Have Journal, Will Travel

It's not everyday that I find a craft project involving an empty toilet paper tube that I like.

I mean, I'm as big a fan of upcycling as the next guy; I even have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to upcycling projects.

But an empty toilet paper tube?

Leave it to book artist Gwen Diehn to come up with a toilet paper tube project I feel comfortable sharing!

I created this Roll-Up Travel Journal using instructions from Gwen in a book from The Weekend Crafter series, entitled, Books and Journals: 20 Great Weekend Projects.

The design allows the little journal to be thrown into a backpack or purse for an impromptu weekend getaway, when you might want to catch some thoughts or sketches quickly on paper while on-the-go.  After all, it comes with its own protective case!  And that is where the toilet paper tube comes into play:

You slide the journal (made with a corrugated cover) out of the tube...

And find a complete bound journal inside!

The journal inside is made with a simple pamphlet stitch, but the design is made more interesting by including a window cutaway in the cover.  I couldn't resist a peek through my window through my window...if you see what I mean:

Gwen pointed out in her directions that you could tie a cord around the tube lengthwise in order to tie it onto your belt loop while you hike or sightsee.  It is ready to pop in and out of its case for on-the-go use!

Back in it goes!

A very respectable use for our empty toilet paper tubes, don't you think?

(Okay, so there might be at least THREE PINS on my Upcycle Pinterest board involving empty toilet paper tubes.  I confess...they can come in handy in the crafting world!)

Art Journaling Circles: January Meet-Up

Last night, I attended my first meet-up with the Journaling Circles group that meets in my area, led by the author and artist Rosemary Augustine.  The group meets once a month at a local Panera to work in our art journals:


Our facilitator Rosemary leads the group, providing the exercises and theme for the night:

I found out about Journaling Circles on MeetUp.com, while looking for art-related groups in my area.  I was so excited to discover that these like-minded women are pursuing their creativity and artistic expression just a half-hour from my home!

We all came with our own stash of markers, paints, water-brushes, washi tape, and other basic supplies, not knowing exactly how Rosemary would direct our evening.  We started out with a moment of deep-breathing to center ourselves, so we could breathe in our creativity and breathe out criticism, judgment, and expectations.  I often underestimate how valuable such moments are before launching into my art.  I can feel a real shift when I take a moment to relax, switch gears, and focus.

Then we did some loosening-up exercises in our journals, just to get our arms stretched and our hands moving--both dominant and non-dominant hands!

Then we set to work on our evening's prompt.  We were thinking about "DIRECTION," and creating some sort of map for our new year.  For awhile, we worked independently and quietly, but soon we began to talk and share about ourselves as we worked.

Lisa couldn't resist a smile for my "candid" shot of the table!

I worked in an art journal that I've used on-again/off-again for a few years now.  It is a 1964 calendar with a Venetian theme.  I created my flow-chart style spread over top of a reproduced painting of one of the grand waterways of Venice.  I made twelve boxes to represent the twelve months of the year, but my goals are not restricted to any particular month; they will be present to carry me throughout a creative and healthy 2015.

My finished art journal spread:  Direction, 2015.

A couple of the women allowed me to photograph them with their completed pages.  Here is Megan, who is a software consultant by day, and a talented artist and blogger all the time.  I am very excited to check out her blog further, as what I've seen so far is a great read.

Here is Lisa, a career teacher now pursuing her degree to become a college English professor--a girl after my own heart!

We were a diverse group in our 30s, 40s, and 50s, including an art therapist, a children and youth director, a stay-at-home mom (that's me!), a project manager, an author and artist, and others I look forward to learning more about at future gatherings.  I came home feeling energized and inspired...and, after all, isn't that what it's all about?





Hawaii Travel Journal

I've shared some of the photos from my week-long vacation in Hawaii this summer, and also gave a peek into the little kit of art supplies I took along with me for my journaling.  Today, I'll give you a look at some of the pages in my travel journal. 

This card commemorates our ELEVEN HOUR layover in the Denver airport...ouch!
My chubby airplane kind of bugs me, but oh well...

I have a new favorite way to keep a travel journal while I'm on a big vacation.  When I went to Alaska a couple summers ago, I took a stack of index cards, some of which I had "gussied up" ahead of time with tape and stickers.  I used all the different pamphlets I collected on our cruise and the port stops to create collages on the index cards, and wrote details of our daily activities on the back of postcards I purchased at our various destinations.  When I got home, I collected them into a stack, hole punched them, and connected them with a binder ring.  Voila!  It was such a simple way to collect all the ephemera and stories from our trip.  I made one of those Shutterfly photo books over a year later, and was able to flip through the cards for all kinds of fun details to include in my captions.

I planned to do the same type of journal for Hawaii, but at the last minute I decided to create a little book out of cereal-box cardboard.  I covered the cardboard in my most "Hawaiian-spirited" duct tape, used a Japanese screw punch to make holes in the spine for the binder rings, and filled it with index cards and index-card-sized papers in what I saw as beach-y, ocean-y colors.  

We finally made it to Waikiki, and eventually to Kailua!  E komo mai means "welcome".

Oh, poor Katy...If a man-o-war was going to sting anyone, it was going to be her!

This time, we stayed in one place for the whole week, and it was a bit more of a relaxing beach vacation, and less of a sight-seeing sort of vacation, so there weren't as many postcards involved.  But you can see how I used the cards to capture the stories and details of our trip. 

Our morning hike to Manoa Falls

A two-hour horseback ride at Kualoa Ranch

My husband's trip to Pearl Harbor and my shopping excursion in Kailua

The Chief's Luau at Sea Life Park...a spectacular view and a great fire dance

At the back, I made some collages of words and images from some free publications I picked up in shops in Kailua. 

Now I have a bright, fun, detailed source of summer Hawaiian memories!  If you would like to read through my Top 10 Hawaiian Memories, with photos from the trip, check out this earlier post.

Traveling Art Supplies Kit

My summer travels are over for the year, but you may be one of the lucky ones with an August vacation to end the summer in style.  I thought I would share with you the traveling art-supplies kit I took with me to Hawaii that enabled me to take my art-making and travel journaling in the air and on the road.  Then, later in the week, I'll share some of the travel journal pages with you.

Here, in all its glory, is the sum total of the art-making supplies I brought with me on my trip:

I looked around for a zippered make-up case for carrying my supplies, and I think I found this one--the most affordable option--at WalMart.  Inside, I included some basics like a glue stick, a small pair of airline-allowed scissors, a small selection of decorative tapes, and an eraser:

I also brought a selection of pens and a pencil for sketching, lettering, and journaling:

And, one of my very favorite parts of my travel kit:  a water brush and a tin adapted to hold a selection of watercolor pans:

The pans in my Prang set lift right out, so I could choose the colors that I wanted to include.  In retrospect, I wish that I had included black among the selections.

I read this tip somewhere along the way, and wish I could remember where:  I attached strips of adhesive magnet tape to the bottom inside of the tin, and then a little piece to each pan of watercolor.  It didn't really help them to not get jumbled in transit, but it kept them from moving around while they were in use.  Pretty smart!

Here's a peek at all the supplies, and the journal itself, tucked into the zippered bag:

I placed it upright next to a standard glue stick so you can see how compact it is.  It's easy to stash in my carry-on, and easy to bring along on a walk, a trip to the beach, or a morning on the deck.

You will see the travel journal itself in my next post.  Basically, I covered cardboard with duct tape, punched holes for binder rings, and used index cards and index-card-sized papers as my pages.  It is the perfect size to accommodate postcards right into the book as a page, or even 4"x6" photos once I get them developed at home if I feel so inclined.  I'll show you what's in there so far later this week!

Back in the Groove

I took an unexpected blog break this past week, and I thought I would catch you up on what I've been doing all this time.

For starters, I had the great good fortune to attend a reunion of my cousins in Michigan.

My cousins on my Dad's side of the family.  I got to hold the newest
member of the family!  (We're at the bottom of the steps.)

Several of our aunts and uncles came by over the course of the weekend, as well, so it felt more like one of the old-fashioned family reunions I grew up with.

I mentioned on Facebook that the gathering was exactly what I was hoping it would be.  There was plenty of small talk and silliness, but also lots of time for heart-to-hearts to really catch up on each other's lives.  I have a cousin in the Foreign Service, serving in Afghanistan, who happened to be home on a three-week leave, so she was able to share her absolutely astounding experiences in that country.  I have another cousin who recently went on a three-month vacation to South America, which was so interesting to hear about.  There were recently-ended relationships to discuss, and recently-beginning relationships to celebrate.  Everyone had jobs to discuss and explain.  Old family stories were rehashed.  Much beer and wine was consumed by the bonfire each night.  Getting to bed by 2 a.m. was considered early.

I had a couple stolen moments for doodling around.  I didn't expect to fill too many pages in my sketchbook, but I came away with one Zentangle (while folks were watching football) and one lettering experiment (sitting on the sun porch before others had woken up for the day):

Once I got back home, I faced another milestone:  my little girl, my first-born, my five-year-old, headed to kindergarten!  No doubt about it, I can feel the roiling layers of anxiety beneath my calm and confident exterior.  I am experiencing significant disbelief (as is she!) that she will now be going to school every day for years and years and years!

Here's Katy, taking that first step into kindergarten.

Back to school is also the season for taking care of all those annual doctor and dentist visits.  I splurged on a new pair of glasses, since the ones I had been wearing are now about 18 years old!  Here's a look at my new frames:

Hopefully now, with the school year underway, I can get myself back into a steady routine of blog visiting, art-making, and posting.  I hope you'll come along!

Artist Date by the Sea

My girls celebrating freedom by the sea

A true Julia Cameron-style Artist Date involves going out all by yourself to explore someplace fun, to "fill the well" of images and inspiration, to encourage a kind of grown-up playtime.  When you're a mom to young children, though, you sometimes have to catch your Artist Dates on the fly, according to your own definitions, and quite often with a little company tagging along.

The girls and I at dinner at Landshark

So even though I was not on my own to explore, I definitely consider my brief vacation to Atlantic City with my husband and two daughters an Artist Date.  I soaked in the atmosphere of the seashore, re-entered a playful space by jumping in the waves, and spent time in my sketchbook trying to capture some of the imagery of the place.

My sketchbook version of the view from our hotel balcony

It is so satisfying to take children to the beach.  My four-year-old let her absolutely unabashed excitement show through with every shriek of laughter.  She and I especially loved our beach-combing sessions, picking up treasured shells and pebbles along the shore.  My five-year-old especially enjoys building sand-castles with her daddy.  And everyone enjoyed jumping in the waves as they crashed to shore.  Hauling the girls up and out of the waves definitely gave me my weight-bearing exercise outside of the gym.

I learned something new!  My husband taught me how to make these sand-drip towers, which
 look very cool atop a sandcastle, or just standing on their own.

I have no illusions that my sketches and watercolor efforts are anything but introductory.  But we have to start somewhere with something new, don't we?  I was just pleased to spend some time with my sketchbook, trying to capture my environment and using some of the techniques I learned recently in Jane LaFazio's CREATE workshop.

A selection of images from my Atlantic City vacation

So now, with the new school year right around the corner, my five-year-old entering public school for the first time, and fall just over one month away, I have the wonderful memories and inspirations of the beach to carry with me into my "real life"!

There's nothing like watching my two little girls playing together like best friends!

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New Feature!

I recently added a new blog feature:  Click on the "Book List" tab at the top of my blog to find an ongoing list of the books I'm reading this year.  I have been reading far outside of my original goal list, and have stopped worrying about trying to publish a review of each book that I finish.  I am just going to keep a running list to keep tabs on my progress.  If you want to ask about any of the titles you see, feel free to send me an email at aleakaskey@yahoo.com.

The CREATE Artists' Faire

It must have been a pretty great weekend, since it has taken me four blog posts to tell you all about it!  In this fourth and final post about the CREATE Mixed Media Art Retreat in Somerset, New Jersey, I will share with you some photos from the Friday night Artists' Faire and give you a peek into the mobile art studio I created in my hotel room.

The Artists' Faire comprised about twelve vendors, many of them instructors from the art retreat, offering their original works for sale.  There were also a few vendors selling artists' supplies like jewelry-making tools, books, stencils, and rubber stamps.

I had just arrived when I attended the Faire, and still a little googly-eyed about the whole experience, so I don't have a very balanced representation of the vendors.  I took a zillion photos at Lynne Suprock's booth, called Simply Pretty Stuff.  I loved every item on her table!

Here is a closer look at some of the amazing items she had available, many of which you can get another look at by visiting her blog.  Check out these amazing necklaces created from salt shakers:

 And lovely mixed-media crowns:

 Absolutely adorable resin-covered booklaces:

 Super-cool shotgun shell bezel rings:

It was at the Artists' Faire that I had my first chance to chat with Seth Apter, who would be my bookbinding instructor on Sunday morning.

 A close-up look at one of Seth's collages:

I was absolutely delighted to chat with Jodi Ohl...what a sweet woman!

I enjoyed her work so much that I just had to purchase a piece to take home with me:

I also brought home an original piece by mixed media artist Elizabeth Nixon, using a rubber stamp from Julie Nutting's designs created by Prima and sold by Scraputante.

Back in my hotel room, I reveled in the opportunity to spread my art supplies out on the table and work on an art journal page to represent my weekend.

I've seen other artists on the road turning their hotel rooms into temporary art studios, but have never had the opportunity to do it myself before this art retreat weekend.  My page was pre-painted, so I basically just played around with pens and markers.

I came to a very important conclusion:  If you are a woman and want to be an artist, perhaps you should seriously consider changing your name to something that starts with the letter "J."  I was writing about all the artists I had seen already that evening, and besides Seth (the only man), I recorded Julie (Fei Fen Balzer), Jenn (Mason), Jodi (Ohl), and Joanne (Sharpe).  Do you think I've reached a valid conclusion here?

And there you have it!  My two-night art retreat experience in four blog posts.  If you missed my entries about Jane's class, Kari's class, or Seth's class, be sure to check them out.  And if you haven't yet entered the GIVEAWAY, you have until July 31 to do so!  The winner will be announced August 1.