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Welcome! I’m Carolyn Dube – This colorful journey is all about the freedom of play!

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Some of the links on this blog are affiliate links and I receive a small percentage. It doesn't cost you anything extra and helps keep all the free tutorials and videos coming! It's a win-win! The website is copyright Carolyn Dube, and that is kinda common sense since this is my site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Getting Ready for 2016 with a Reality Check

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Video making a cardboard journal with a perpetual calendar for each month

I want to be the type of person who chronicles every day in a scrapbook or planner or journal.  Reality check…I’m not.  I might do it a few days, then miss a bunch, then do it again, but by March, I am usually so far behind that I never pick it up again.  But what I can do is once a month.  That is a commitment I can make.

Will I do it little by little throughout the month or do the entire month in one sitting? No idea but no matter which way I choose, I have the flexibility with a journal like this to do it however I want.

While filming the video, I didn’t bind it and the more I think about it the happier I am with that because it allows me even more freedom to let this journal develop the way my muse guides me throughout the year. You can see how I build journals like this in my free workshop, Permission to Play.

And of course…you know nothing goes perfectly or as planned for me…and it’s all on the video…

Watch Cardboard Journal Ready for a Whole Year on YouTube.

The pages, recycled cardboard, were done randomly.  I truly didn’t know where they were going so the pages didn’t match perfectly.  They weren’t all in the same color palette.  With a cardboard journal like this, having things not match actually works!Video making a cardboard journal with a perpetual calendar for each month

If you’d like to know more about building cardboard journal pages and how to bind them, I have a free workshop called Permission to Play.  It is a 5 video lesson workshop that begins whenever you sign up.  Get signed up here.

So now my journal is started and ready for me to add to each month.  I’ll be sharing what I do with it throughout the year here on the blog.

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you are helping me keep this blog and my videos ad free! Thank you- I don’t like ads any more than you do!

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Let’s Play With Cardboard, Paints, and Eggs?

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Using some of that cardboard all around and scraps on the counter, a very silly story involving eggs and Santa is revealed through art journaling play for the Let's Play link party!

Let's Play, a link party where you can be inspired and be inspiring!Amazon boxes mean cardboard is everywhere thanks to some last minute shopping…which means I have a cheap and plentiful place to paint and play.   A little Santa on my counter that was left over from another day’s play (you can see it here) sparked the silly story to come.  I never know where my mind will wander and I was quite surprised where it all ended up!

Using some of that cardboard all around and scraps on the counter, a very silly story involving eggs and Santa is revealed through art journaling play for the Let's Play link party!

Santa started out so neat and tidy with all that crisp white space. He didn’t stay that way long. Santa’s an easy going guy so I didn’t think he would mind the mixed media bits of color here and there. I brought in some oil pastels to write on the wet paint.  In case you’re wondering…no oil pastels don’t write so well on wet paint. And that made it extra fun!

Using some of that cardboard all around and scraps on the counter, a very silly story involving eggs and Santa is revealed through art journaling play for the Let's Play link party!

But I wondered what he would be thinking about…I was sure it was eggs.  That is what must be on his mind this time of year.  You’re wondering why I thought eggs? Me too!  I don’t eat eggs so not sure why I think Santa does…but if that is what popped into my head I was going to go with it.

Using some of that cardboard all around and scraps on the counter, a very silly story involving eggs and Santa is revealed through art journaling play for the Let's Play link party!

I started with the larger circles on my Circles Layer Me stencil, then loosely lined the stencil back on top of the white circles and used yellow for the little stencils.

Using some of that cardboard all around and scraps on the counter, a very silly story involving eggs and Santa is revealed through art journaling play for the Let's Play link party!

And here is my messy Santa with a great big breakfast of eggs…transported it seems by double decker bus.  This was absolutely non-sensical play today and guess what- play doesn’t have to make sense, it has to be fun!

No matter what you celebrate this season, my wish for you is that you have as joyous, as merry, and as happy a holiday as possible!

Now you’ve seen my play, let’s see yours for this week’s Let’s Play link party below. 

Using some of that cardboard all around and scraps on the counter, a very silly story involving eggs and Santa is revealed through art journaling play for the Let's Play link party!
Let's Play link party

Let’s Play…a weekly place to share your creative play, to enjoy what others are playing with, and most of all to honor the creative part in us all!

Link up etiquette  

  • If you see something you like, leave a comment on their photo or blog post and show some love – let them know they inspired you! 
  • Share your recent play (any form of creativity is welcome) that hasn’t been linked up to a Let’s Play before
  • Add a link back to to this post so that others can find it, be sparked, and join the fun!
  • Opens each Tuesday at 6am EST

You can upload a photo or use a URL or Instagram.  Not sure how to find a URL or link up? Check out this page of Let’s Play FAQs.

Want to put the button your blog? Just copy all of the the code from under the button.

Let's Play!

[inlinkz_linkup id=592628 mode=1]

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The Twists and Turns of Time

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Going modern with a perpetual calendar step by step

The twists and turns of time have been on my mind with the new year coming and what is on my mind comes out in my play.  I was darn sure I knew exactly how my life was going to go.  I was 18 and full of wisdom…or so I thought.  All this self reflection led to lots of color…and a little laughing at myself and how “wise” I was at 18.

You can see how I created this art journal page step-by-step in my guest post at Create Mixed Media using the new Never Ending Calendar stencils.

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