Reaching For The Stars - A New Journal. AGAIN!

Hello!

Welcome to the first weekend in November!...NOVEMBER! Really? Already? I'm so sorry I missed my Hallowe'en posts - I had plans! Big plans! That all went by the by....what is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men?  I've been swamped with work and I've been spending plenty of time with my mum - who is coping EPICALLY well with her treatment, by the way...I am SO proud of her.

Did you all have a good time dressing up and eating all your treats and pumpkin pies and stuff?  Have you been making cool stuff? Crafty things? I HAVE managed some art-time and some journal time, going back to basics in a way with my latest sketch book, which is a Derwent panoramic sketchbook that I've had just sitting on a shelf for AGES -

... Yep - I DO buy sketchbooks. I mean - I prefer using ones I've made myself, but there's very little by way of a LIMIT to my paper addiction and there's nothing I love more than a lovely new sketchbook, paper stack or similar...  Believe me, if I had the budget I'd be buying them all the time! Self restraint has little to do with my not buying more paper - it's more the lack of money! HA! 

Anyway - I can wholeheartedly recommend this panoramic sketchbook. The paper is a great weight for wet media art, but works equally well with pencil, pastel, oil pastel - anything really.  I like that the book is spiral bound as well - really handy, and the covers are made from sturdy board which is incredibly useful is you're using this journal outside the house.

I chose this to take to my mum's house with me so that I can journal and fill some time while she rests or sleeps. I also took my carefully packed travel kit, which contains small selections of my favourite arty things: Derwent watercolour pencils, a few Faber Castell Gelatos, a bundle of mixed pens and markers, a couple of bottles of Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze, and some FABULOUS Kuretake water brushes, which are by far the best as far as I'm concerned -

If I get a chance this week I'll put together a post for you which shows all the stuff I take round with me. I've still not perfected the arrangement, but I'm getting there!

Right, so I promised more regular posts and I have some lined up now which are short and sweet - less rambling, more useful stuff or pretty artyness! To start them off, here's the first page of my panoramic journal, done at about 4am, sitting on the floor of my mum's living room on comfy cushions and just resting the book on my knee -

I'd been in mum's lovely garden, which is teeny but full of lovely plants and an Ivy TREE - yes TREE - with flowers and loveliness. The sky was so full of stars, and ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to reach up and touch them. I wanted to record that feeling I had of being so connected with nature and the universe. It's so freeing - it makes me feel so small and yet so powerful all at the same time. So hard to put these things into words without resorting to poetry, which is why I love using art instead.

When I got home and loaded this pic into the computer I decided to just have a little play with colours and I ended up with this:

I actually really liked this so I opted to keep it and printed out a copy to add to my journal. I think I might like playing with art software! I just like the inverted colours which - to me - look like the burning surface of the sun, which is kind of appropriate right now in many ways for me as well as for this page, given that's what stars are!

I used my gelatos for the background along with some darker coloured water colour pencils. I used the same set of pencils for the girl, some splooshes of Glimmer Glaze, and cut-out paper stars which were added with a little multi medium matte gel (I have some decanted into a li'l pot in my travel kit!) The white lines were added with a Uni Ball Impact gel pen. It felt good to work with basics and I think I'll keep using the same travel supplies throughout the journal - I find the limitations strangely liberating .... go figure .....

Anyway - I hope you like this little post. I'll be back tomorrow with another one so no big wait this time! As always I welcome your comments and please feel free to contact me if there's a particular arty something you'd like to see up here on the blog.  Wishing you a scrumptiously lovely weekend! I leave you with a piccy of the spooky pumpkins that my friend carved, which are awesome! GRRRRR! SPOOKY!!!

Hugs and sparkles - Shroo :) xxx