Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Wreck This Journal! (No, seriously...)

So, my friend Jennifer from the wonderful CAST Team on Etsy alerted me to the existence of these "Wreck This Journal" books... and as soon as I began looking into them, I was hooked. I literally called Target to ask if they had any (it was published in 2007) and the man on the phone was all like "Seriously? I've got one in front of me right now!" so I told him to put it aside for me, and I loaded the kids in my car, and went to Target to spend my laundry money on my own Wreck This Journal.

So, I began looking through it excitedly, and the artist in me couldn't wait to create. I admit, the idea of the journal is to "wreck" it, but the instructions inside clearly say it's open to interpretation, so I am happy to say that I haven't "wrecked" it as much as I've "created" in it thus far...

The first one I decided to do was this page, that says you can drip coffee (or tea) on the page... not only drip, but spit, splat, whatever you may want to do. So I made extra sure that I didn't add milk to the coffee (because that wouldn't have made a dark enough stain) and I proceeded to spill some on the journal. I like how it turned out, but what I didn't like is that the pages are so thin that it bled right through to the other pages, and those are separate things to do on the other pages. But I have white gesso, so I'll be able to fix the bleed :)

Anyway, here is the coffee I spilled... I've a lot of ideas on how to decorate this spread further (doodle a design, add a Starbucks sticker... whatever) but I like how it turned out so far.

Another spread to do is to cover it with office supplies... so I added a decorative border with staples :)

See? I still have to add more supplies when I find them, but I'm still trying to keep an aesthetic rather than destroying the book... I know, I'm missing the point. But I love my journal!

Another spread I did was when you are instructed to step on the book, jump up and down, wipe your feet back and forth, etc... I painted my feet (one wearing a sneaker, and one barefoot) with red acrylic paint, and stood on the gessoed pages (there was also a big square of white sticker paper stuck on there to avoid the coffee stain coming through from the other side lol)...

So that's what I've done so far... and I've been having so much fun. I have ideas on how to further decorate the stepped-on pages, too, but we'll have to wait to see those :) Stay tuned in for the creative chaos to ensue! Oh, and if I can make a recommendation? Go out and get one. They're only like $10-$15, depending on where you get them, and they are very addictive... seriously, you should really get one :) Let me know if you do!!!

16 comments:

Becky K. said...

oh my goodness...what a fun idea.
I love how you are even artistic in this.

Loretta said...

What a fun idea! I immediately googled it to learn more. Thanks for sharing.

AnnMarie aka Vintage Junkie aka NaNa said...

That is so crazy it is fun! Never heard of it! What a great way to take out your stress. For me, I tend to drop, spill and wreck things without trying so this will be fun!

Kelly Bermudez said...

Ooohhh I love it! What a great idea! Creativity takes courage and this seems to make it less intimidating!

Recovered Fundie said...

Might be a good way to let go of some angst ... :0)

Jennifer Hine said...

Love it! :D I think it's great that you are keeping an aesthetic. I have ideas running through my own head for that office supplies page!

Luella Newkirk said...

What will they come up with next!?! I think that would be a great way to get over perfectionism (is there such a word) that stifles creativity. Thanks for sharing.

MYSAVIOR said...

Jen - sounds like fun and very creative.

♥♥♥
Sue

Lizzi said...

Wow this looks like fun. I like the staple idea a lot.

Kim said...

aaaawww . .yay!! I was hoping you'd show us all what you were going to do in your wreck your journal!! I totally think you should journal all your entries. I knew you would be able to come up with some pretty awesome ideas!! you go girl . . .go be creative! :)

Mechelle said...

I have never heard of this journal book before. Sounds interesting and fun.

krafterskorner said...

I don't think I could stand making a "mess" of my work like that, but it sounds like you are having fun!

sammysgrammy said...

This DOES look like serious fun. I'll take my cue from you and isolate the page I spill coffee on.

How about setting the drippy jar of red feet paint down on a page and leaving a nice paint can imprint.

Have your kids make those little mice with their fingerprints. Paint leaves and stamp them on pages. Oh, just a minute, I better stop.............

JulieandMax said...

Oohh; that looks like so much fun! Thanks for sharing with us :)
Julie

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Anonymous said...

Could you please give me the ISBN of this journal, that I could offer it for my teeanager. We are looking for this book at Montreal (Canada) but cant find it.