Traveler's Notebook - celebrating going into year 2 on the road

So during all the hubbub of COVID-19 we

have reached either our ONE year anniversary on the road

in the books OR

we're celebrating going into year TWO.

We are excited about year TWO. 

We'd be even more excited

if we could reach our first destination in KY on time,

however, we're gonna hang in place until

the hubbub dies down.

It'll be fun.

 Some really old Studio Calico project life cards

and some Tim Holtz going on.

And yes I handdrew the 2020 (pencil lines are your friend)

and you are gonna see more handdrawn stuff

because it gives me the illusion that I can draw stuff.

On the back side of the card, I made a pocket

 to inse rt a tagfor journaling that talks about our fun year

that we had and are gonna have.

TN - Favorite memes - Field Report

Yea, COVID-19 is awful, serious, deadly, and since

everyone is social distancing, nothing makes

social distancing better 

than humor.

We all need to keep our sense of humor so we don't

go stir-crazy.

Besides a good laugh gets those endorphins flowing 

and your body loves them and they're good for you.

So let's be amused when we can.

 I decided to collect my favorite memes that I'm

sure you have seen on my FB page.

So with Tim Holtz and some thickers, and a transparency

will highlight the warped sense of humor

necessary in these trying time.

Learning about pencil lines

I have been watching Susanne Rose on u-tube - she

rocks the art journals. Check her out.

In the meantime,

I purchased a stencil that was of a sun and rays.

Well...

I decided this album needed to have a cover other than the original

so I used some watercolors and painted over the gesso

and dabbed on the stencil.

Well, juicy dabbing results in lots of colors running amok.

Together.

Messy.

Therefore, drastic action was required and I decided to add more

watercolors because I blending would help.

But it came out as one big blob.

Enter the pencil.

And in scribbling lines that I think a flower should look like

and shazam.

It looks pretty cool.

Now I need a 'saying', a sentiment, a title.

Any suggestions?

Nothing has spoken to me.

Yet.

All sorts of cards for April.....

It's a busy month - lots of fun birthdays...

so for my granddaughter Amelia who's turning 8.

Love that little girl stamp.

Very fun.

 Pinterest strikes again and love this card for

an 8 year old grandson.

Except for the stamps, the 8 is freehand.

I really need a more talented free hand LOL.

 And Easter is popping up and love this

fluffy duck card for the grands.

Pinterest strikes again.

 A kickin' birthday card for a soccer afficienado.

Scoured the internet and found a soccer ball I could fussy cut.

 A friend of mine asked for a special card as one of

her friends is turning 100.

Can you imagine?

Lots of really old Studio Calico papers going on here

as well as thickers, stamps and Tim Holtz.

Now I need to mail them out.

Using other mediums in my "watercolor" album

Because of limited space in my area I ditched

a lot of other mediums I had but

thankfully I didn't ditch the gelatoes.

Mind you, I didn't use them much before but they

are small enough to tuck them in somewhere and in

binge watching Missy Whidden (who's u-tube as hacked

and finally restored) uses gelatoes quite liberally

so therefore I had to be a copy cat.

Love the results.

Bold and fun, though if I need them softer, gesso to the rescue.

 Back to watercolors here, but I did purchase a new

stencial prior to all the stores closing down and

I love the "fireworks".

 AND then I had also kept a small stash of mists.

Mostly Studio Calico Mr. Huey

and THAT was to spray and let run.

AND THEN, I remember stickles from Studio G.

They were really popular back in the day and sort of

went out of vogue but I had some silver and

doesn't it look really cool.

 And picked up this cute butterfly stamp in the same

shopping spree and love how they're

watercolored randomly around the page.

They'll be easy if fussy cutting is on the agenda.

 This is kind of a stencil fail. 

It was too watery and leaked about but I learned

about "pencil" lines and one does not need to be

an artist to slap some pencil marks around.

AND there's always gesso to cover up and get a do-over.

Or just plop a photo there.

 AND then, I decided that the cover needed to be jazzed up.

Enter dylusions.

It's loud and psychedelic.

And then the title - I embraced my inner Lisa Fonseca

(check her out on u-tube) she handcuts everything.

From scratch.

Sigh.

She can handcut perfect alphas like nobody's business

without drawing them out first.

I drew out my letters first - and I love how they

work with the wildness.

I do not remember the mfg for the other dodads on there

except for the bird - that is a fussy cut stamp.

I'm likin' the bigger size because the TN is kinda restrictive

so we'll see how this one rolls.

Travelers' Notebook - first page!

I created this notebook a few months ago, along

with my Simple Moments TN that I 

decided to use first and

finally completed a few weeks ago.

You can find it here.

 We went to the Arcadia rodeo and it was fun times.

I saved the paper tickets and used it as

and introduction/title to leave

room for photos and some journaling.

Ah, playing with nuvo dots upper left 

and they seem to work better squirting them on wax

paper, waiting for them to dry rather than

putting them directly on the page because alas,

squirting them correctly is an art form I don't seem to have

an abundance of LOL.

The atheticism of these riders is just flat

out amazing. I seriously cringed a few times they've

flown off the animal and landed hard.

 They have to be hurtin' puppies after some of the landings

they make.

Just to refresh your memory and mine, here is the TN

I created. 

Love that it's "rustic" looking.

Something different.

Traveler's Notebook - Last pages of the book

I love how these pages turned out. I had the bag in there first

with the Tim Holtz card tucked in AND premade the front of the envelope

soooooo..............

I need to figure something out.

I love this sticker of the USA that my pal Holli gifted me 

and it was perfect because it's big and needs its own page.

I couldn't figure out the journaling but again

TH to the rescue and they say it way better than me.

 Love that camera.

 Mostly because I wanted to use my new printer

I did this "collage" of fruit and veggies from the u-pick.

 I wanted the name of the grove on the that bowl

not thinking that it may not be the best surface for that.

But I like it anyway.

In the making of the page on the left - I pulled one of the watercolor
pages I did in my "watercolor album". It totally fit well
with the last page of this notebook. 

 This is the last 2 pages of the book - because (see below) it

it is quite fat and cumbersome.

So mostly these sticker words say it all and I got to use

my new stamps from HL "bucket list" and Kellianne stickers.

Love how it turned out and I have the other TN I premade

and decided I wanted to use this one first.