Thursday, August 7, 2008

Soul Journaling: Day 19

Thank you all so much for your well wishes. It was such a beautiful time that I was sad to leave NYC but I am so happy to be back home in my studio. :) Since today is Official show and tell day I thought I would start by showing you some of the cool art products I took with me on my travels.

I took two permanent black markers, a small paint brush, a glue stick, watercolor pencils, Peerless watercolors, and a Wet media tablet on the plane. Because of the new regulations I was not allowed to take any water, my glue stick had to be under 3 oz, and my scissors blade under 4 inches. After I got through security I bought a small bottle of water and used the cap to dip my brush in. On our return flight I ordered water for my beverage and drank most of it leaving a little to wet my brush.

These Derwent water color pencils are fabulous. You just draw with them and use a wet brush over your drawings and they magically become watercolor paintings.


If you have never tried Peerless watercolor paper then you are in for a treat. These are super travel friendly and even I was surprised at how vibrant and beautiful these colors were. All you do is touch them with a wet brush to pick up your color.


I bought the regular pack and the small bonus pack to try them out. One side shows the paint's color. The opposite (darker) side has the actual paint on it.


You can see the spot where I touched it with my wet brush.
Here are the larger sheets.
Not only would these be fabulous tucked inside your travel journals but you could also sew or attach a whole palette into one of your books if you wanted. I ended up only using the very small bonus pack. It is 40 colors strong yet fits in the palm of my hand.

Here is some of my doodle art I made on the plane using my fine tip sharpie marker and my watercolors.

I bought this cool kids book at one of the gift shops and it entertained me on my return flight.





These spirals would be soo neat as a background for an ATC or decoration on an envelope. I plan on using some of my watercolor paints over them too.

And finally I promised you all my potpourri journal prompt pictures. Here is my second piece:





Here is my third “Collage potpourri” piece. I am already seeing great things happening that I’d like to go back into and develop further. And I like how the corrugated cardboard made some great lines so I can add further journaling later.






Since this is "show and tell" day I would love it if you would leave a comment to this post with a link to any new journaling you have done on your own this week. :)
Homework: Color photocopy at least 3 of your favorite journal pages. Copies are usually only a few cents and most office supply places are very helpful if you have never made a copy before.
Hope you all have a super fabulous day! XO

33 comments:

SUZAN BUCKNER said...

Hello!! I was just thinking of my childhood spiralgraph the other day, and wishing that I could find one...OH, how I love that Spiral Draw thing...I am going to see if Barnes and Nobles has it!!!

Love your blog--the watercolors are cool!!!

Suzan

Bonnie said...

Love the doodle page & thanks for the tip on the watercolor papers.

Mary S. Hunt said...

fabulous pages
and i love all those products too...
i promote them in my classes as well...and they become great hits for the students enjoying the test runs..

Anne said...

I'm just getting started on my Art and Soul Journal ... I'm several days behind. You can see mine on my Gaal Creative blog at: http://gaalcreative.blogspot.com. Thanks, Sarah, for all the great journaling ideas! :-)

Cheryl Gebhart said...

I love all your pages and hearing about how you did your artwork on your trip.

I got a lot done while you were gone; in fact, I'm all caught up except for my paper doll family. It's all posted on my blog here:

http://tinyurl.com/5h63ta

Kathryn Costa said...

I'm preparing for my week long getaway. I have just over a week left to prepare - it was great to see what you packed in your artist survival kit. I love the spirograph. When I was a kid, it was one of my very favorite things.

Here are some links to my recent pages:

My House
http://tinyurl.com/collagediva5

Collage Potpourri #1
http://tinyurl.com/collagediva4

Collage Potpourri #2
http://tinyurl.com/collagediva3

Taped Page Revisted
http://tinyurl.com/collagediva2

Collage Potpourri #3
http://tinyurl.com/collagediva1

It has been a fun journey!
Thanks. k

Christy said...

I have not used those watercolor papers. Like look very interesting.

I did some journaling while you were gone accepting lovely sparkling things (and grooms).

You can see the posts here:
http://averageamericangirl.com/blog/

Dale said...

I can't wait for new assignments! I didn't start until just before you left for vacation, but I am almost caught up...still have one more Randomness page to do. I am learning so much!

Link to my Soul Journal blog pages:
http://paintpaste.blogspot.com/search/label/%22Soul%20Journaling%22

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah!
This is my first time posting a message here on your site. I am thoroughly enjoying myself with your daily soul journaling prompts. I want to thank you for being so inspirational. I am just loving this fun and stress-free soul journaling! I am so looking forward to your next prompt! If you would like to view what I have created in my soul journal so far, you can do so here on my blog:
http://journalgypsyvale.blogspot.com/

Sarah, last, but not at all the least, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Again thank you! With warm hugs from Vale :)

Letha Richardson said...

Well, I have to say that my disaster story is on my blog, but I think I may have saved it after all...it was pretty bad! I find the more "planned" pages are a little more successful, but I can definitely see that I need to work on being more "free" in my art expression. (I made sure I wrote about this in my journaling)
By the way- Huge CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement! May you make a lifetime of wonderful memories together.
Letha

Letha Richardson said...

OOPS-
Forgot to post my blog address:
http://thismuseofmine.blogspot.com/
Letha

Miss Oddity said...

I have added my Collage Potpourri pages to my blog. I haven't written much as I am still in a bit of a fuzzy state but have included the link here.

http://missoddityscrazycollection.blogspot.com/2008/08/soul-journal-collage-potpourri.html

Must say I like those Peerless Papers ... seeing if I can find them here ... but they are going to be low on my list of things to get as I just got my "supplies" list for an art retreat I am attending in March 09 with Bernie Berlin and DJ Pettitt ... I'm way excited about it!

Linda Vincent said...

Loved reading your posts Sarah - congratulations on your engagement, you both look really happy together.
I'm fascinated by the watercolour paper - just hope we can buy it in England.
I've completed my tape page, plus I have posted pictures from journals I did over 10 years ago - I had forgotten all about them but doing the soul journal reminded me about them.
I also did a paperdoll ATC after beong inspired by yours. Please have a look here

Thanks, Linda x

arlene said...

Welcome back! We've had much fun and art-ing while you've been gone. I hope you had as much fun as we have!

xo arlene in alberta

Virginia said...

Welcome back!!!So glad you enjoyed yourself..Love your doodle, water colour page..you can tell what inspired it..Congratulations..I did my homework like a good little girl ..LOL..Actually had a blast with it..Off to photo copy..have a great week-end...

Anonymous said...

I'm completely loving the Soul Journal project, following along at my own pace, of course. I'm still working on the potpourri pages and I have a couple of questions. The paper wrinkles. Not the journal pages (I got a watercolor journal, nice thick pages), but the paper that I put on and then gesso over wrinkles. I've tried several different glues including Mode Podge (I hate that stuff!!) and a plain old glue stick. I tried gesso-ing when the glue was wet, then I let it dry overnight - wrinkled everytime. I tried using matte gel first thinking maybe my gesso was the problem. Nope, wrinkled. Am I doing something wrong? I am using pages from a bible (don't care for anyone's opinions on that but will share my reasoning if so desired), so is it possible the paper is too thin? Also, the matte gel smears images from my printer. It's ink jet, a rather costly photo printer. I print on matte photo paper. Is it me? I realise a laser printer wouldn't smear but I don't have one at my disposal.

inge said...

Hello Sarah,

I'm still busy with my last journalpages, but my squarespage, my tape page ànd my house and neighbourhood are ready and published on my site.

I already made myself as a paperdoll ( fun!) ,but still have to make the other members of my family...

About your supplies : I never heard or seen the papers with the watercolors on !
I had the spiral stuff also when I was a kid: I must ask my mum if she still has it ! The spirals are beautiful !!

My husband "steals " my ibook for a meeting this evening... think I'll work on my journalpages...

greetings
inge from belgium

PS : you can find my pages on web.me.com/pinkepinke

Sarah Whitmire said...

Hi Goog,
Glad you are enjoying the soul journaling but I am sorry you are having troubles with the papers. I'm not quite sure what the answer is. I use Golden brand or Liquitex brand Matte gel medium as my glue and I am currently using Windsor and Newton Gesso (though I like Liquitex and Golden also). If you are using a cheaper brand of Gesso it can certainly wrinkle your paper since they add more water to the Gesso to bring down the price. Many times I will use my Matte medium under and over my papers to seal them and then brush it on top to help remove air bubbles. If all else fails when gluing ultra thin papers I would recommend trying Yes Paste. It's a great product.

As far as your ink jet goes you will always have smearing unless you invest in some type of spray sealant. I strictly use my laser printer for art now or I will take a trip to an office supply store to make copies. You could try sealing the papers with a Workable Fixative spray by Krylon? I have never used it for ink jet but it works well for me in other projects.

Hope that helps!

Sarah

notmassproduced said...

it's been great dipping in and out of this project and seeing everyone's different 'takes' on each prompt. I LOVE spiragraph and have got quite a few of them - who ever invented it deserves a medal! Looking forward to the next installment of SJ :o)

my efforts are at www.thisdisorderedlife.blogspot.com

Mescrap said...

It's such a gorgeous doodle page !
Love it .

arlene said...

I started playing in water colours this week too. Your prompts have inspired me all over the place, Sarah! So many great things happening. Thank you!

Here is one of my journal pages:
http://artdeme.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-soul.html
Love all your pages and tips!
xo arlene in alberta

Unknown said...

I can't wait to try the products you listed! I am always up for a great new find! And I am so loving the spiragraph. I used to have one...time to reinvest and play! I would also like to find some shrinky dinks...remember those?

I would like to start the soul journal, too...but since I just found you I guess I will be wayyy behind. Oh, well...great idea! Thanks for inspiring me!

Dawn said...

First of all, congratulations on your engagement ~ pretty, pretty ring!

I just have to tell you that I've been having an absolute blast with my Soul Journal. I've been so blocked in ever doing an ART Journal, but this time, it's really happening. Thank you Sarah!

If you check my ART of Humungous Proportions blog, you'll see how much stuff I've been journaling (along with my art buddy, Arlene of artdeme blog).

While you were away, we had to do something, so the thing I'd like to show and tell is a scavenger hunt collage challenge I sent out to other Soul Journal enthusiasts. You can find it here. Please add my name to the Fellow Soul Journalers. Thanks!

P.S. I thought you were getting back tomorrow from NY, so now I'm behind again, so I've got to scramble.

P.P.S. If you want to see another thing you've inspired, check out http://creativesandwich.blogspot.com/2008/08/fun-fun-fun.html

Cheryl Gebhart said...

One more page finished:

http://tinyurl.com/6my94s

Purrplekatt said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Purrplekatt said...

I love spirograph! I was so excited to find one of these at a local craft store. Doesn't it bring you right back to being a kid again??I have some of my journal pages on flickr here, if you'd like to take a look.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/purrplekatt/sets/72157606633529801/

I do have my last four started, but would like to add more before scanning them.

Sandy..... said...

I complete my "no rules" tape pages. I like them, but I may go back and add something later. I just think it's missing something.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nT5iKHuhCX0/SKwLFsG6IcI/AAAAAAAAALw/YFlevR1PZuQ/s1600-h/IMGP3878.JPG

Sandy..... said...

I completed all of my collage potpourri pages, and also my no rules tape pages.
I really had fun with the collage potpourri pages! Thank you again, Sarah, for taking us on this wonderful journey with you!
http://cre8sandy.blogspot.com/2008/08/soul-journal-collage-potpourri.html

Carol said...

I am glad you had a good time, I am going to get my butt in gear and catch up with you all, now I am back from my hols.

Anonymous said...

I would like to begin soul Journaling but cant find day 1,is it here?
Lee
I love your work and ideas, you inspire me!

Sarah Whitmire said...

Hi Lee,
Here's the link to Day 1:

http://sarahwhitmire.blogspot.com/2008/07/s-journaling.html


I'm glad you are joining us!

XO

Sara said...

Thank you so much for doing this - I love prompts like this! Taking them very much at my own pace ;) but I thought you would like to know that I posted about the collage pages today on my blog! www.sheeri.blogspot.com

www.gabiklaf.com said...

doodle art was so cute and amazing. those spirals were really impressive and amusing. great work Sarah