A "Smashing" Experience!

Hey everyone!  I hope you've been having a wonderful weekend!  I know many parts of our country are still experiencing "extreme" heat, including here (115* yesterday & predicted for the next 3 days - ARGH!), so I hope you are finding ways to survive it.  As I've shared before, we have been working on some big inside projects but took yesterday off for a little afternoon "date!"  We grabbed a burger at our favorite spot & then went to the movies, where we saw "The Bourne Legacy."  If you are a fan of "The Bourne" series with Matt Damon, you won't be disappointed with Jeremy Renner in this off-shoot movie -- very good!

Okay, enough about movies.  I want to share something "fun" that I started a few months ago after reading about it at Ricki Jill's from Art At Home.

It's a Summer Smashing Journal Party & Give-Away, hosted by Ricki Jill and 

Angie at My So-Called Chaos. 

I had been reading about these delightful little books, but just hadn't gotten around to checking them out until I read about this party.  They are available at Michael's, Hobby Lobby & JoAnn's, which is where I found the best selection & could utilize a couple of coupons -- yay!  Well, the wonderful party hosts suggested sharing a photo or two about how you used your Smash Book; but if you've followed my blog for very long, you know I rarely stop with just a couple of pics....lol!  So here goes!

As you see, I couldn't just have one book going, I "needed" to have 2!

 

My reasoning is this:  I'm a "tad bit" OCD (actually that's The Man's new nickname for me....lol), so it's very difficult for me to just simply "stick" things in one of these books.  I'm very "left-brain" driven, if you will.  Soooo....I decided to have a book that would appeal to my very organized & orderly side, & another for my "right-brain," forcing it to be more spontaneous, messy & creative.

I'm using my "left-brain" book more like a daily planner. 

You can see that I've added "tabs."  There is an actual 2-page blank calendar in this particular Smash Book, & I've added a piece of ribbon to a paper clip for this section.

One of the tabs in this book is "Projects."  This is where I planned out how I wanted to make the ruffled cover for my old Singer (you can read about that project HERE), including measurements, cuts of fabric, a photo of my inspiration & one of my finished piece.  Other projects are outlined here, too --some finished, others not.

Another tab is "I Blog," & here is where I write down ideas for blog posts, what the title might be, & where the photos are stored.  I love that this particular Smash book design has several areas of lined, grid, & graph paper -- see "left-brain!"

For years (like 30+) I kept a daily planner of some kind.  Usually it was a Franklin Day Planner or similar-type book.  Now that I'm retired, I've had to rethink the rigidness of those kinds of systems.  I'm married to a man who is an A-typical left-brainer -- his career was in Mechanical Engineering, but he has a very creative & spontaneous right-brain influence as well.  This means that I cannot be too rigid in my everyday schedules & plans, or this wonderful 43+ years of marriage might just go up in smoke!  My answer to my "strong need" for some kind of schedule -- "Sticky Notes!"  This is working so well for me -- I love it!

Now for my "Right-Brain" Smash Book!

It's hard to read, but the transfer at the top of the book cover says, "Dream These Moments."

I have a love-hate feeling for this book.  I really do enjoy just "smashing" stuff on the pages, but I hate that it's so difficult for me to do that in a random fashion.  I have to work at not making it orderly -- I have such a problem!

I do quite a bit of spontaneous writing & jotting of thoughts in this book.

Do ya'll remember "button cards?"  I know most of you "youngsters" think buttons have always come on plain thin cardboard or bags & are expensive.  Buttons used to come on cute little printed cards, & they were super-cheap!  I found this FREE printable of a page of vintage button card images & copied a few to use in my scrapbooking/cardmaking, & decided to use one in my Smash Book.  I can't find the original in my Downloads, so if you recognize this, please let me know & I will give credit where credit is due.

Smashing randomly.......trying so hard!  Please ignore the picture of the very organized drawer -- I just had to cut that out of a magazine!

Oh no, columns in my "Right-Brain" book -- please notice I have written in a "messy manner".....LOL!

Well, now you probably know more about me than you ever wanted to!  Hopefully you don't feel the need to send an "Intervention Team," and please don't tell The Man if you do -- he's already leaning in

that direction!  I do hope you enjoyed seeing my "Left-Brain, Right-Brain" Smash Books!  I think they are a fun, creative way to keep a journal, & I think they would make great gifts for young teenage girls (maybe boys, too, I don't know?).  Please go check out the other ones at the party.

Thanks for stopping by & please come again soon!

~CAS~