Tall Tales from Kansas

two days before we left Budapest the winds from the Carpathian Basin blew in....

More pages from the Budapest travel journal.   Today begins with that most delightful of Budapest experiences.  The thermal baths.  There are many throughout the city.  We started with Szechenyi Furdo.  We had such a good time there we went back instead of trying another facility.  We'll go to a different public bath on our next trip.  Maybe.

Well that does it for Part II.  Tomorrow I will finish up with the the last of my pages.  

Meanwhile as I drift off to sleep tonight I will make my way to the M1 tram and experience the public baths in winter.  Steam rising off the pools.  A cool dark starry night overhead.  Immersed in a cocoon of warm water. 

I wanted to make my own, but she insisted I use this one

In case you are interested, here are a few pages from my Budapest Travel journal. 

As you can see, I used a journal my sister made as a sample in her  Full Tilt Boogie class.   I wanted to make my own, but she insisted I use this one.... what could I do?    I did not want to appear ungrateful.   Especially since she gave me the one I had ooh'd and ahhh'd over the most.

As I added the pictures and re-read what I had written, I was transported back to Budapest.  That is the great thing about a travel journal.  It's not just the pictures, but the words that in an instant take me back to a certain moment in time.   Tomorrow - Part II.  

Some days just call for it

I like writing over and around a collaged background in my everyday journal.  Sometimes I like pasting stuff OVER writing even more.  Some days just call for it. 

  

A good coloring in circles session

I took sister to the airport this morning.  She had an early flight.  Buck Moss does not like it one bit if his mama is gone for too long.  He put this tag on her suitcase before she left to remind her to come hone. 

 
After I dropped her off I went to this little spot .   I sat there for about 2 hours and stared into space, listened to conversations around me, and wrote in my everyday journal.  I usually get the sweet potatoe scone here.  They didn't have any today and I was forced to get a peaches and cream scone.    Peach pie but in the form of a scone.   Finger licking good.  Literally.   **(Dottie these were made with you in mind).

While I was sitting there I resisted the urge to draw circles within circles all over the page and then go back and color them in with markers.  But I wanted to.  There is nothing so soothing as a good coloring in circles session.  I think I just planned my day for tomorrow. 

Hey! Did I say you could read that?

Today I sat down at the table to record some inconsequential, day-dreamy things in my everyday journal.   For some reason I started writing from top to bottom, not left to right.  Instead of paragraphs, I just switched to a different color when a different thought hit me.   You would have thought I had discovered cream cheese frosting I was so excited about it.

 
Some days it's just about the writing.  If you like the simple act of writing,  just the motion of the pen gliding on the paper,  it's hard to beat the feel of any kind of writing instrument on the paper in these hammerpress notebooks.  I think they are out of print now.  Drat! 

Some days though I don't want to write much.  I just want to glue and tape.  Maybe add a few doodles if the spirit moves me.

 
Someone else obviously thought the top to bottom writing was pretty interesting too.

 
Hey!  Did I say you could read that? 

Purely in the spirit of play

Because there is nothing as fun as cutting loose and having a go at capturing your own likeness on paper,  I offer this self portrait.  Much like the contour drawings these are done for the sheer enjoyment of just trying something that you thought you couldn't do.   If like me you find hair hard to draw, throw a scarf on your head, then purely in the spirit of play take out some paint, markers, pencils and pretend like you are in 2nd grade all over again.  I'm pretty sure you'll have a good time. 

 

"52 by 53"

Inspired by this, and because I like to copy many things that I think are good ideas, I developed a list I call "52 by 53".  Fifty two things I want to do before I turn fifty three that is.  Exactly one month into the list I have knocked 6 things off already.

 

The way I see it that makes me ahead of the game.  I will admit, it took me some time to think of 52 things to put on the list.  Some of them are pie in the sky that might not get done.  Others are things I really should do.    One or two things I can't wait to do.   So listen, if you are planning to visit me any time soon get ready to join in.  Don't worry.  Nothing on the list is painful. 

The everyday journal

I have an art journal, a garden journal, a golf journal (yes really!), and an everyday journal.  I like to keep track of the things I enjoy.  The only problem with so many journals is that I always have things I want to be doing in them.  The good thing is I am on my own timeline which means essentially there is no timeline.   I do love it when I do a little catching up in them though.  Get down some thoughts and ideas before I forget them.  Things like how good that chocolate caramel candy from Paris was.  Or what a particular day was like.  Just the little details of everyday life that I am sure I will find fascinating to read in another 10 years.

 

I like to slap in some visual interest.  Things I see that make me get silly and talk in a funny voice like this cute, cute, cute, big, fat, red bird.

 

Who doesn't need a picture like that in their everyday journal?  No one that's who.

 

Stuff that happened to me: Book as journal

I can be completely intimidated by the blank page.  To get over this hurdle, I have been known to buy second hand books with sturdy covers and strong binding to use as a journal.   Inside the book I fold, tape, cut, rip, staple, color, paint, write, stencil, doodle, punch holes, apply beads, glue, draw, and .... you get the idea.  All done over what is already on the pages.

 

I'm going to show you some hightlights of the pages I had the most fun with, or just  liked how they turned out.   This particular book was about a sculptor.  I liked working around the photographs of his work and incorporating them into the page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go figure!  After playing around with several journals like this I am craving the blank page.  The creamy feel of white cold press paper under my palms just waiting for a brush or some chalk or an oil pastel to be applied. 

France 2005

 

In February 2005 I went to France with my sister.  I made this little (5x7) travel journal to take along for the ride.  

 

 
 

 

 


 

 

I realize that it's not for everyone, and it helps to go on vacation with someone who likes to record the trip too, but if you haven't kept a journal while traveling before - try it.  The writing brings back memories not captured in pictures.   Everytime I open this I smile thinking about the adventures we had.  Negotiating the metro with our luggage to find the train station, trying to decipher the french road signs, the boat trip on the Seine at night in our clown outfits, doing jumping jacks to stay warm while waiting for the bus in Paris, wandering the streets of the city savoring each and every sight, sound, smell, and taste. 

The perfect planner

I have had a lot of planners over the years as illustrated below.

 

Having been through a few, I consider myself an unofficial expert in the essential elements of a good planner.  Why hasn't someone come up with one that meets all my needs, fits easily into my purse, AND is just plain fun to look at?  Is that so much to ask?  Apparently so as I have yet to find one.  But out here in Kansas we are not afraid to take the bull by the horns.  So one December when I had nothing else to do, I got my mind right, took everything my sister the book-maker has tried to teach me, poured it into my art processor of a brain, and here is what I came up with.

 

 

 The best part about making your own planner is you choose the amount of space you have to write in, you create room for photos, vital information sections are personalized, and there are pockets for business/membership cards.

 

 

 

 
 

Did I mention the inclusion of a small future planning calendar,  just the tabs you want, all your favorite colors, and last but not least ... when you take it out at a meeting someone will inevitably say "Hey! where did you get that?"  To this last question you of course smile and say... "oh it's just a little something I whipped up in my spare time."  

What do you do with your mail art?

Are you lucky enough to get mail art from someone?  I am.  What's better than going to the mail box and finding a far-out, super groovy, perplex the mailman, piece of mail art?  Nothing.  Thats what.  After you get it what do you do with it?   I have come up with not one, but 2 things to do with mine.

 

#1 is the Mail Art Frame.  This is a frame with a back that is constructed from old wood scavenged from a friend who was tearing down some buildings on his property.  I came up with the idea, passed the vision along to Chris (my husband, also known as the egg dying expert), and instructed him to build me one - please.  I put a few nails in it and when I get mail art I take it to work and hang it on the frame.  This brightens up an otherwise extremely institutional looking office and people who come in the office are treated to this visionary work.  Some people don't really understand it.  Some people love it.  Everyone notices it.  You might recognize the work of one of the senders. 

 

#2 is the Mail Art Bag.  This is a bag I made after taking a journal making class from Keely Barham many moons ago.  I like to stitch and after taking the class made several things with techniques I learned from her.  I tuck pieces of mail art inside and display the bag in the entry way of our house.  If I don't get any mail art for awhile I can always pull a piece out of here and it feels like new again!  I know it's delusional, but it works for me.

I have absolutely no shame

Ok, let me just get this off my chest.  When it comes to all things artistic I have absolutely no shame.  I mean would a person with any sense of pride admit that she had done these drawings, say out loud that she loves them, AND post a photo on her blog?  

  

I look at these contour drawings and smile, remembering how much FUN I had doing them.  Who can explain it?   Why try to explain it?   Go do a contour drawing of yourself right now.  I dare you to try not to smile when you look at your results. 

 

I like to play around with a lot of different techniques when I am messing around in my journals.  Mostly though it's about having fun.  

I have a hard time thinking when I am in a class

 

Several years ago I made this "envelope book" at a class I took in Kansas City.  At the time I had no idea what I was really going to do with it.  I have a hard time thinking when I am in a class - my brain revolts when it is commanded to be creative with a 2 hour  timeline.  

 

When we decided to build a house about a year later I grabbed it off the shelf and began to fill it up with ideas.  It turned into a really fun project .   I threw all sorts of things in here. 

 

Any excuse to cut, paste, color, doodle, stamp, draw, paint, punch holes, &/or staple without having to do a lot of thinking is what I call a good time.