Away and Back Again

Remember this post? It wasn't so long ago. In it I showed you the "bare bones" of the travel journal I took to Banff with me.

A three day road trip does not give you a lot of time to "scrapbook" and journal like I would normally do with a normal travel journal.

So I made this in to a travel ART journal. I brought my watercolour pencils with me, some brushes, and only a smattering of traditional scrapping supplies (which I barely touched). I knew I wanted to play and make art while I was away, and maybe not worry about perfectly documenting every last little detail of my trip.

And this is what happened...

The front didn't really change...I added the date and that random scrap of tape.

If you follow my Instagram feed, you might recognize this next layout...

 I was channeling my inner Daryl Benson when I took this next picture! A nice collection of items laid out all perfectly on my hotel coffee table. This is (almost) everything I brought with me. Stencils and ink pads might seem like overkill, but I used them lots!

 The page on the left (below) is about how my phone died on my super fast overnight on Friday. I was in panic mode for most of the day on Saturday because it wasn't working. The reason is silly, but the phone was charged and ready when I needed it...

I think these next two are my favourites in the lot.

 Jacob helped me with this one! He really wanted to "colouring" with Auntie, and he would dip the pencils into my little bottle of water and scribble them across the page before moving on to the next colour. He also really liked the Tim Holtz Ink Applicator and my date stamp: "stamping" was his next favourite artistic endeavor this weekend.

 The page on the left looked really nice (and simple) until I went and wrote on it...oh well!

Below left: don't you just love the background! I used this technique on a number of the pages in this album, and I am fascinated with the results. Gesso first. Then "Jim's" Distress Ink rubbed over a JFFB stencil. Then - and this is the kicker - splatter water on it. Wowee wow wow! I do this all the time on paper, but over top of a gesso'd surface, it's just spectacular!

I have smudged most of the words on the left page. I decided they were too legible and personal to show here.

And that is that. My mini travel art journal. I am completely in love with this style and medium right now. I have been so neglectful in my Project Life work, but I don't even care at this point! I might try and at least "catch up" as best I can, but I'm no longer worried about keeping it up at the level I managed for January. (I've got a post about this coming up in the next couple of weeks)

As long as I have some way to document life as it happens, I'm good!

later loves