A Travel Journal

This is a Travel Journal that I have just completed for my painting teacher, Shelley, who leaves for a short holiday in Spain on Thursday, and who has become interested in journaling after seeing the simple journal I kept during a recent visit to my parents in South Africa. First the front:

 

Then the back:

 

The project was relatively simple to construct, the cover being made from a scrap piece of flannel dipped in dilute PVA glue, then cut to size once it had dried.  This was textured with layers of tissue paper, handmade paper and bandage gauze, dried again and then machine embroidered with thick cotton perlé.  At this point I gessoed the whole thing to add stiffness and give me a white surface to decorate, which was done mostly with washes of acrylic paint, a simple stencil border and four squares cut from mount board and sewn down to the front.  The central band is a scrap strip of tapestry canvas with a ribbon couched down by machine.  The cover squares were further embellished with punched paper suns glued down with acrylic medium and a very small amount of beading.  A small amount of pastel colour and a press stud to close completed the cover.

You can just see that I lined the cover in dark green satin to hide all the ends of threads, etc and to allow for the creation of a pencil pocket inside the front cover.  There are only 4 folded sheets of paper inside, but these allow for a title page, a double-page spread for each day of the trip and a page for notes at the back.  The binding was a simple pamphlet stitch job with cotton perlé again.  The pages measure 19 x 26 cm, so the whole thing fits into a plastic page-protector for packing.

Of course, I really want to see what it looks like when it comes BACK, so keep reading and I'll let you know!

My Favourite Blog

If you haven't discovered "Dispatch From LA", you have a treat in store!  Mary-Ann Moss, who is a primary teacher (or Monkey Whisperer, as she calls it) has for several years been writing a superbly idiosyncratic take on life in California, the wonderful art journals she makes, and her unusual choice of foreign holidays.  Her three cats and her collection of family and friends make guest appearances

Over the last year she has also offered online art courses for those who want to know how to do her style of stencilling with spray paint, make up small stenciled books or bind up an entire journal from all the odds and ends you have lying around at home.  Her instructions are clear as day and her video tutorials manage to be both informative and frequently hilarious.  Check out her sidebar too for a fascinating list of other blogs.

http://www.dispatchfromla.typepad.com/

The photo on this post is of the Chelsea Flower Show display by the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden a year or two ago - Kirstenbosch is possibly my favourite place on this planet, housing a magnificent collection of the Western Cape flora, and I make a point of visiting whenever I am in Cape Town.  Enjoy - I'll be posting other photos on later posts.

REVIVAL ! RENEWAL ! SPRING !

Well, shouting "Spring" is a being a bit optimistic, as London is still stuck in "cold and grey" mode, but this blog is being revived as Creativity is the best antidote I know to depressing weather.

During 2010 I hope to offer a new craft project every month, available from my website as an inexpensive download. I came to this idea after realising how many craft books offer one or two really good projects and a lot of dross , so why not offer projects individually, so that people can choose which ones they want to buy?

The projects I have in mind include some unusual decorated boxes, attractive small books, decorative figures, clothing items and some unusual ways to renovate tired furniture and household items. None of them will demand the skills of a trained artist and NONE if them will cost you a fortune in materials - most of us creative people have ridiculous amounts of "stash" lying around anyway! On that subject, have you heard of the SABLE concept? An American friend introduced me to this a few years ago - it stands for "Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy" - and when I sent her a photo of my fabric stash, she promptly made me Crown Prince of SABLE. Thank you, ma'am.

And how about YOU? Do you have a stash of some sort of supply that is taking over your life and needs using in a new and exciting way? Or is there a particular sort of project you would like to see featured? Please let me know!