Ever heard of a Smash book? From what I gather, it’s a blank journal-type book that you can use to put in whatever your little ol’ pea-pickin’ heart desires. Pictures, collage, ribbon, pockets, poems, pressed flowers, words—anything. And from the look of some I’ve seen online—the more stuff the merrier. Then when you’re finished with the book you ‘smash’ it together and—viola—your personal Smash book.
Rather than journaling typically, I decided to give the smash-book style a go for my 2013 journal. I wanted it to be totally random. Not daily. Anything that strikes my fancy at any given moment.
I bought a thick journal at Goodwill with ivory pages that had pre-printed questions to answer…same questions every day…how boring is that? {Sorry, my opinion, just sayin’} But the cover was blank Kraft-paper looking, which I really like. It was very thick so I had to tear a lot of pages out to start with.
Right in the middle of the otherwise blank cover were the words “A Personal Journal”. Perfect. I decided to leave it. The paper I used is embossed which gives dimension. I of course had to add my ‘tag’ that I found in a magazine and grunged up. The time pieces I found thrifting as well as the tiny clock hands in the middle. {They’re kinda pointing at my age this year btw!)
Here’s the inside cover. My favorite scripture “This is the day” and my favorite people, along with the “Casting all of your cares” scripture.
The next set is Christmas 2012 randomness. I used cutouts of some of the wrapping paper I used, pieces of the homemade card I sent out as well as cutouts of some of the cards we received. Grace gave us cards and notes so I wanted to incorporate those as well.
Since Chels and Brice couldn’t make it for Christmas, I’ll make up another page when we celebrate with them. I thought we’d see them before now, otherwise I’d have mailed their packages. Hopefully soon.
Recycling packing paper from various packages I received in the mail is what I’ve used to cover the pages. Glue and splat. Each page comes out funky and there’s plenty of room for mistakes. I’m hoping the lines are blurred between my actual mistakes versus things done on purpose!
Here’s some pics I got at Thanksgiving of our kids. For this I washed white paint over the packing paper. Cutting out words from catalogs is fun. These came from a Sam’s*Club mailer. Taking advantage of after-Christmas sales for craft pieces works, as long as I remember where I put them in my ever-growing stash!
This was our “day in the life of Wal*Mart” page, after locking my keys in the car. (you can click on the pic to make it larger.)
Above is what the actual pages looked like. I decided to use one of the original pages just to keep for posterity! I love to see how people doodle and decided to give it a try. I am NOT a doodler, as you can see. My doodles look rather kindergarten-ish, don’t you think? Oh well. I was just trying out some new colored markers.
And finally, the back.
I have many more pages to make before years end. I’m working on another one right now using a Star*bucks coffee sleeve.
I’ll keep you posted!
Blessings,
Brenda
This clipboard was for my sister’s SIL who is a serious quilter. My inspiration came from a picture I found in her Facebook pics of the first quilt she ever made. I found the pattern online and tried my best to replicate it. (Disclaimer here: If you are a quilter, you’ll see that I am not! But I did the best I could.) The magnets are vintage buttons. I used the same button along with a couple layers of burlap for the clip.
I decided a ‘crazy quilt’ effect would be good for the back.
How cute is this puppy dog? This clipboard was for another of my sister’s SIL. I used the same technique I mentioned in my previous post.
Not knowing her favorite colors, I again had to head over to Facebook for some inspiration. It didn’t take me long, as I found a pic of her wearing a very pretty blouse with these colors. I figured if she’s wearing it then she must like it, right?
The three sisters’ clipboards were so fun to make. When attempting to make something as personal as possible, it sure makes my day when I find out they were a hit!
Be blessed today!
Brenda
My sister—and biggest supporter of my funkiness—asked me to make three magnetic altered clipboards for her sisters-in-law for Christmas. I have met and become friends with two who are super nice gals, but I haven’t had opportunity to meet the third sister other than a quick nice-to-meet-you at their dad’s funeral {miss you, Mac}.
Knowing the first two ladies helped when it came to making theirs. One is a quilter, the other adores her cute little dog, plus it helped to have pics. For the third sister, however, the only thing I had to go by was the fact that she had a pug named Haley. The rest was flying by the seat of my pants.
The technique I used was found here. It’s really easy and gives a neat transparent quality to the image. I just used an enlarged silhouette of a pug. I also reduced the same silhouette down considerably for the glass magnets.
The magnetic section is recycled scrap from our heating/cooling business covered with scrapbook paper.
For the ‘dog’ tag I used the letter from an old typewriter key. (The keys were too dirty to use, so I opened them up to at least salvage the letters and symbols.) I attached a beat up old jingle bell. {Like my beautiful fingers reflecting in the picture?! 
Since I upcycle clipboards found at thrift stores, sometimes the backs have ‘graffiti’, thus the necessity of covering them up as well.
There you have it. It was fun doing this and I was happy to hear her SIL was pleased with her gift.
Be blessed today!
Brenda
