The Smash Books craze and how to start a smashing upcycling adventure! – Back on Track Part 4

Yes! I am back on track. After coming back to my Pretty Pink Smash Folio armed with an action plan, I did much better. I still feel bad about some of the pictures that are smudged, but I have decided that once the book is done I will go back and reprint and replace the ones that are really bothering me. That way I will be happy with the finished result 🙂

I did make some progress today. First like I said I would, I made a rough plan on paper and wrote down all the different things that I could do in my smash book. Once again I added themes of what I wanted to do so I thought I would incorporate:

1. Writing: Letters and short stories about my year that would be scattered all over the book. Some of them will be private and so I will make little pockets or put them in little envelopes, safe from prying eyes 🙂

2. Themes: We have already talked about this. I have arranged all my pictures and memorabilia according to different themes.

3. Make Collages: I did not want a perfect look so each page will be a mini collage.

4. Make Lists: I love to make lists and my smash book will have lists of songs I’ve heard or movies I’ve seen.

5. Sketch: I am very weary of how my writing and sketches look in a book. I will overcome this fear and add a lot of handwritten notes and some doodles to my smash book.

6. Fonts: I will use different fonts and handwriting styles to add interest to the journalling.

7. CDs: I will add a CD of special songs and videos that reflect 2011 memories.

8. Reviews: I have read and seen some amazing books and movies in 2011. I will add reviews to 2-3 of my favorites 🙂

9. Achievements: I will list all the things I feel I have achieved in 2011. Be it reading a book I had to, or making a presentation that was hard or learning a new craft…

10. The Future: I will list some things that I want to accomplish next year as well as some predictions. Should be fun to come back to 🙂

So that is my plan. I wrote it out on paper and stuck it in my smash book as well.

Then I went back to my book and started smashing in all the pictures and all the memorabilia. It has started to take some shape and I feel much much better about this project now 🙂

I also tore out some pages I thought I would use for next year’s upcycled smash book. I am still debating the way to bind my next book. There is no way to know how many pages I will need, so I am thinking of using a binder and adding pages if I need to.

Back to 2011. I will now print out the theme titles and write some of my letters/ short essays. Then I will once again return to my book and smash those in. After that out come the embellishments, stickers, stamps and markers and I can guarantee that by the end of it all the book won’t be neat at all! I love messy art! 🙂

Here are some pictures of how the book looks like now…