap that I absolutely loved.}
1.  Henry will work at the CCP sports camp and do his summer AP American History reading.
2. Clara will go to surf camp and finally learn to surf.  She got shut out of Junior Guards this year because it's become so popular, so this will be her substitute.
3.  We will take a family trip to kayak in the San Juan Islands and visit Seattle Washington.
4. Paul and I will travel to England (London, Cambridge and the Cotswolds).
5. Clara will visit relatives in Southern California.
6. Henry will go to a residential soccer camp at Santa Clara University and play soccer for a local men's soccer team.
7. Henry will get his drivers license.
8. Clara will go to basketball camp
9. Paul will plan for  his retirement from the state and continue to lay the groundwork for opening his own consulting business.
10. I will scrapbook - focusing on my heritage album and annual family albums.
11.  I will work on my photography - focusing on portraits and relearning PSE.
12.  We will finally replace the carpets in the house.
13.  We will work on backyard repairs
14. Henry will play American Legion baseball and attend the HMBHS baseball clinic.
15. I write an article or two.
16. I will continue to work in mixed media collage and art journaling. I don't have specific projects in mind, except that I want to get back to working in plaster once the weather gets warmer.
Sounds busy! But still more relaxed than the school year. What are your summer plans?

Distressed Blackbird Sketch (Grungy Monday)

I love red-winged blackbirds. I'm not sure if it's that deep flash of color on their wings or the memories it brings back of the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," which I read in college and found to be oh-so-profound at the time (somehow, I doubt it would hold up today, though).  At the very beginning of the book, a father points out a red-winged black bird to his son who finds it unremarkable.  And then there's this line: "At age eleven you don’t get very impressed with red-winged blackbirds. You have to get older for that."  I'm not sure why that line has stayed with me, but it has. And I think of it and smile whenever I see one of these beautiful birds. The other day when I was running on the coastside trail, I spied one of these wonderful creatures, and I wanted to capture the feeling in my smashbook sketchbook. I wish I would have used the Zen quote, but I didn't think of it until it was too late,  Still, I'm still reasonably happy with my page (and I did make it in 10 minutes). To make it, I used my Tim Holtz bird mask and used it along with some Tim Holtz distress inks. The technique is very timely because this week's Grungy Monday challenge over at the Studio L3 is to use distress inks! 
It's also timely because these blackbirds signal summer, and I'm definitely getting into summer mode these days. Don't forget to check out my Summertime Snapshot and Photography Scavenger Hunt, which you can find at this link. It's looking like we're going to have two divisions:  photography and snapshot teams!  I'm very happy with the turnout so far, but there's definitely room for more. So, go check it out!

Summertime Photography & Snapshot Scavenger Hunt

Yea! My exams are graded and turned in, so my summer can officially begin.  To celebrate, I completed the page above in my smashbook sketchbook (and, yes, I did this one in less than ten minutes). The page started with a bird transparency stapled in the corner. I added a piece of patterned paper, to which I added my favorite summertime saying and some ink around the edge.  I then tucked two feathers(which I found on my Chinatown outing) into the transparency pocket and called it done.
Also, to celebrate the start of summer, I'm announcing a summer-long photography and snapshot scavenger hunt! I really hope you'll join me and play along. Last summer, my crafty friend "Young Nancy" would occasionally post photographs on her blog that were part of a Summertime Snapshot Scavenger Hunt. The blog for last summer's hunt with their list can be found at this link. The idea intrigued me, so I decided that this summer I would try my hand at hosting one.
The rules are very simple:
1.  By June 20, choose a team of family or friends. Email me (or post a comment below) listing your team members (of course you can use pseudonymous if you are concerned about privacy).  This date is flexible if you want to join later.
2. On June 21 (the first day of summer), I will post a list of scavenger hunt items. There will be 21 items on the list.  You will have until September 23 (the first day of fall) to photograph as many of the items as you can find. Please do not stage or "doctor" a photo.  The idea is to have fun finding each of these things.
3. There will be three different divisions for participants:
A. Snapshot Division.  This is for those of you who want a pure scavenger hunt. Your mission is to find each thing on the list. To prove you found it, each photograph must contain at least one member of your team.
B. Photography Division. Each photograph must contain the item, but you do not have to include a team member. This is for those of you who want to show off your photography skills.
C. Overachiever Division (snapshot and photography). You send in two photographs for each item on the list - one with a team member in the photo and one emphasizing your photography skills.
4. On September 23, send me all 21 (or 42) of your photos, with a caption that includes the item from the list, the name (or nickname) of the team member in the photo, and a short description of where you found the item. I encourage you to post photos on your blog as you find them or send me a copy.  Every week or so, I'll post a compilation of some of the shots.
5. Of course there will be prizes! The prize for the Snapshot Division is a gift card for MPIX to get your photos developed and a mini album (made my me!) in which to put your 21 photographs.  The prize for the Photography Division is a larger gift card to my favorite photo processing site (MPIX), sufficient to order an 8x8 "standout" of your favorite photograph.  The prize for the Overachiever Divsion will be a free pass into a Shimelle class (either "My Freedom" or a new fall class if she is offering one by then). The winner will be the team which finds the most items on the list.  If there is a tie, I will draw a winner at random.
6.  Anyone, in any country, can play.  Even if you're in the southern hemisphere and heading in to winter not summer. I'll try to keep that in mind when drafting the scavenger hunt list.
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I think that's it.  Sign up below if your interested or email me at rinda1961@yahoo.com. Also, please feel free to post any questions you have. I think this is going to be really fun!

Chinatown - Two Ways (and give away winner)

Last Friday, I went on a tour of San Francisco's Chinatown with a group of labor scholars who were in town for the Law and Society Conference.  I picked up some memorabilia and used it to create the first page in my Smashbook Sketchbook (above). The journaling reads "A historical tour of Chinatown reveals much more than fortune cookies, souvenirs, and dim sum." Some of things I highlighted on the historical Chinatown map are the indications of a clothing factory, cigar shop, gambling, and "white occupants."  I cut apart a bookmark that I picked up at the historical society to make three signs.  I added a little more journaling about interconnected struggles for justice and declared it done.  My sketchbook theme is "In 10 minutes," and I'm trying to make each page in ten minutes.  It took me more like 15 minutes to complete, but  that's okay. I like how the page emphasizes the crowded nature of the streets and back alleys in Chinatown.  I really wanted to take some pictures, but the only camera I had was my iphone.  I did manage to get a few interesting shots:

The day really made me want to return with my real camera to go on a photo walk. It also got me thinking about how many different places around the world have their own Chinatown. I'm curious - where do you live and is there a Chinatown in your area? 
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And congratulations to Yvonne, the winner of the CTMH stamp set.  Email me your address to rinda1961@yahoo.com, and I'll drop them in the mail.

Sketchbook Project: A Counterfeit Smashbook

A while ago, I signed up for The Sketchbook Project . . . a collaborative art project which sends blank sketchbooks to people who promise to fill them up and send them back.  The returns are cataloged and then sent on tour for people to visit and examine. You have to choose a theme (from their list) when you sign up, and I chose "In 10 minutes" because I wanted to try to complete each page in a relatively short time.  Recently, my sketchbook arrived (along with the t-shirt I ordered).  You can see above it's a plain craft 5x7" booklet.  My original thought was to create backgrounds on each page in the sketchbook and go from there to fill the pages.  
But, then, I saw this really cool post at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog all about
smashbooks . . . a smashbook is a cross between an art journal and an old-fashioned scrapbook (where you store memorabilia and other scraps).  CKCB is running a summer-long challenge and tutorial to create a smashbook.  I decided I could totally do that with my sketchbook! So, I started with this video from Two Peas in a Buket about the K&Co. Smash Journal line, which I decided to counterfeit:

To create my own version of the smashbook, I started with a pile of supplies including journaling blocks, transparencies, tags, file folders, envelope and artists tape.  I also selected two colors of ink:

Next, I selected an assortment of stamps, including some sentiment stamps:

From there, I sat down and began creating the background pages in my sketchbook that I will add to later.  There's over 30 pages in my sketchbook, and I was able to create fun background pages pretty quickly.  Here's a random sampling of ten of them:

You can see I tried to leave enough blank space on each page to create a page, but I wanted the backdrop to give me a sufficient jump start that I could actually create each page "in ten minutes." From there, I went ahead and decorated the cover:

And I'm proud to say that it took me less than ten minutes to do the cover!  I might put together a kit which counterfeits the types of accessories sold by K&Co. to go along with their smashbooks, but I'm still thinking on that.  I can't wait to start filling it.
So, have you  heard about smashbooks? What do you think of the whole idea?  They seem to me to be the latest "everything old is new again" hot-hot trend, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out.