Michelle at Green Pepper Press set the challenge this month to get a journalling kit together. I've definitely lost journal pages to being on the road without the supplies I wanted. Or had a stash of papers for collage in one room, my pens in another and the journal somewhere else and that has been enough to stop the creative process. But I know I've also been in a situation where I've been inspired by the limitations imposed in a situation. I loved the travel journal I made in Seattle last year. The journal was made and painted at home and I carried a growing stash of supplies during my stay so that I could glue in ephemera from our trip, doodle and make notes everywhere we went. It got me over my shyness about journalling in public too!
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Contents:
- stamping: letter stamps, I have three boxes that are the same size, so I can take the current faves; ink - I like to have black and brown around all the time, and sometimes a blue or green; signature stamp (not shown) - handcarved rubber stamp with my initials and the year
- writing: sharpies double-tipped, watercolour pencils, uniball signo black and white gel pens, water brush, rubber and sharpener
- sticking: magic tape - I'm addicted since I read Susan Wooldridge's books and tried it; a glue stick - there's also enough height for a little pot of gel medium if I feel the need; mini-stapler
- collage (not shown): I have a film canister for little bits and pieces to stick on and a plastic pocket for clipped words and pictures, and ephemera that I want to keep and use.
- cutting: scissors (fiskar's kiddie ones with metal blades and a cover) and a ruler for tearing when I want to, or when working on planes.
I used an old computer game box, and glued the lid on and cut it so that it would open to one side instead of lifting right off. I covered it in fab tissue from Paperchase with pictures of art supplies on, turned round to describe the store name. I added bits of a dictionary page with words like 'journal', 'journal box', 'joyful' and 'James Joyce'. Then it's brushed over with Golden fluid acrylics in titan buff, quinacridone nickel azo gold and quinacridone burnt orange for the lettering (making memories letter stamps). It doesn't feel quite finished yet, so I'll show you how it develops. I'm excited because it is only the size of a large book, so I can see it coming all over with me.