Switching back to the normal art journal, I had to play catch up. I mixed this grungy green color, slapped it onto the page and then wiped some of it away with a baby wipe (love those things!). This was a letter I received from my Secret Pen Pal partner after she got the package I sent her, so I made an envelope to stick it in. The laptop sticker is from a pack I got on clearance from JoAnns that had a bunch of dork/tech related things on it. So cute!

I have the house to myself (on my birthday, of all days) so I'll be spending it making things and recording the travel journal update vlog.

Rub-ons from the Target dollar section, oh so seventies!

Ride to TN spreads and update

I'm back in Maryland after spending a crazy week in Tennessee. I wish I had been able to update the blog more while I was away but I didn't have reliable internet access and mom had a heart attack scare. (She's fine, it was an anxiety attack.)

So anywho, I plan to make a vlog within the next few days with my revelations on travel journaling and a flip through of the journal so far. Today I'm just trying to settle back in and I'm playing with my different supplies that I've been away from.

Here are some pages from the ride down:

Half an hour into the ride from MD to TN our train always switches its electrical engine out for a diesel one and it is about a 20 minute wait till we get on the move again, so I spent the time doing a word search and then journaled on top of it.

This is a nod back to my very first art journal on my first trip to Tennessee- I had created a grid with a block for each hour spent on the train. Sometime within each hour I would look out the window and doodle what I saw. I had never traveled to TN in mid autumn so I discovered there isn't much light to see by, hence the numerous black blocks. It also seems I never finish the last block since I'm so excited to see Dave and Mom.

The spreads from the ride down are fuller than the ride back up because I'm anxious and awake with excitement. The ride back is usually a bummer so I sleep more. This was a spot I had included in my hourly doodle on my first trip- the skyline has this distinct tower with a sort of halo on it so I did a quick doodle.

Tennessee

Here's what I've been up to lately...

Riding the train to TN:

Etowah Mounds in Northern Georgia- these burials mounds were made over a thousand years ago and the tallest (below) is 63ft tall.

Walking with the undead:

Being the undead:

Photos of the travel journal to come as I work in it some more!

Traveling

I haven't forgotten you, but everything is packed up for my grand adventure to Tennessee. I will be updating you guys tomorrow to show you how my travel journal is progressing (14 hour train ride = not much sleep thus = lots of journaling). See you in Chattanooga!

Doll house for Ceilidh

I have been finishing all kinds of projects I had left on the way-side this week. I bought this doll house a year ago from Michaels (before they had the various different styles of house kits) with the intention of making it for Ceilidh's Christmas present. (Ceilidh is my would-be step daughter.) Now it will finally be given to her as a belated birthday gift when I see her this weekend! I can't wait to see her and Sage!

I had gotten overwhelmed with painting all the furniture and pieces (only a fraction of which are shown in these photos). If I could change anything about this project I would have paid more attention to the assembly before hand. There's no working door with the house but before I realized this I punched out the tab where it's supposed to stand propped open, but then your doll can't get out of the house!

I also would have chosen done more coats before putting the house together. I ended up using Folkart craft paints and I sealed it with a semi-gloss finish to protect it from scratches. Ceilidh and Sage aren't the typical kids who trash their toys with markers and stuff, but I am worried about the tiny pieces getting crushed under people's feet, so I made a little box to hold the stuff when not in use. (Not shown, I'm angry at the amount of dust that managed to get into the sealer but oh well.)

I haven't been able to get a good shot inside the bowls but my best friend, Chrissy painted an entire set of coordinating dishes and bowls with intricate designs inside and little rose buds on the outside of each dish. The adults don't fit into the chairs well but the older kids do.

The figures are called Calico Critters and I got them from Toys R Us. They have all kinds of animal families, sooo cute! I'm having fun planning extras like rugs, blankets, an outdoor scene and such for the future. I know Sage will play with this too so I'll probably buy another family of critters. So many options!

New vlog and new journal pics!

Yes, that's right, another vlog! This time I'm discussing travel journaling and some awesome art journaling/craft books.




(Thanks again Kira for telling me how to embed these things!)

What's this, a vlog and photos? Madness!

This is one of the goodies I picked up at the Renn Fair- a handmade journal from India with handmade paper pages!

(Front)

(Back)

I love these colors so much! Whoever bound the journal was clever enough to keep the binding thread long and after knotting it, left the extra length to be used to wrap the book closed. Love it!


Whenever I get a new journal I dedicate a few pages to testing out different media and how I can make them work better on the paper. I had a lot of bleed through on the naked paper, but once I added gesso all my problems were solved!

Hooray! Let's see if I can keep posting at least twice a week!

The vlogs are coming, the vlogs are coming!

If someone can tell me why blogger won't let me paste the embed info into this post I'll send you a little gift! So as I battle technology, you can find my vlog here: Ok, Kira is a godsend and is going to get a little gift for pointing out my error with embedding videos into my blog.

Yay! Here's my vlog, (finally), on discovering personal imagery and symbols in our journals:



Youtube also selects the most flattering frames...

Have an awesome, creative day!

My week

Vlogs are coming tomorrow! Until then, here's what my week has been like:

Full of adventurous art by children:

Dorky excursion to the Maryland Rennisance Fair:

Oh, and here's a cute cat named Gizmo for you:

Vlogs

Sorry about the lack of photos- I'm just so excited to tell you I've been making some short vlogs that I'll be posting this coming week! See you soon!