Well folks, it's been nearly a year now since I've taken the time to show this blog some love. Note: It's been a helluva year. LOL. An explanation will come in upcoming posts. For now I'd like to ease back in on a totally positive note and share with you my current art kit.
I'll begin by answering some questions I've been asked recently by way of explaining how this manner of journaling evolved:
How do you find time to journal? The easiest answer is I'm always ready because my journaling "ingredients " are always with me.
How do you decide what type/method of journaling is YOUR style? I simply do what I enjoy. While I might try out some of the recent trends I always go back to what makes me happy. It's why I journal in the first place.
How do you decide which is the right journal for you? Trial and error for a while. Then I began to ask myself a series of questions based on what I wanted from my journaling experience. I eventually ignored all the 'experts' and settled on what worked for me. More on this later.
Now for my setup:
(Note: Our home was recently burglarized so I am learning to work the web from my phone. I have no idea how this post will look so be patient until I figure it out, please. ;) ). Here goes...
The first photo is my complete setup packed and ready. The small black Saddleback Leather clutch holds all my supplies. It measures approximately 7x5x2 inches. Plenty small enough to fit in my purse.
My journal is refillable-a must for me. I love the leather but do not want to pay the price for a bound book each time I need a new journal. This one is by Renaissance Art. Called an A5 plus due to the fact that they've added a few more sheets of paper in each refill than their other books. The paper they use is Arches woven text, heavy enough to take my watercolors and anything else I might throw at it, great with my favorite fountain pen, all around perfect for me! The text block slips out so if I want to get really messy there is no worry about damaging the cover. Once I've filled the book I simply slide it out, label it and slip in another. Again, perfect for me.
My watercolor box is by Winsor & Newton. Holds 24 half pans which I have filled with Daniel Smith tube watercolors-they're my favorite. I find I don't really need 24 colors and plan to downsize soon. But this has been a wonderful palette for me for quite some time now.
The next photo is my kit. I find this kit to work so well that even while at home I rarely need much else for journaling. The occasional decorative tape, scrap of paper or rubber stamp for fun but all the basics are with me all the time. The ingredients are: top center, my watercolor box, moving clockwise as much as possible...a paper towel in a tiny Ziploc bag, two Escoda travel brushes sizes 6 & 2, a bulldog clip, a Ranger scraper thingy, my Lamy Safari fountain pen filled with Noodler's Bulletproof black ink, individual wet wipes, a glue tape runner, Signo Uniball white pen, a Sharpie poster paint white pen, a waterbrush filled with the same Noodler's ink as above, a set of four Pitt markers in black with different nib sizes, two Pitt pens in gray shades with brush nibs-for shading, a kneaded eraser in a SD card box, two Staedtler lead holders, one with soft lead the other hard, a Staedtler click eraser for large areas, a Tombow Mono Zero eraser for tiny spots, tweezers,& a click razor knife, a KUM Pencut compact scissors, a Logan Graphics embossing stylus with four interchangeable ends, a portable folding toothbrush, a bottle of walnut ink and a water jar.
This is, after much trial and error, the schtuff that makes journaling a perfect fit for me no matter where I might wind up. I hope this is of some interest or help to some.
Love to All,
Mike