1. Minature stamp collections available in art stamp stores with one cube of ink...don't run off yet! 2) Place setting cards found in stationery stores with borders---notice they are the size of business cards? Don't run off yet! But do take a note of border colors. 3) If you have alphabet stamps, little ornament or theme mini-stamps (say shells on a beach, a scroll line, a small ivy twist, etc), this is the time to look at them for potential projects. But still, hold your horses, don't run to the store or stamp corner yet... 4) Little pigment stamp cubes the shape of an eye or square or small round colors...what one to five colors match your pens and would go with the theme that you are thinking of in the small card formats? Stay still one more second... 5) Find a multicolor ribbon/yarn or embroidery thread in one to five colors...could be the same skein or different ones.

Now, what do you do with this?

Gift tags. Fun 'business' art cards (cut the placecards in half--twice the cards and one blank one for further projects!) Bookmarks Tasselled card thingees. Tiny elegant decorative additions to the cards you are already designing Name cards for anything Make a tiny book Make tiny sketchpads for kids: Use tracing paper for the insides of the sketchpads. Make one for yourself to press botanical specimens or trace them...a dandilion flower or leaf might just be the right size and I believe no one will begrudge you the specimen.

Make your own minature playing cards.

gave my sister her journal kit for her shower gift & she loved it! Here's what it contained: 1 black leather backpack 1 Spectra polaroid & 2 packs of film 1 black spiral bound journal Gel Rollers- black, gold, silver, & milky white, milky yellow, milky blue 20 caran D'Ache watercolor crayons 12 Prismacolor colored pencils 12 Design markers 1 colorless blender three kinds of decorative edge scissors a spiral punch a sun punch good scissors (Rodahle) ruler watercolor & acrylic paint brushes small plastic cup w/ lid pouch for brushes small alphabet of stamps Claudia Rose stamps Acey Deucy Stamps- Goddess Charms black masking tape cat's eyes stamp pads assorted envelopes, including glassine special papers old postage stamps

Lorikay's message about her small journal cards as really had me thinking. So today I decided I will adapt my collection of freebie postcards to this journal card thingie. You know the ones that are in coffee shops and restaurant bathrooms. They sometimes have some cool graphics on them...especially the Absolut ones. They are mostly 4x6 although some are larger. I purchased a black plastic 4x6 index card box from my local office supplier today and dropped them all in the box. PERFECT FIT!! Now I have a place to store them and when I want to journal on one I'll just pull a blank one from the box. (I'm using a postcard size piece of corrugated to separate the unused from the rest.) I'm going to begin to glue things to the outside of the box so that over time I'll have a rather interested assemblage of items attached to the outside. FUN!

What I like about a postcard is that there are images already on one side of the card which I can leave alone or modify/alter as the mood strikes. Then, on the back, there's more room to do something visual or just write what I'm feeling. I can even mail them to myself when I travel! I also bought a pack of "salmon" colored, lined index cards to use when I REALLY feel like writing. They're lined on one side and blank on the other...lots of room for creativity.

I posted this by request to a more esoteric list of those who wanted to run and make their own archetype decks through collage. Michele Jackson's Art of the Tarot Site also has wonderful links and ideas, but you can do your keyword search or just send me a private note if you want me to post the url.

Message on Collage follows: Three years ago---oh how long that was, it seems! Let me then say, ten tarot decks ago, I was involved with an art group and they kept saying, so here you are doing publicity, we have three spaces for you at the community college that we are showing at...so I did the following:

1. Took my image files of travel magazines, art magazines and divided them into piles of color.
2. .I took a colorful medium of my own choice - watercolor and the small colors studies that I had done as a background on three separate eight and half by eleven inch sheets.:(Purple-rose-rosy orange-autumn...sprout to pine green and gold-spring...plum to turquoise blues and aqua greens-summer...light blues to lavendar to gray charcoal and reddish brown-winter)
3. Poster board that takes watercolor well I found at a local art store and painted 9 by 14 inch in the background colors
4. I took the collage images and found that Asian art, beautiful landscapes, natural and exciting bits of color emerged as I ripped or cut out what appealed. Sometimes little images such as a child's face or a book or tiny flower or sun looked good: and they reminded me of little stickers or talismins or findings from fabric/sewing/stationery stores. Little shells or ribbons or black and white photocopies of pictures that I liked also worked.
5. I scattered the images on the watercolored-dried poster boards and found that I liked working on three boards at once, as if they were a three-fold screen. But I didn't fix or paste my initial layouts. I used great energy music--Journey, REM, anything...and went back and forth. I did this over the course of two or three nights, so I could come back to the arrangements.
6. Asymmetrical and angular arrangements work for me: if an image faced left and looked downward, I positioned it at the upper left to look into the picture. If the image was too static, I would tilt it. I used ribbons of color or torn segments of similar colors to sometimes bridge large color changes. I found thinking of light and wind and leaves blowing in a direction helpful to add light and energy into the ideas.
7. By the end of the week, I used gluesticks to tack things down, then went to a hot gluegun and then found plastic/glass frames at the art store and also, segments of old poetry that I did. I tore them and let a few words show...it worked with the wind and leaves and energy themes.
8. The frames were bigger than my taped/tacked/sewn sheets of paper, so I found cloth with similar colors from a quilting store and my own collection and ribbons and mounted the fabric on the cardboard that came with the frame. It stretched the fabric flat. I tacked it down, put my triple-screen collage down and then added the ribbons of similar colors if it needed it. I finished three of these in a week. But the images/ideas had been gestating for years. I've since found elements of all the collages in my own symbology of drawings and poetry and it helps me when I encounter them in the tarot packs that I enjoy.

What's in my journal - odd things, like a button drawer. Mean things, fishhooks, barbs in your hand. But marbles too. A genius for being agreeable. Junkyard crucifixes, voluptuous discards. Space for knickknacks, and for Alaska. Evidence to hang me, or to beatify. Clues that lead nowhere, that never connected anyway. Deliberate obfuscation, the kind that takes genius. Chasms in character. Loud omissions. Mornings that yawn above a new grave. Pages you know exist but you can't find them. Someone's terribly inevitable life story, maybe mine.

-William Stafford

Paula & Everyone: I have been deeply affected by the news from Kosovo and the Columbine tragedy. I had been feeling the need to express this through my art, and have found something that works for me. The idea came partly from Nancy Chunn's book "Front Pages" where she alters the front page of the New York Times each day for one year. I have taken the front section of my newspaper (The Vancouver Sun) and cut out various columns from the news that I don't like. This is columns of print concerning NATO bombings, analysis of the Columbine killings, Canada's position concerning ground troops in Yugoslavia, that sort of thing. I photocopied these onto white paper. This included the small area at the top of a page giving the paper's name & date. One date - one paper - one piece of art. I cut these up and arranged them to fit my project (one was a page in my art journal; one was a collage for my art journal project (I hope Vicki doesn't mind receiving it for her journal but I was COMPELLED to do this). The pieces of newspaper articles formed the background. All black & white. I then photocopied some classical images in black & white (Greek goddesses, classic columns) and arranged them into a composition that worked for me. I placed the "Vancouver Sun & Date" part in an unobtrusive place. The AJ one has some black stamped images. I have found that the overall composition is not one that promotes violence in any way. It is an expression of the fact that war, pain, and tragedy have been with the world forever and that beauty, art, and love have also been with us forever. I find that producing these things has helped me to manage my feelings about what is going on in the world. With the classical images they don't look terribly depressing, and although the newspaper text is there, a lot has been covered by the layers of ancient beauty.I hope that others who see this work will interpret it (I am doing more) as anti-war, anti-violence and a validation of the survival of life and art. I am quite happy with these pieces.

recipe I use (I don't remember the one I read) is: in a cup (DO NOT use plastic--guess how I know this won't work!), dump some instant coffee, a couple of tablespoons or so. Add some warm water--about an inch (my instructions are soooo specific, I know). Stir it a little and heat it in the microwave until it bubbles and looks nasty. Put the cup and your notebook in the sink, and paint the pages, front and back, with the coffee and a foam brush. Let air dry (the guy said he uses a hair dryer, but it doesn't really take long to dry half a dozen or so pages--for whole notebooks, I hang them outside from a tree branch). When dry, the pages are a lovely old stained yellowish-tan, and the odor--COFFEE!--is marvelous.

PERSONAL TREASURE MAP:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. -Matthew 6:21

No self-respecting, swashbuckling buccaneer would set out in search of buried treasure without a map. Why should you? A personal treasure map is a collage of your ideal life that you create as a visual tool to focus your creative energy in the direction you wish to go.

First of all, you'll have to visualize your ideal life. Take a moment to get quiet and go within. Close your eyes. Now see how you live and who lives with you. What does your dream house look like? What part of the country is it in? Do you have children? How many? What type of garden do you have? Is there a gazebo in the backyard? A swimming pool? Do you have any pets? What kind of car is parked in the driveway? What kind of job do you have? Are you publishing your own newsletter, directing a feature film, or raising thoroughbred horses? Now see if you can't find pictures in magazines to match your ideal ones. Cut them out and create a collage on an 8x10-inch piece of poster board. If you can't find images to match your dreams, tap into the creativity deep within and draw a picture. When you're finished, find a photograph of yourself that you especially like. Make sure it's a picture of you looking radiant and happy. Cut yourself out and place yourself in the center of your treasure map collage.

When making your personal treasure map, think fun. Think delight. Think seven years old. This is not an intellectual exercise in existentialism. This is a wish list to the Universe. Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves. We must learn to respect them. We must learn to listen. "Put your ear down next to your soul and listen hard," the poet Anne Sexton advises.

Above all, remember that no one needs to be privy to your personal treasure map but you. Our wishes for the future, our hopes, our dreams, our aspirations are our truest treasures. Guard yours in the sanctuary of your heart. Keep your personal treasure map in the back of your illustrated discovery journal and look at it often. When you do, give thanks for the wonderful life you are leading. The greatest secret to living a happy and fulfilled life is the realization that everything is created in our minds before it manifests itself in the outer world. We must believe it before we can see it. You have to know what you're digging for, before X can mark the spot.

I use regular size men's toiletries kit made of nylon & its current contents are: (the stuff w/ an * actually gets used!) a small plastic travel pack of baby wipes* a very small W&N watercolor kit scissors* 6 prang watercolorcrayons* small babyfood jar* small watercolor brush* small cheapo brush* cheapo set of 6 watercolor pencils (out of the box), couple of colored pencils(out of the box)* drawing pencil, a very tiny metal pencil sharpener mars staedtler eraser* glue stick* pva glue* paper tape measure* 3 black micron pigma pens* a fountain pen & blue ink, one of my treasured stash of Design colorless blenders with xylene in it* four binder clips* a few tiny stamps a numbering stamp* a date stamp* a couple tiny Gem stamp pads- black & burgundy* a thing of metallic rubons in earth tones (current crush)* a piece of wax paper* 2 small (1x2) kraft envelopes a few assorted tags* a bone folder* It really all fits and there is still lots of room! And it fits in my bag with ease because it squishes a little. (I carry either a messenger type of leather bag or a leather back pack in which I carry my kit, a couple of journals, my calendar, my cell phone, & my wallet...)

Barnes & Noble or other bookstore chain that carries cloth bookbags that zip up with pockets---here's some ideas:

Stationery making/travel art journal set: 1) Five small 'signature' stamps---for me, a leaf (Leaf-in-Hand Designs, my trademark), a small budded flower, a blooming flower, small scene of birds flying away and three ivy leaves trailing. 2) Small cream pocket-size sketchbook where you could make your own card--twenty sheets is enough. 3) Set of small envelopes 4) Micron pens and mechanical pencil with leads in black, red, blue, extra leads and erasers (in pocket of bookbag) 5) Crayola 36-half-size colored pencils 6) Kneadable eraser and tiny pencil sharpener 7) Stamps for mailing A small size book with color swatches, postcards, poetry for inspiration. All the above can become a travel visual journal

Another Art set: Colored Pencil Palette or any of those pocketbook-size color palette books that show color mixing option And/OR Postcard sets and colored pens to scribble impressions

Last, but not least--collecting impressions on the go: Disposable Camera, 3x5 index card spiral bound to scribble impressions, 8.5 x 11 inch plastic sheet protector folded in half for little souvineers collected--leaves, petals, ticket stubs, a program, pretty postcards...

carry it in a soft-sided leather briefcase divided into compartments, one of which is the perfect size for the notebook itself. One section has holders sewn in for pens, etc.., and here's what I have in that: plain black pens pencils large scissors small scissors colored markers colored pens glue stick roll of clear Scotch tape tiny stapler with colored staples Post-It notes If I know I'll have time to do work, to play around, I'll take glassine envelopes full of stuff to cut out--tedious stuff that I don't like to take time to do at home. When I'm just going somewhere quick, like a trip to the library, I carry the journal by itself, with a couple of pens stuck in the spiral binding; but if I'm going to be somewhere all day, I take the whole briefcase. I find I come up with a lot to write about when I'm stuck in one place hour after hour.

The alphabets and words you wish to print into the context of your journals can be made by you also. Staedtler Mars Plastic Grand white erasers can be carved, jabbed, cut, or sculpted into whatever whim suits one's fancy. The 1 1/2 x 3 inch eraser is marvelous to work with: either cut a word that looks totally cool out of a magazine (one of my favorite methods) or write in calligraphy or create a font of your own or download your favorite alphabet. Turn the script (and I mean turn the paper onto which it is printed) upsidedown onto the surface of the eraser, rub gently but firmly--peeking under the corner to see if the transfer is occurring--and Voila! remove the paper. Next step? carve the script out of the eraser, either by removing the background or removing the inside of each letter. One letter per eraser at a time can be done also.

If you do not own rubber stamper ink pads, fret not! I have great succulent successes using markers, watercolors, simply rubbed or painted onto the surface of my carved erasers. Then place the carved eraser on flat paper, press for 5-8 seconds, again Voila! Try masking the paper as D. Cox recommends, that achieves a collage-y effect. The watercolors swished onto the carved eraser gets very ethereal, try writing over with waterproof ink, quite delicious.

As for the mishmosh--do any of you keep word lists? Contrary to my belief of one journal for me, I do have a word list journal. Indeed, there are only sublime, wondrous words living in that little book. Oft times a quote may appear, only because I felt all the words in a particular group needed to live together. My adoration for all of your sharing is immense. http://shell.rmi.net/~elaine/new.htm

Starting a journal is easier than you think. You may have already begun!

Difficulty Level: Easy      Time Required: 10-30 minutes

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's How:

1. In a blank book, or on a piece of notebook paper, write today's date.

2. Use ink rather than pencil. If you really prefer pencil, don't erase.

3. Put the page number "1" somewhere on the paper, or number a few pages in the notebook.

4. Make a short list of reasons you'd like to keep a journal.

5. Briefly note your current interests, obsessions, worries, or projects.

6. If you feel stuck, refer to things you've written lately: email to friends, to-do or shopping lists, office memos.

7. Consider whether you want to cover everything or focus this journal on one aspect of your life.

8. Write for a predetermined time, for as long as you feel like it, or until you're interrupted.

9. Sign off, giving a moment's thought to when you'd like to write again. Schedule it, if that works for you.

10. If your second entry is weeks or months later, don't worry about it! Write about what's kept you away, or don't. Move forward.

Tips: 1. Keep your favorite kind of pen with your notebook.

2. Inexpensive materials can help you feel free to experiment.

3. Your journal writing is for you. It doesn't have to be deathless or daily.

1. Wider? If most of your entries are angsty, lighten up. Notice pop songs, pets, acquaintances, what's blooming outside your window.

2. Deeper? If your typical entry is newsy and light, push yourself to examine your regrets, worries and ambitions.

3. Try new methods: Make your next entry a list, a dialogue, a letter, a collage. Use questions or quotes. Keep a list of ideas and topics.

4. Try new materials: another kind of notebook, a better pen. Go from paper to computer -- or back again.

5. Experiment with form: Keep an online journal, a sketch journal, an audio journal, a photo journal.

6. Paste in something else you've written lately: email to friends, office memos. What do you want to add?

7. Keep a small journal (or a palmtop) with you. Write a few lines at your desk, on the streetcar, or while you wait.

8. Consider focusing a journal on one aspect of your life: dreams (day or night), career, kids, health, relationships.

9. Read: online journals, memoirs, books on writing. Especially recommended: Kathleen Adams' Journal to the Self, for its wealth of ideas. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tips: 1. Give yourself something different to write about: a new book, class, sport, or hobby. 2. It's better to write a few informative or impassioned pages a year than never to write at all. 3. Remember: Journaling isn't flossing. It's okay to take a break.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wish you'd kept a journal when...? Start today writing about your childhood, your first job, or the summer after college.

Difficulty Level: Average      Time Required: 30 - 60 minutes (to get started).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's How:

1. Buy a special blank book or notebook for writing about this time period.
2. Write today's actual date and, in another color or in parentheses, the time period you'll be covering.
3. Give the volume a title -- lyrical or perfunctory.
4. List everything you remember from the time period. Did you want to write? Were you too busy? Too miserable?
5. Collect any other writing you did then: letters, class notes, fiction, a calendar
6. Examine any photos from the event(s). Do you remember when these pictures were taken? What's in the background? What were your thoughts then?
7. Put together a scrapbook page or two with any photos or mementos from the time period or events.
8. Research: what was in the news? What were you reading -- books, magazines, papers? What were the hit songs and movies?
9. What were your interests then? How did you spend your time? Recapture memories using all your senses.
10. Don't forget to interview anybody who went through it all with you.

Tips: 1. Try writing about the past in present tense. 2. Reread your favorite book from the time. 3. Keep recording memories as they come back to you.

Laura asked about collaging things into her Rag and Bone journal and I so I thought I would make some comments about this but I think list mom LK might have some things to say about how she collages in these books as well. (I know she also removes pages, but I think she does it differently than I do. The more options the better.) First Laura you're right to be in love with your Rag and Bone journal. This is a high class piece of book. In fact yesterday my husband came walking through my room and picked up one of these that was filled and was admiring the binding. His only uses for a bound notebook are his lab journals (and he has to use a particular kind) and his swimming workout records (he wants to swim faster than he did as an undergraduate). I think when he finishes his current book he'll be using a R&B. But just because itis beautiful do not be held back because you want it to "stay nice looking." It will. Any book, when you carry it around and around will get worn, but these are really sturdy books.

The list knows how my 75 Malmute knocked one out of my hand and all that happened was a bit of grass stain on the spine fabric. Other books she's done this too have split open. If you really want to keep the paper from getting worn while you're carrying it around carry it around in a large plastic bag. Or do what a friend of mine does, make a fabric case for it. Polar fleece works nicely for this as it is thick and sort of "padded." Make a drawsting closure with one of those toggles you find on parka hood cords. You'll be the envy of everyone (I know I'll be green!). In defense of worn, I'd just like to say this, when a book gets a bit worn it obviously has been used, and in using our books we really are developing a relationship and bond with them so I think that patina of friendship that develops makes the book more attractive to us. Well, to me anyway.

Here's a little thought. A friend and I taught a journal class recently and for the last session we had another friend come in with his journals because they are so wonderful. He uses the Pentallic journals that have black fabric spines and blue paper covered boards. They used to be available in an 8 x 8 inch size. He has a lot of them. He collages and paints in his journals. He sticks leaves in. One day he put blueberries in and simply closed the cover, then later took out the berries leaving the stain. Other times he puts in photos and paints around them. Often he sticks decorative paper across the entire spread, trimming the edges to the page edge, with an X-Acto, and then collaging on the decorative paper. I can't even begin to explain some of the really inspiring stuff he's done. And his books are very worn. He works in one for about a year, carrying it with him. And he sticks so much stuff in it that the spines are stretched beyond the limit. (He does cut some pages out sometimes.) When the students (adults) in the class saw his books they just went beserk (sp?) and many commented afterwards on how they felt a sense of permission in his journals. His journals were attractive in part because they were worn, and used, and represented his life. Hey, when I wake up in the morning these days I am stiff! I don't expect my journal not to be a little worn either. Anyway, that's how I feel about that. So I'd like to encourage you to get going in your R&B journal, or any journal you have, and let the wear and tear show.

In the meantime, you asked about adding things to the book because there aren't space between the pages. I've always made a lot of hardbound books to use as journals just for this very reason, because I can put the spacer tabs in, but I love the R&B journals so much that instead of worrying about starting from scratch I'm cutting pages out as I need to, to keep the bulk at the spine under control. If a book is going to get a lot of collage work in it (and I don't mean just sticking things on to pages, but also putting papers across whole spreads, and adding fold out pages), I may cut out as many as 4 pages a signature. The pages I cut out are the ones just before and after the center spread of a signature. You can find the center by looking for the threads, they'll be visible on that spread. I turn back to the previous page (or two) and go forward to the previous page (or two) and cut them out.

I cut a page out in the following manner I put a piece of binder's board taller than the page, behind the page that is going to be cut. I place a metal ruler about 3/8 to 1/2 inch from the spine/gutter and cut the page away. This leaves that tab still sewn into the signature. The page opposit it in the signature won't fall out because this is still sewn in. Also the tab keeps the bulk in the spine, but because the page is gone I can now add things to the pages to "replace" the space taken up by the page. The result is that the fore edge of the book doesn't gap open. OK, you're wondering, but I don't like those annoying tabs interrupting my page spread. Well, sometimes I don't either so I sometimes take a bit of PVA and brush it on the tab and glue it down to the page, insert a piece of wax paper, and weight the book. When it's dry I can paint or otherwise color the page, or glue on a decorative paper. A little line might show, but you can cover it with collage items. It hasn't been a big deal. Sometimes the best way to hide something is to draw attention to it. I'll sometimes cover the tabs with a bit of foil paper before gluing the tab to the page. This makes a wonderful foil border running down the inside of the page.

And another fun thing to do with the tabs: sometimes when I cut two pages out (two sheets, actually 4 pages) I get two tab right next to each other. Place a waste sheet behind the tabs to protect the page before and after. Open to the center of the two tabs, pushing one down on the right one on the left. Get a 3M ATG tape gun and run the double sided tape down the tab on the right. Don't worry if you're off a little as the excess goes on the waste paper. Do the same on the left. If you went off a lot and the waste paper won't pull out take your X-Acto blade and run it carefully along the edge of each tab, cutting the adhesive loose. Remove the waste pages. Take a sheet of paper (I like that translucent stuff I can't remember the name of right now) that is taller and wider than you book page. Insert one edge of the paper into the center of your two tabs. Press it carefully on one side making sure it's aligned. Then gently close the book. Open to make sure the other side stuck down correctly. With your finger burnish down. Then also with your finger, rub gently along the edges of the tab to remove any excess adhesive tape before it gets gunky or sticks to something else. Cut the inserted sheet down to size by inserting a binder's board into the book and using a straight edge. Now you have a sheet that is translucent that you can write on, over your art on the next page. And you still are "thinner" than you were before you took the pages out as you've only added one page in.

You can also add a partial sheet in between the tabs, sometimes that's the look you need. But is seems from your post that your pages are flat AND that you glue stuff onto the pages. Is this correct? I have flat pages for the most part. I'm not that fussy if I'm working on a watercolor, as parts of the watercolor will dry earlier than the others and start to buckle a bit. The nice thing about R&B books is that the paper is so thick the buckling is a lot less than any other commercially made journal I've worked with. And over time, as with any journal that you love, you find a way to work in it that suits both you and the journal. (That's another reason I encourage you to get busy in this journal, you're missing out on the adventure!) But yes, I do glue stuff onto the pages. And when I glue I immediately put in wax paper and weight the book until the glue is dry, and then continue. (Remember my last post, I'm fussy.)

By cutting out pages I can get through the book without stressing the binding as explained above. The only problem I've had with a technique in my journal, a technique that turned out to be too thick, is that I drew a wave on a page and painted with gouache. Then for the froth of the wave I put down acryllic medium and added Beedz, those little glass beads (holeless) that you find in paper/craft stores. I'd seen them in the paper store, calling to me with their colors. I'm a magpie. Well in my haste I didn't think this through. Once the medium dried I realized that the Beedz would continue to fall out because people would open and touch the book. And also, any Beedz near the gutter were making too much thickness. I scooped some of those away before they were completely dried. Then when it was all dried I put on another layer of medium to seal the Beedz down. This made things thicker but it stopped the falling out problem. I'm saving my Beedz for use on flat pieces that won't be opened, closed, and handled a lot. So it's a learning process. If I'd been really stressed about this I could have cut out a bunch of pages after this spread to help thin out the book again, but I decided to live with things this way. So go for it. It's going to be fun!!! And you'll love your journal even more when you've filled all the pages (the ones you didn't cut out) with your life.

I've been mulling over this question because I have always a few going at a time = and don't know which one I would call my "artist's journal!" Last year I kept track of days and events and feelings on one of those big desk monthly calendars (big - they serve as a desk pad, too - I had fun with this one and used my stamps a lot for it. Stamped or wrote or pasted a snippet from the day in each box - sometimes not every day but would generalize over a week. News articles, headlines, weather, parts of memos I received - it was a tumultuous and eventful year for me so I hardly ever lacked for anything to put in!

This year I bought a "Gardener's Journal" for 5 years because I loved the rubberstamp-like images of flowers each month. I add pages each month, since I know I won't have enough. I make pockets to put snippets in and I carve a similar stamp for each month to go on the new blank pages. I write, do a little drawing, add photos, postcards I like, remnants of mail, etc. I really enjoy this one, but again, am not sure I'd call it an artist's journal!

I have another that I have done a bunch of different backgrounds on and do an occasional arty or collage thing in more on the style of Hofacker's in Somerset Studio. I also have this HUGE 300? page big spiral bound book I got at Barnes and Noble a couple of years ago I couldn't resist for its BIGNESS. I have been using that as my place to write, paste stamping, collage, bookmaking ideas I get off the web, the mail lists, classes, etc. and my samples, etc. A reference book of sorts. The pages should be bigger (they're about 6 x 9) but they'll do.

And I have several other "theme" journals - one on Seattle, our new home, and the Northwest - one that just collects favorite photos and ads and articles from magazines - humorous stuff - like the old "scrapbooks" of my youth. I have a book I put together a la Teesha Moore that collects my stuff from the Artfest and other similar events, travel journals, oh my gosh, this is frightening even as I write this!!!!

A blank white journal page is often intimidating to me, whether it's in a brand new journal or the next page in sequence, so several years ago while on a sailing vacation in the Caribbean I started gluing collage elements on the edges and corner of the pages to give me a starting place. I collected lots of travel brochures and spent a happy evening with my scissors and glue stick preparing my travel journal for the days ahead. I've uploaded 2 pages from this journal so you can see what I did with what was on hand. Since then I've used this technique often, utilizing whatever bits and pieces of scrap papers I have collected in a small tray. If I'm watching TV in the evening I have a stack of magazines beside me and happily cut and tear my way through the shows

The SUPPLIES you'll need are very simple: paper scissors, UHU glue stick, several magazines and catalogs, your collection of interesting papers, a stack of to-be-recycled papers to use for gluing, and your journal. To this you might add some rubber stamps, fabric bits, needle and threads, stencils, blo-pens.

No special collage skills are necessary. Have a look at the samples I've uploaded, read over the ideas below, and see what you can do to make your journal a pleasure to open.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Cut out magazine pictures which are related by image or color, such as eyes, faces, flowers, food, animals, text, and glue a line down the edge of the page, or make a collage in the corner.
2. 2. Tape related images to the edges with fancy tape.(mine is masking tape that looks like a tape measure.
3. 3. Collage 'ransom note' edges using letters or words torn from the newspaper.
4. 4. Collage postage stamps coupled with mail-related rubber stamps.
5. 5. Use bits and strips from cropped photographs.
6. 6. Make a collage of transferred black and white images. Use your favorite transfer method such as xylene, colorless blender, paint thinner, Citra-Solv, Bunny Burnisher.
7. 7. Do a 'collage' of rubber stamp images, masking the writing area with another sheet of paper.
8. 8. Build an edge using folded over squares of fabric or paper and sew them to the paper by hand or machine
9. 9. Paint, sponge, stencil, wash your paper with color before collaging the edges.
10. 10. Run paper through the copier first, printing either text or images, build an edge, and glue the paper to a journal page.
11. 11. Glue a strip of ticket stubs to the edge of the page where you'll write a movie review. (You might be able to talk the ticket-taker at the theatre to give you some stubs as you leave.)
12. 12. Forget fancy, just cut a 1 1/2" strip of pretty paper or a magazine ad and glue it to the edge of your paper. Cut a ladder of slits and weave paper or pretty yarns through the slits.

Gessos

Several folks have asked me off list where to get Absorbent Gesso, so I'm posting this information to the list.

Absorbent Gesso from Golden can be purchased from any art supply store that carries acrylic painting supplies, specifically the Golden line.

If you aren't near such a store, you can order the complete line of Golden Acrylic Mediums from the Italian Art Store 1-800-643-6440 (call and ask for a catalog). They have great prices.

The Daniel Smith Venetian Red Gesso is available from Daniel Smith. They have a store in Seattle, WA, or you can order via mail 1-800-426-6740. I think there is a small charge for their reference catalog (like $5 or something). It is well worth it. The DS catalog is filled with art supplies and detailed photos and descriptions, artwork, and small articles on various techniques. They also do quarterly updates that are equally useful for the information they contain.

Ro

As I learned here the other day (or maybe it was a different list..... who knows!?!?!) you can spread it THINLY with the side of an old credit card or with a brush. THIN is the word (unless you wanna glue a bulky thing, and then "gob" is the word.

My two favorites are: use an old credit card popsicle sticks.

Wishing kW http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/wishing In a message dated

YES glue is my personal favorite...and yes..I get messy using it but it is absolutely the best glue I have found for thinner paper, for for that matter, paper of any kind!

I spread it by moistening it some with water and using the time honored tradition of fingers! LOL!..In fact I am using it today on a scrapbook I am helping my daughter make and I just get up and go wash my hands after working with it...

Keeping a moist washcloth and some paper towels handy are good!

It will spread easily with a brush IF you take a dab & place in smaller container, add a liitle warm water & stir.....it goes on like buuuut t t aaaaaahhhh!!

I am a big YES glue fan. I attended a wonderful workshop by Janet Hofacker (of Somerset Studio fame). She taught us to take a palette knife and scoop out some of the full-strength YES glue. I put a couple of tablespoons into a small Rubbermaid container with a tight cover. Add enough water to it to make it the consistency of a very thick cream soup. When you are finished using the glue for the day, put the cover on it until you are ready to use it again. If it has thickened up too much, add a little water until you get the right consistency. I just keep adding full-strength glue or more water as I use it time-after-time. I work on small collages and use a small brush to apply the glue. Janet used an inexpensive 1/4 inch paint brush, but I like the smaller brush. Just wash it out well after using. If I'm applying heavier objects, I use heavy gel medium rather than YES glue. Carol

ahhh robin, you have found the king of glues!! (can you tell i love this stuff?) i generally try to use it full strength. that way i KNOW the paper will not warp or wrinkle. i keep an old phone book next to me and use that as a pad to spread glue on pieces--each time just flip the page and there is a clean pallette! there have been several good suggestions on spreading it--credit cards, palette knives, popsicle sticks. however my 2 favorites are a small putty knife from the hardware store with little to no bend in it at all and (gasp) the side of a bone folder (i know all the paper artists are cringing right now for such an irreverent use of a folder, but it works great!).

good luck and let us know if you find any other really cool objects to squish the stuff around with! kimberly davies

I don't remember where I read this, but the most excellent way to spread Yes glue that I have found is a simple plastic picnic knife. It lays down enough glue to stick well, but the teeth keep it to just the right amount. Does this make sense? Another plus....they are disposable. (I use mine many times before throwing them away)....~Amy~

I had to buy a bunch of brushes for a class I was teaching, where we would be using Yes glue. Since there's no art store where I live, I ended up getting a bunch of stencil brushes at Wal-Mart. These worked just fine, as we were gluing covers on small books. They may not work as well if you have a larger area to glue. Not long after that, I was in a Michael's or maybe even a Big Lots (on third thought, it could have been Staples), and found a pack of Crayola watercolor brushes for kids to use. These work well too. (These are fat brushes, with fat bristles, not little teeny brushes.)

Pat P. Kentucky

Being the ultimate expert in artistic blocks I thought I could easily reenter the discussion at this point re the blank page. I started to think that my artwork had to be perfect. I found that my self esteem depended on the viewpoint of other people (and to a degree still does though I am fighting it!!) and that if I did something bad it somehow meant that I was intrinsically bad myself. I am a Fine Artist by training over 9 years and my Art therefore became work. I joined the Artistjournals group to see if I could attack it all by another direction and not to get so caught up in the seriousness of it all - so easy to do.....

I have been working with the AW and various other approaches to overcome the problem and the Nike proverb is just not hacking it.... It is refreshing for me to hear someone say they pursue their artwork for relaxation as it for me is the constant source of tension and the sketch books continue to build up in the studio. Still, finally, I have bowed to the greater God and realised that I can no longer afford to keep on the studio I have had for the last 3 years and which has stood almost unused due to me trying to just get through life. I don't ever think it really was the right place for me to be as I have never felt comfortable there. I think much more sensible to put that extra cash into renting a larger flat and painting at home. I am learning however through being here on this list that it is OK to fail and that it can actually be fun to creat and that one does not have to get all that serious all the time. Thanks millions for you all being around, I have much to learn if I am going to beat this serious grown up stuff which I do SO not want to be....

What a totally cool idea, LK!!! I have heaps of photos that are just living rent-free in my question mark drawer, now I know a new thing to play with them....cutting them into interesting pieces for a photo-montage, sort of David Hockney-ish. I foresee using this method with regular photos too, for inclusion into my journal (of which I feel like I'm the anally-retentive one, as I only keep one journal at a time).

My problem with polaroids Lori Kay, is I can't keep my hands off them.... while they are developing, I love to manipulate those emulsions, or whatever they are: the floating image before development simply mystifies and fascinates me. Coloring the images as they begin to appear with watercolor pencils is too fun also! The polaroid folks are super about doing workshops and showing these exploitive methods to art teachers!!

Take a piece of clear heavy plastic- a trim piece from something you've laminated perhaps- and cut it into a 2" or 1" square or any size or shape... Position your clear plastic over the photograph, moving it around. LOOK to see what is enclosed by the shape - The little square visualizer gives me an idea of how to expand on the use of our viewfinders (in our art classroom). The kids could use the inside square of the viewfinder to find images, cut them out, and create collages. And so could I........use that idea in my journal.........an ah-ha moment!! sandra.

There are a number of ways to place images onto the fabric - iron-on transfers, xylene transfers, acetone, copying onto thin rice paper and adhering to the fabric with gloss medium, transparencies, stamping, etc. Has anyone else tried doing anything like this with fabric? Any other great ways to put imagery on?

For a limited edition Address Book I once ran fabric through a laser printer and it worked quite well. The image was a simple repeated alphabet and I made around 150 books. I spray-fixed the fabric which worked quite well. Even after years of use, the alphabet has only minimally warn away, but it looks aged. The fabric was Bokbinding fabric ("Brillianta" from Ecological Fibers in Lunenberg, MA) which is paper backed, thus stiff enough to run through the printer. It didn't effect the printer at all. I've since used this technique a few other times. I was only limited by size - the printer prints 8.5 x 11, with a usable surface closer to 8 x 10.5.

I just finished a "piece" - don't know what to call it - for an art journal study that some of us are participating in. The study element was a word study and I wanted to do something about the mind, memories, reflections and dreaming. I used Bristol Board and dry brushed it with a dark green malachite glaze and then with copper Folk Art acrylic. I began stamping and writing the words "reflect, reflection, memory, remember, past, present, today, prologue, future, etc., over and over until I made the page look like a wall of graffiti. Then in "cloudlike" areas I stamped on pigment ink with the color box pads, using mainly teal, aqua, and black. Working with different sections all over the page I dusted with different colors of metallic embossing powder and used calligraphy nibs to scratch out the same set of words over and over. Then I heat embossed one area at a time and began again. The result is a sort of mirror-like montage scratchboard. Definitely dreamlike!

I found it a compelling, moving passage and found that poetry that resonates with me will have that same spell-casting beauty. Sometimes with words in mind ('Cage of Leaves' '...we name them, and in naming begin to see, and in seeing, begin to build from the stones of the earth...' I search carefully at photographs and cards that exist. Then using books such as 'The Colorist'or just my own color media, explore the shapes and colors and create a palette that I reinterpret in a journal-style sketchbook or appropriate notebook with certain themes (human figure drawings, portraits may be one theme). You might want to do seasonal palette art journal sketchbook collections for yourself. So that your Winter/Spring/Fall/Summer themes are all placed in similar areas...

There's another one - "The Five Pages of Mark-Making a Night For a Year In An Old Phone Book" assignment. Drawing has a vocabulary consisting of marks made on paper. Everyone has their own pattern of *speech* which must be explored and developed. Take, for example, a fresh piece of chalk. A thin line may be made by using the edge of the cylindrical base, a wide line by using the side of the cylider, the line may undulate, be short, be long, vary, etc. Every medium does different things. How you wield that chalk, short strokes while frustrated about your day job, long sensuous strokes as you laze in the sun, all communicate. The idea is to take paper you don't care about, in plentiful amounts, an old telephone directory being ideal, and apply marks to paper, five different pages worth a night for a year. DO NOT attempt to make drawings of things. This is to develop your internal vocabulary. I haven't ever made it past 3 weeks doing this one. I'd like to do this some day though. The premise to dveloping a visual vocabulary of marks is important to developing how it is you work the paper, I think.

Lorretta told me about a type of glaze paint that Michael's sells - called "Glaze Vernis" and it is found in the stencil/home decorating section. it is very cool & has great colors - I use a wonderful pale yellow and a linen color the most. there is also a vanilla, a deep green, a burnished gold, and a mushroom color I have been using. You can make a glaze by adding gloss or matte medium (not water) to acrylics. (it must be applied sparingly also to avoid the pages sticking together) You apply it with a dry brush & use only one coat. I also use Caran D'Ache watercolor crayons, and just avoid soaking the page. I apply my wash by dipping the tip of my watercolor brush into the water and stroking it on the crayon end, then applying that to paper. I can further dilute it by dipping the brush again into water and going over it. I also use ink which I apply with a sea sponge. I use a piec of cardboard, like the back of an old sketchpad or notepad, and tiny binder clips to clamp the paper down when I am worried about warping. Sometimes, I weight the book down overnight to flatten pages.

Lovely Topic! Sketchbooks or blocks of arches watercolor paper, say in a small format may help. I am thinking though, maybe cut up (with art store help or your handy dandy big paper cutter) large sheets of watercolor papers and do an old-fashioned portfolio or maybe another idea:

Once you find the style of paper/board that works for you and if you can get a pad of that paper, why don't you fold each sheet one way, cut at the fold and then you have double the sheets in a bound pad and unbound sheets for postcards, greeting cards and the like. If the backing board on the sketchbook is soft enough, you might be able to fold it also to make a cover pocket. Or just attach another few sheets of paper to the back to make a pocket...

I like the idea I got from another thread about journaling. It came from DIVAGee - to summarize what was said: color each page - Diva suggested using a stipple brush - but I have also done rubbings, glued in paste papers, collaged, watercolor colored (using just a little water - and not worrying about pages warping) and using oil pastels. Diva said - no white pages

Recently at Barnes & Noble's 50% off sale, I found a Dover pprbk: "Cartouches and Decorative Small Frames." As some of my books measure a mere 4x6, the illustrations were perfect, without enlarge- ment or reduction. I xeroxed a frame (from the book) onto plain paper, centered it onto the right hand side of the bottom half of a sheet of trans- parency paper and xeroxed again. This time my design is on the transparency sheet. I cut it in half, and placed the folded sheet into a signature of my pages(prior to sewing the signa- tures onto the spine). Then the real fun begins!

On the page after the transparency, I drew a design and colored it--the transp. served as an overlay. On another, I cut the center design of the transp. so the texture of the next page could be touched before turning the page. I hope this is comprehensible, it's very simple and lots of ideas will probably spin from it......I'm still experimenting.

I use those clear top loader 3-ring holders for collage bits and store them upright in rectangular plastic tubs (high sides for support)(and inexpensive), then if I am collaging on the go, I can just stick a few of these in a binder and take them with me. The top loader sheets are handy for transporting unmounted stamps (although I usually use archival photo 3-ring sheets which come in a WIDE vaiety of pocket sizes) and the top loaders will hold smaller paper also. (although I store those items differently when I don't need to carry them with me.)

I store postage stamps in 3-ring sheets intended for trading cards or those for floppy disks- whatever is on sale. I sort some stamps by color and others by country so I have a mix of ways to choose.

I keep my mounted stamps (I don't have tons coz I am new to RS), embellishments, bookbinding supplies, non-portfolio quality photographs, and smaller sheets of paper in these cardboard (very heavy duty) flat files with tray like drawers from Highsmith. (we get them at work, and I really liked them so I ordered some for myself- they take private sector orders & are relatively prompt.) They come in two sizes - 8.5x11, & 12x16, 5-6 drawers.

I keep my art supplies w/in arms reach by storing them in the bins from clementine oranges (my fave fruit)(put in those bins by media- printing inks, paint sorted by good acrylic, cheap acrylic, watercolor, gouache, drawing inks, carving supplies, rolls of tape, adhesives/acrylic mediums/varnishes, pastels - oil & chalk, texturizers- sponges, net, combs) and cylindrical tins (rulers, paint brushes), and old thrift shop vases (scissors/exactos & pigma micron pens & design markers & drawing pencils) on an old set of thrift store bookshelves I actually have standing on the table. I always leave things that come in "useful" containers in their containers. And, some things sit directly on my table. (watercolor crayons & pencils & cakes, and colored pencils)

I buy one of those cheap large newsprint pads and use it as a disposable work surface - rip off the paper & throw it away - important if you are trying not to get glue on stuff. I also keep a stack of pieces of cardboard, large & small, to use as palette/work surfaces.

I have those awful, but extremely inexpensive, plastic shelves, split in half , under my main work table (I have 4 tables arranged in an "C"- 3 small & one long, one for a small printmaking press, one for paperwork, a long one to work on, and one on which I have stacked my storage drawers from Highsmith) and on these shelves I have sketchpads, books for altering & image culling, my collection of vintage travel guides, and "dossiers", as Jospeh Cornell would call them, for current collage projects. (the dossiers are in those clear plastic envys with the strings)

I keep large sheets of paper and completed works of art in these great cardboard portfolios from Highsmith stacked on top of a dresser (I removed the mirror), and keep some paper, snakeskins, strings, etc hanging from one of those fold up coat thingy-dos. (you know, they're wood and fold out into diamond shaped spaces...) I have archival portfolio boxes for my photographs.

I use invitation size envy boxes for my vintage postcard collection.

I keep the really 3-D things in dresser drawers & also store photo equipment in dresser drawers. (I keep my darkroom supplies in a locked private darkroom at the university.) On the floor of my art room, I keep a stocked Plano tackle bag - some of the stuff I use I only have one of, so I just make sure I return it to the plastic storage container it belongs in inside my tackle bag. (the tackle bag was a great buy at walmart- $7.96 & it is big but not too) Stuffed in this room I also have stuffed MY bookcase, a comfy chair & footstool, a twin size bed w/ extra pillow s& a night stand, and a cockatiel named Onna (Japanese for woman).

I have fiberboard on the wall so I have my bone/wing collection, inspiring bits & photographs, work I like, my cutting mat, and stray bits like rusty keys and hinges tacked to the walls.

All non-art related stuff (paperwork) is banished to a metal filing cabinet- including office supplies. I also use a filing cabinet drawer for "spare" stuff- extra paint & ink.

All the furnishings come from flea markets, auctions, etc-except for the bookcase & main work table - IKEA. (so, it looks exactly like it sounds- crammed & hodgepodgy.)

THIS WEEK, I would say the PERFECT art cards and art-sketch journal I picked up at the Barnes and Noble that seemed more tender, true and faithful than the etchy-sketchy hand-held "E-Book" with the black-white only screen...

1. Perfect art card(s): Victoria Magazine photograph of a soft mass of blue blooms in a blue-white ceramic container on a white-painted chair. The chair is under a window with a perfectly triangular valance/scarf and the background is gray-white muted light I plan to attach the card to the cover of a sketchbook that I picked up at Barne's & Noble. Another with a crane: my favorite for next week if I do origami paste-ups or play with washi paper...

2. While I prefer spiral-bound sketch diaries of 70 sheets by Academie in the 9 x 6 inch size, it could be a bit bulky in a book bag (always want to save room for more pens and blank cards!) So I marvelled in the bottom corner of the journal section there were $10 brown-covered sketchbook journals about the 9x6 inch size, blank paper, gold pretty edging, smooth paper and covers that lay flat from the spine if you open it back. There's a small label that says it is from EXACOMPTA de PARIS or EXACLAIR INC in New York: 800-933-8595.

3. I am thinking that I want to get a single sheet of gift wrap paper in a white-blue and then do stapling/gluing for this new journal. And I plan to scribble lots of bad poetry and reader notes from my "An Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry" (Earl Miner and my favorite "Nine Gates of Poetry" (Jane Hirshfield).

4. And because I am generous to me near my b-day, I did get the Micron fine pens in green, blue, black, brown, blue and red. There's a small pack of stationery to be decorated with mini stamps to carry along! (Is the book bag full enough yet?)

Absolute necessities for every and any trip (for me) are: - coil bound journal (smallish) with good strong paper - invisible scotch tape - glue stick - small scissors - black micropoint & medium drawing pens - set of artists pencils - pencil sharpener that holds shavings - larger art journal (maybe not to pack around all the time, but keep in room for larger inspired projects - calligraphy pen & ink cartriges - tiny set of alphabet stamps - set of pan watercolours - set of Tombows - Xacto knife - 6" metal ruler with cork back - smallish envelope with variety of papers, not many of them - cats eye stamp pads - black, midnight blue, gold When I reach my destination I try to make use as much as possible of things I find on the trip. I don't take a lot of rubber stamps because they take so much room & are heavy, although if I find a stamp store I buy some & use the there, and bring them home with me. Unless I am going specifically to stamp, I don't bring EP or my embossing gun.

"A notebook is where you keep dew drops from a dew drop morning. It's where the sun sets..... It's where you have dreams about walking on rainbows. It's where the good feelings and the bad feelings spend the night."

"Name your bliss: drying your hair in the wind forgetting the time standing in the doorway waiting out a sudden downpour..." a one page essay by Diane Ackerman on sleeping under the stars

Janet Hofacker demonstrated the technique for creating backgrounds using an acrylic ink. She uses any brand mixed with water - more water for a light color and less for a stronger color. She mixes the ink and water in an ice cube tray, then lightly applies the diluted ink to the page with a brush or sea sponge which has been dampened first with water. She made sweeping motions across the page and used several different colors of acrylic ink. The neatest part of her demonstration was when she used all sorts of unusual items to make an impression on the dried background (dry overnight with a heavy weight on top of the journal). For example: plastic doillies (the cheap kind with holes), foam template alphabets (the large 2 inch ones), rug canvas, the plastic container lids with the grooves that look like bicycle wheels (looks like a star burst), keys, wire mesh, etc. The key is to have journal paper that is strong enough to handle the watered-down ink without buckling. During the drying process, you can put an old iron on top to try to control the buckling, but the paper in the journal is a major issue. I used a light brown wash first and then applied a scattered gold acrylic ink. After the background was dry, I used the capital "E" foan stamp upside down, right side up, etc. in varying intensities of black. Then used the plastic container lid covering various "spokes" in black and red full strength acrylic paint to create a starburst pattern (really cool). Over the top of this, I applied scattered gold foil streaks. I left most of the right hand side of the page unadorned so I can journal.

Lorikay and Rice inspired me to play with my rolls of tape, when they ranted and raved several posts back. So I'll share my big fun ---since collage is my flavor of the season, I have indulged in a spectacular way: experimenting with everything except the carpets on the floor and the sheets on the beds (tho they may be next). On a forgotten shelf I found some heavy duty tracing paper which I cut to the size of my journal page, taped the left edge to the page, and created an opaque collage on it (which lies over the collage on the journal page). Now there will be an altered collage with the tracing paper upon the other page and a regular collage when the tr paper is lifted. If interested in this silly fun, you might also be tempted to use the clear loading sheets (like an envelope for a notebook that loads from the top). Cut it to fit your journal page, draw (permanent scripto works), or paste, or something new, and tape it over a written or collaged page.

My answer is as elementary as the question. The only pens I use anymore are Pilot Precise Fine-Point V5 pens. Purple when I can find them, but usually blue, since those are supplied by my office. There is virtually no friction when I write, so they are "fast writing" pens. They're also not bad to sketch with. I've tried many pens over the years, including the gel pens that are getting such raves, but I don't like anything else. The gel pens might have worked, but I think I got a bad batch. Out of 5 pens, all but one skipped badly, which RELALY slowed down my writing. They also ran out very quickly. I like the Pilot Precise pens. Uni-ball VISION Xtreme gel pens by Yasumota Papermate black fine point Gel Writer Uhu glue sticks Prang Glue Pens ZIG 2 way glue pen Tombow glue stick Scotch Magic Brand Transparent Tape

So I honed my carrying case down to these things: small set of pens (black ink, six pigmented Micron colors (Sienna brown, burgundy-red, leaf-green, indigo-blue, tangerine and highlighter-yellow); two graphite sticks of soft black and an almost tuscan-brown and some greeting card samples. For quotes, study: a small art book on figure drawing; Nine Gates of Poetry (Jane Hirshfield) and Writers Dreaming (Naomi Epel). For paper, small tracing papers and postcards-size smooth cards with a green-blue border and a journal with cream pages.

The Personal Stamp Exchange has minature stamps with a four-pigment (gold, turquoise, forest green and gold) small cube--I obtained the Architectual set and thought I could make my own inspirational cards, journal-page borders that might work as stationery when I am on the run. I supplemented the small cube of stamp ink pigments with white and a silver and two smaller stamps: a trailing ivy branch and also a small series of squiggles, which look like a distant flying bird formation. I thought of cutting down a few colored papers to go with the stamps and Micron ink writing pens.

Cyclops and angels, sacred circles, sketches of hands, faces, telephone poles, glimpses of Italy, visions of past lives in the New Orleans French Quarter, dream fragments (i.e. the Nicaraguan man in the blue swan dream), hand drawn maps painted in watercolors, copies of original collages, pages from travel journals, suggestions for books to read and websites to visit, directions for painting a "cool" chair for your art studio

Here's something that turned out even better than I'd hoped: on our trip west, I bought a bunch of cool Route 66 post cards. I didn't want to use them in the journal--too bulky. So I took them to the copy shop, had them shrink them 75%--made copies of them on one sheet. Then I cut them out with the Fiskar's scissors that make the postage stamp border, and now I have 8 different Route 66 postage stamps--look like real stamps, even with the Route 6 emblem looking like the denomination on some of them! Perfect for the various collages/memory maps I'm working on.

The practical stuff: a journal - something cool, but not handmade to alleviate the "fear of messing it up" gelly roll pens glue stick small sharp scissors a small set of alphabet stamps some cats eyes Acey Deucey Goddess charm stamps & probably a couple of Magenta stamps some watercolor crayons some interesting images/bits

Cover things too beautiful, too torn, too temptingly new, too sadly worn with paper that suits your whimsy, time and place. You can actually cover them with fabric too if that handstitching isn't too cramping or old-style for you. Gift wrap lined with white-to-be-recycled paper or old paper or old cardboard with cloth-style tape works: even old paper bags with a stamping or two works. I like to sometimes create pockets out of contrast/matching paper if it's a paperback that I am covering. Some paperback editions of books that you already have that you find in remainder or used book bins: cover them, create paper pockets, staple or tape the pockets in and interact with the text by scribbling with pens your notes, doodles, and even little paper-folding messes.

Paper-folding fun messes: tear glossy ads with many colors into strips, squares. Make a triangle pocket of one paper. Twist and fold and jigsaw a vaguely rounded shape and create a snowcone, a bunch of dangly confetti streamers or whatever and insert it in the cone. Guess what! You did something funny, fun, played with color and maybe you want to even glue it in your journal or put it on the cover: a sticky acetate, clear acetate sheet can go over it to 'laminate' it into place. You can do origami animals or shapes or just cover an art card the same way for a cover or a page in your journal.

I do this thing with my cull photographs- mostly with the polaroid- which you may want to try. So, DON'T THROW AWAY your culls! :) ( the images you don't like) Take a piece of clear heavy plastic- a trim piece from something you've laminated perhaps- and cut it into a 2" or 1" square or any size or shape... Position your clear plastic over the photograph, moving it around. LOOK to see what is enclosed by the shape - parts of faces, a hand perhaps, the background, distant & out of focus? closed eyes? odd facial expression? DON'T limit yourself to a face or other central object. Think of part of a face and a shoulder and background, a knee and a chair leg, part of a car and the edge of a building...Now cut this out, and keep cutting- you'll end up with a pile - maybe from a particular day or trip or person or type of object - or all unrelated... but now you have a wonderful pile of use-able images from photographs that would either get trashed or stuck back in an envelope... Squares are my favorite- and then I line them up in rows & columns creating a visual feast - I rearrange them until the composition works for me, and then glue them down. I have taken these pages and color copied them & sometimes I use the b&w key on the color copier and then reincorporated them into paintings and pages in strips or enlarged individual squares...

Here's what I did. I have a scanner--nothing fancy. You'll need that, a French (or other language) textbook, your computer, a choice of fonts, and your printer. Later, you'll need some paper, a trip to the copy shop, and something to age the paper with--like coffee dye and sandpaper, perhaps.

I picked a page of the text that was all text--no numbers, etc.. Mostly text will work, too. I scanned it in as a text file and put it in Works. Then I selected all of it--highlighted the whole page--and changed the font to Texas Hero. Now, I DO NOT know from what site I downloaded this font, but any almost-illegible handwriting font will work. I changed the page of French text to Texas Hero, making it, too, nearly illegible (not that I Do French, anyway).

Now, there were parts of the text that didn't translate, so throughout there were odd little symbols and such, but, as I said, this font looks like scribbled handwriting, so you don't notice unless you're being picky with a magnifying glass.

Print this out onto plain paper. Take it to the copy shop and run off copies onto cool paper--I used a sort of mottled brownish cream paper. Make a bunch of copies. Then, at home, mix up some instant coffee and a little water and heat in the microwave. Scrunch up the copies and dunk them in the coffee dye and smush them a little and then spread them out to dry. They'll dry mottled and wrinkled, and you can further enhance the look by ironing and then using a little fine sandpaper.

Well, besides the ones you've listed LK had some inspiring posts about a journal she was doing on blank cards (if I recall correctly these were the size of playing cards or Tarot cards, in that range anyway), of her baby's first year. And putting them in a box.

That inspired me and I'm doing a journal box (8 x 8 x 8 inches) with cards of rising bristol (4-ply) in it, on which I'm going to do collage pieces throughout next year.

I think there are some other list members who are doing things with blank playing cards. -for sketch book users: do you use hard cover or soft cover (coil)? if soft cover, how does it stand up to wear and tear when decorated? any tricks to reinforce around the coils? (My regular sketch books tend to start losing their covers after a while)

What types of books are you using for sketchbooks? I haven't had any problems with the thick black cardstock Michael Roger Press uses, or even the Canson black covers on their wire bindings. I'd give those a shot!

- for those industrious types who hand make their journals: how many pages? what kind of paper? what kind of cover? (hard, soft etc.) and what kind of binding?

My handmade books run the gamut of size basically depending on paper grain and how large the paper is when I fold it down. I've had great luck with Lana (it's not the laid, it's their other paper I can never remember the name of). It's also easy to tear with a bone folder as you fold it down. And I don't have a guillotine to cut the book block after sewing, so I like the ragged torn, deckle-like edge. Gutenberg is a nice paper to make journals out of, as is Nideggen.

When I'm making western casebindings I often put tabs in to separate the pages adding space at the spine, then when I have inclusions on the page I don't burst the spine.

I also have been using a coptic stitch book as a day planner recently. It has boards covered with sailcloth, and Lana for sigs (it's just under 6 x 8 inches). When I take it out to mark dates on the calendar pages I just glued in, or take notes at meetings someone is always taking it out of my hands and it has made me a little more aware of the positives of coptic bindings.

Right now I'm recommending Rag and Bone's bound journals to everyone as the construction is marvelous and the paper is 67 lb bristol. Every pen I have goes on beautifully and doesn't bleed through (including my Ranger archival ink if I want to stamp one of my carvings in my sketchbook) and I can watercolor on it without a lot of buckle. This is something I would like to do for myself and as gifts to get friends art journaling. I appreciate your sharing your experiences with book binding.

I am fairly new to it but love it already. I am experimenting with canvas (gessoed and painted) book covers (soft cover, no board) in a double pamphlet style or coptic binding.

I've been affixing canvas to the stiff black cardstock of Michael Roger Press wirebound journals, and then gessoing it and the final layer of gesso I use absorbent gesso (Golden brand). Then I watercolor on the covers. I'm really having fun with this. If you're having fun with the canvas you might try it. Though, with the soft cover on a double pamphlet you could do some interesting pockets with canvas covers?

I'm not very good at either drawing or sketching: 2D art - pencil, pen, and even doodling - just eludes me. I still try, but when I want just the right image, I usually go to my computer.

I use a PowerMac with Quark and Photoshop pretty much exclusively with probably thousands of fonts. I like to create on the computer - it allows me the freedom to quickly put ideas together, and on the other hand, I can take time to 'get it right'.

The way this relates to Journal keeping is that I measure my journal pages and create a Quark document spread the same size as my book. Then I create copy, either stream-of-consciousness or reprinting from my daily journal. Then I start creating images, usually from fonts. IE: non type fonts. Once I've created a layout that looks like my journal, I print it out backwards, make a color copy and use a blender pen to transfer it all onto my journal pages. Yeah, it's a lot of work, but when I create directly in my journal, only a few pages made organically ever come out visually 'A Winner". With the computer, I get a great page every time. Then I can add more color with pencils or pens or whatever. If I'm patient, blender pens are magical.

(I've found that if I pour a small cup of Xylene and dip the blender pen into it, I get the convenience and easy cleanup of a pen, but with the saturation you get from the straight solvent. Another tip, I point a fan at my face, not at my journal)

Anyone else still grooving with the blender pens? The effect is so great.

Another side effect of using the blender pen for creating imagery is that I don't have to paste anything directly into my journal making it unnecessarily FAT.

Just thought I'd de-lurk, and I was just using the pen.

I love your process, Jason. I haven't gone quite that far, to transfer whole pages into my journal. But I do create lots of digital imagery that I then transfer to my journal. Your note has really inspired me. I travel three days a week, with laptop, so I'm going to try creating digital pages and then transferring them when I get home. Way cool! Thanks!

One project that has consumed me recently, however, is an altered book that is a sort of autobiographical journal...in a sense. I began by hand-altering several pages of the book with paints, transfers, inks, etc. This week I decided to scan those pages in and further alter them to create a digital companion volume to the "organic" one. I don't know what I'll do with it when I'm done...just intrigued with the idea of altering the same book twice. I may burn it to CD to create a two-volume set or perhaps create a website for it. Dunno.

Anyway, I've uploaded four files that show some of these pages. They're called altered_comp1, 2, etc.

I use Photoshop and Pagemaker...although for this project I've only used Photoshop. I really like creating digital art, but I also enjoy "organic" art. There's just something about getting all that paint and glue and stuff under the nails that excites me. ;-) I do like "blending" the two together, though. Another thing I'm doing with that altered book is printing the pages after they've been digitally altered, then creating mixed media/collage "prints" from them. They're not really prints after I begin to work with them, though. I either print them on 100% rag printmaking paper and work directly on that, or I print them on a lighter-weight acid-free paper, cut them up and create a brand new collage from them. The possibilities are endless! ;-)

If I'm patient, blender pens are magical. << They sure are!

(I've found that if I pour a small cup of Xylene and dip the blender pen into it, I get the convenience and easy cleanup of a pen, but with the saturation you get from the straight solvent. Another tip, I point a fan at my face, not at my journal) << Great idea! Plus a way to extend the all-too-short life of those pens. Where do you buy xylene and in want quantity? How do you store it while you're working? I mean do you pour a small amount into another container? Do you have a lid for the temporary container to keep from having all those fumes out and about? I use my blender pen either outdoors or next to a window.

I have been intrigued all week by an article from this month's Ms. magazine regarding the importance of rituals in women's lives. The article is about women from all different walks of life and religions and the areligious who use rituals to mark special events, to celebrate milestones, to comfort the sick, the heal themselves, to brighten their days and to pass on heritage to their children. The article is wonderfully illustrated with examples of artist's altars, everything from actual incense-burning altars, to shrines of pictures of loved ones, to gold-leafed "babies" that fit into the palm of your hand, to driftwood sculptures made in the sand at the line of the surf. The author of the article went out of her way to note that rituals in our lives do not have to be elaborate, staged, and costumed events. She focussed on all sorts of rituals from the sacred, the blessing of a newborn, to the profound, a blessing necklace for a woman about to undergo a mastectomy, to the purely comforting, like having tea with your daughter after school each day, and the festive, like gathering with your female relatives to make strudel every Christmas.

What are the rituals in your lives? I would be very interested in hearing about this. I would like to host a new swap, called the "The Sacred & the Ordinary". In this swap, each participant will make a collage card in which they will write a paragraph about their personal favorite ritual, or the ritual they would like to experience or inaugurate.On the front of the card, you will illustrate the ritual with artwork. For example, I am the middle daughter in a family of 5 girls. Every afternoon, about 4:00 when we got home from school and my mother came home from work, we would have a cup of tea together in the kitchen. We just talked about our day and whomever had had the worse day usually did the most talking. I really miss that ritual, though I certainly didn't think of it as a ritual at the time! I might do a card in which I describe my feelings sitting around the table and on the front of my card, I could stamp a teacup, or collage a bunch of teabags tags, or just draw a whole bunch of gabbing mouths! My idea is to provide a book in which we share the little things that we do that enrich our otherwise frantic and mundane lives. If you have a special ritual that you do or would like to do, please include it, too. Basics: (to be fleshed out with those interested: You will send in X number of color photocopies of the back and front of your ritual card mounted on heavy cardstock. I will bind them into a book for each participant. And I am using the term "bind" very loosely since I have very limited experience in binding. (I am considering something VERY primitive and experimental.)Or maybe someone else would like to bind them?

These are magic marker like pens which are manufactured to be used as a blending tool with non water based ink pens. The chemical in the blender pen - Xylene - actually reactivates inks to allow you to blend them together on a page. But for our use, the Xylene also reactivates toner to allow us to strip it off a xerox and transfer it into our books.

What kind of store do I get them in?

Wherever Artists, Architects and arts related professionals shop.

You print off your creation in reverse, make a color copy (any type of copier?),lay it print side down on dry paper and rub?

Yes! You rub with the pen which releases the Xylene. Allow the paper to get completely saturated. Work in small areas at a time. And use a bone folder (I just use the back end of the Chartpak blender pen) to burnish the image onto your journal page.

TIP: Use binder clips to temporarily attach your image to your journal. If the image moves at all, you'll get a blurry mess. And peek now and then to go over areas which haven't transferred.

(I've found that if I pour a small cup of Xylene and dip the blender pen into it, I get the convenience and easy cleanup of a pen, but with the saturation you get from the straight solvent. Another tip, I point a fan at my face, not at my journal) Great idea! Plus a way to extend the all-too-short life of those pens. Where do you buy xylene and in want quantity? How do you store it while you're working?

I pour it into a small mug - which is CLEARLY marked "Do not drink from me, I'm toxic!" and dip the pen liberally into it. Then I pour the unused Xylene back into the can. After several uses, the pens are still perfectly clean, and the Xylene is crystal clear.

Do you have a lid for the temporary container to keep from having all those fumes out and about?

No. But I have to use the fan. And I may even buy a surgical mask. The fumes are nasty, but it's an extremely cool technique.

Do you know about sanding magazine pages to get some of the coolist paper? This is how I do it, and I'm sure we'd all like to hear of others experiences, too. I choose a magazine page, usually with largish blocks of colors that appeal to me. I lay it flat on a smooth surface, such as a scrap of formica or a cutting mat for a rotary cutter. Using a fine grain sanding block (the kind with foam in the center.. paint store product) I sand the paper until the images are barely there anymore. The paper may look like ghosts playing, or be smears of color... it all depends upon what I started with. Then I use my sanded papers in collage, in my journal, I might stamp on it, or do some stenciling, or run it through my laser printer or copier before gluing it to something. Sometimes you get great results the first time around... sometimes you have to work a bit. An electric sander would also work but you need to use the finest of sandpaper and a VERY light touch.

Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Women & Poetry." And g

Jo asked about my day planner so here are some more specifics about it.

Let's start with paper. I pick a paper that I want to write and draw on, that has good folding qualities, that doesn't bleed through if I'm using ink, i.e., that is opaque. And so on. (color etc.)

I determine the grain of the paper and how I can fold it so that the final signatures have their spine running with the grain of the paper. (Lots of ways to determine grain, if someone reading this doesn't know please ask.)

Then I fold the paper down to the size I want, with the final spine running with the grain. As I do that each fold is creased with a bone folder and then cut with the bone folder. After creasing, simply insert the folder at one edge of the crease and pull out and away from yourself. It takes a bit of practice, but you get a nice tear line and a nice fake deckle edge.

Fold again, tear, fold again, etc. until you get to the final size you were going for, with the last fold running with the grain.

This little folded packed of papers is now one signature. It will determine the size of your book. Set it aside and tear 5 more sheets of paper like this to get a 6-signature book. This will show the sewing. (Anything less than 6 sigs doesn't really give the tread pattern much play.)

When all the sigs are folded you'll need to cut two cover boards out of binder's board (I use a rather thick board for this). Some folks like to have over hang on all sides (except spine), others feel that coptic stitch books should be flush with the board. The feeling for the latter is that the spine is unsupported and so if you have 1/4 inch over hang top, bottom and fore edge of your book, when you place the book upright on the spine the boards touch the shelf, but the pages, held up only by the thread across the spine, sag down, distorting your sewing pattern (and stressing the thread and the holes).

I tend to make my coptic books so the edges are flush, or very nearly. It's a matter of choice, taste, etc.

After cutting your boards you cover them with book cloth as two separate pieces, i.e., each board will have four corners that you'll work. Paste down an insert sheet where the fold over of the fabric is, and then add your end papers (typically leaving 1/4 inch all around the rectangle of the cover). You'll have two of these covered boards, one for the back, one for the front. I use the insert sheet so that when the end paper is attached there isn't a step down from the fabric, i.e., you can't see where the fabric ends and the end paper is just covering board. This is a matter of choice too. Also make sure your grain for this sheet is going parallel to the spine direction. (This is true of all your paper for covering, it cuts down on warpage.)

I've made design decisions about color early on when I select papers and fabrics, so at this point I cut small decorative sheets of paper to wrap the spine edge of the signatures (so I'll need 6 for a six-sig book). They are the same height as your signatures and can be any width that works well. I typically make them about two inches wide so that when they folded and placed around the spine edge of the sigs they stick up 1 inch on each side of the signature.

(Recently I enjoyed seeing another artist's coptic stitch book which she used as a diary. It was in "Making Memory Books." --a book which has been mentioned many times on this list. This artist makes bigger books than I do and for her spine "tabs" she uses her own paste papers which have a lovely effect. I recommend people take a look. She also used paste paper for her covers)

Now you make a template for piercing the sewing holes. How many holes you use will depend on the height of the spine and design considerations. Be sure to punch all holes using the template lined up the same way in each sig, because you want allyour holes to line up in an even line across the spine horizontally in rows. Keep them stacked in a neat order so you don't get them turned upside down. (There are lots of "rules" about where to put the holes and how far apart these should be. I tend to have a hole fairly close to top and bottom --within half inch-- to help keep the book tightly together, and then I evenly space the others. Keep in mind how the sewing pattern will look when the book is on a self. )

You also pierce holes in the board at the same place (remember to allow for your over hang if you hand any, when you position the template).

Then assemble all parts together and start sewing. Sewing is rather involved, so I'lljust refer you to Keith Smith's books. I think he has the most complete diagraming and clearest descriptions of coptic stitch that I've ever found. (He also talks about design considerations on where to place the holes and traditional reasoning and so on.)

I recommend using linen thread (available in colors now from some sources). I have used carpet warp thread because of it's wide variety of colors (I use a lot of it for my pamphlet books), but it doesn't hold up to rough usage.

So you're finished.

I have a computer program for calendars/appointments called Now Up to Date. I simply make my calendar page and print it out reduced to fit on my book page. I trim off the excess paper and glue it in. I glue in about 6 months at a time, usually at the start of a signature. I like to leave the left page blank and glue on the right hand page so I can write monthly notes near the month's calendar if necessary. Then I just carry the book around, use it for notes, sketches, and when I need more months added, just add them in. (I don't like warped pages when I glue, so when I glue a few calendars in, typically with UHU glue stick, I then press the book under a weight so the glue dries and the paper remains flat.

There is enough room in this spine (i.e., because it is not a case binding it isn't that tight) that you can glue in the calendar pages without any problems. I've also added some other things without difficulty.

As to what causes everyone to want to hold it when I'm at meetings and get it out to take notes, I don't know. I think part of it is the novelty that someone is using a hand-made item and everyone else is using something off the shelf. I think there might also be just natural attraction to the sail cloth which is lovely and texturaly and needs to be touched. The bright colors of the spine on this one, mottled yellow spine strips with purple thread, might be the attraction. I haven't a clue. All I know is that I prefer western case bindings in general and yet I'm constantly surprise and how people enjoy this book. So the form speaks to people in some way. And maybe also it looks less intimidating? Something they might be able to make???

Things I do in my nature journal. I mostly draw and paint (along with writing) in my nature journal and don't do any photography there at all. For me the purpose of keeping the nature journal has been to really focus and be present with my surroundings. I find that the drawing does that best for me. And everything doesn't have to be finished artwork. I think some people think that nature journaling means each page is going to look like Audubon painted there. Instead in my own journals and those of friends that keep nature journals there are lots of quick sketches and hastily recorded information along with musing about something we've observed. I think a nature journal is a good place to be messy. And I've also found that being messy and doing gesture drawings of birds that are flying by fast, or animals that are moving, you sometimes get the "best likeness" in those gesture drawings. So I would encourage everyone to try it (even the don't draw group). For the most part the camera is left behind in favor of the watercolor set, but there are times when I'll take a Polaroid of some sort with me. In all of last year I only had one photo in my nature journal. I used the Polaroid for a close in shot and then stepped way back to draw the general location. Other things I tend to write about and draw in my journal are leaves from different plants, marking the coloration (I particularly like to do this in the fall), notes on temperature, clouds, wind, humidity, and smells,smells, smells. In the yard I keep track of when various plants enter the next stage of their growth and death cycle. I really find this is an interesting thing to compare with past years. I keep notes on what is happening with the crow family in our area. When I'm out training my dog I keep track of the extra things we might find on the track. So my nature journal also has drawings of anything I find and see that helps me understand what passed there. I don't have a lot of sounds in my journal, in that I'm not at all good, like some folks are, changing bird calls to words. Just doesn't seem to happen for me. Maybe with some practice. (I'm also not very musically inclined.) I've taken leaves and brayer-ed ink on them and pressed the image into my journals. I've used that to note vein structure or just for neat backgrounds to my pages. But I haven't actually stuck leaves and such in, though this may change. I do have friends who do stick leaves in. As for twigs and stones, I end up just drawing them so I don't have to worry about how to get them in the book.

" I also punch holes in the edges of the pages, put a little white circular reinforcer over it so it won't tear, and tie one end of a ribbon on it and tie a small object to the other end."

I just did this... tied a pony bead to a reinforced page to be used as a bookmark. This one marks the double pages where I write about ways to treat a journal, and I'll use these beadmarks to mark other special places, too. I've made charms with friendly plastic, rubberstamping into the hot plastic to leave an impression. These will make great page markers used your way. Thanks for the idea.

Then I have glued small objects (such as plastic king cake babies from Mardi Gras, or African trade beads) in the bottom of the hole. But you have to have a really thick journal to start with. I use the big old sturdy ledger type that is bound like a hardcover book and has about 250 pages.

Another book that works is the large pattern books which are available from the fabric store when they get new books, about 4 times a year. My fabric store sells their books for about $2.50 - $4.00. So far I've collaged a new cover on mine, painted the spine with acrylic paints. Now I'll cut holes, glue pages together, add 3-D objects, glue in printed pages from my computer, glue in plain paper to journal on, cut out pages to make room for all the stuff I put in. I think this will be great fun.

Polaroid Sticker Film adds extra coolness to diaries and notebooks. Met someone new? Write about it in your diary and stick a picture of them next to the entry. Keep a journal during a vacation trip and make a mini-documentary of the people and things you thought were interesting. Put your photo on your school notebooks, and everyone will know they belong to you, even if they don't know your name. Speaking of school, sticker film is great for decorating your locker. You can use your own photo as a signature on love letters to your boyfriend/girlfriend. Or you can stick your picture on the notebook of that special someone you're dying to meet. Magazines instantly become better when you paste your own picture over Ricky Martin's or Cameron Diaz's date in photo spreads. Sticker film rules when your friends get involved with the fun. Instant photo stickers make excellent party favors. After the party's over, send thank you notes featuring sticker photos of you posing with each guest. Motivate yourself by putting your Mom's "get out of bed" face on your alarm clock, or your teachers' faces on your homework. And personalize all your stuff by sticking photos on your telephone, mirror, lunch box or your Dad's forehead. The possibilities are endless!

Keeping a stress diary is an effective way of finding out both what causes you stress, and what level of stress you prefer. In this diary note down your stress levels and how you feel throughout the day. In particular, note down stressful events. Record the following information:

* At a regular interval, for example every hour, record routine stress. Note down: * the time * the amount of stress that you feel (perhaps on a scale of 1 to 10) * how happy you feel * whether you are enjoying your work * how efficiently you are working

* When stressful events occur, write down: * What the event was * When and where did it occur? * What important factors made the event stressful? * How stressful was the event? * How did you handle the event? * Did you tackle the cause or the symptom? * Did you deal with the stress correctly?

After a few weeks you should be able to analyse this information. It may be interesting as you carry out the analysis to note down the outcomes of the jobs you were doing when you were under stress. This should give you two types of information:

1. You should be able to understand the level of stress you are happiest with, and the level of stress at which you work most effectively. You may find that your performance is good even when you feel upset by stress. 2. You should know what the main sources of unpleasant stress in your life are. You should understand what circumstances make the stresses particularly unpleasant, and should begin to understand whether your strategies for handling the stresses are effective or not.

It is probably only worth keeping the diary for a short period of time. You will find that the longer the time you keep the diary, the smaller the benefit of each additional day will be. If, however, your lifestyle changes or you begin to suffer from stress again in the future, then it may be worth using the diary approach again. You will probably find that the stresses you face have changed. If this is the case, then keeping a diary again will help you to develop a different approach to deal with them.

* Scan the list of words looking for connections. Is there a particular word or theme that keeps repeating itself (i.e. like "synchronicity" 3 times yesterday-lol?) * Try making a phrase or sentence out of the isolated words *Combine words into phrases/sentences * If some word combinations really "speak" to you, put them aside for possible use in your artwork or further journaling. You might want to write them out in your journal as a "found word poem" * Try stringing individual words, phrases, or sentences together to create poems (like those magnetic poetry kits) The words don't have to make sense grammatically. You have "poetic license" and can say anything you wish with these verbal nuggets. * Lay these word ribbons out wherever you like---combine them with collage artwork. Your intuition will guide you. * "Take your time and enjoy the nuances, double entendres, plays on words. " Poems woven together from found phrases and captions come from deep in the unconscious. These wordplay and poem-making escapades rattle the cage of your old ways of thinking and using language. Word jazz has a liberating effect." (this material was quoted from the book "Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of your Dreams" by Lucia Capacchione, PhD.A.T.R.) And now here are the words " (thank you everyone!) trickle journal reverie compassion luminosity surrender wrap paradise premonition jasmine synchronicity honey obfuscate escape gardenia obelisk sonata silence shimmer lightning enchant quicken amethyst gaze heap drape authenticity raspberries candelabra forget listen slay cling resonate waft validate stride freesia salivate mother-of-pearl moisture quince peace tranquility forsythia extremity remember dream linger

This is my first attempt to do a visualization or guided imagery over the internet. I would suggest you handle it one of three ways: print it out and read it over and over until you remember the imagery and can guide yourself; or read it into a tape recorder, remembering to pause where indicated; or have someone guide you through it by reading it to you.

These exercises are designed to kindle your creativity. There are no right or wrong responses and no person's visualization is "better" or "worse" than anyone else's. This is not psychiatry. The purpose is to provide insights into how our mind works and if we are lucky, to help resolve blocks that we have stumbled across and access to greater parts of our creative spirit. Remember, all things are possible with imagination!

To get the most out of this guided imagery exercise, you need about a half hour of solitude and a quiet, undisturbed place. Seat yourself in a comfortable place, feet on the floor, arms and hands relaxed. Close your eyes and settle yourself by relaxing and taking very deep even breaths. Keep breathing while you feel your body relaxing. Slowly begin to take even, restful breaths. Hold the inhale breath a little and slowly exhale. You may play quiet, instrumental music if you like.

Imagine yourself in a boat on a gently coursing stream. The stream pulls you along slowly and calmly. It is very still and the sun is bright but a breeze cools the back of your neck. You start to feel sleepy from the sun and you lean back on a cushion and close your eyes. The rocking of the water lulls you as you rest. {Pause for a few moments} What kind of boat are you on. Describe it visually and tactually. Where is the stream, is it in the middle of a city, country, desert, mountains? How big is this stream and how fast does the water course? ARe there rocks, or weeds, or fish in the water? How deep is the stream? Have you been there before? {Pause} Lulled by the sun and the soft motion of the boat drifting downstream, you fall asleep for a few brief moments. How do you feel when you are asleep. Are you restful, calm, at peace, or are you anxious and fearful, or are you geared up and excited? While you are asleep, a bird lands on the side of the boat and watches you. Although you are asleep, you dream of the bird watching you and can see it in you mind's eye. What type of bird is watching you? Describe its feathers, plumage, size and color. Is it large or small? Describe its beak and claws. Does the bird sing? Or talk to you? What does the bird say? {Pause}

You awake when you hear the bird flapping away. It has grown late and you don't know where you are. You look around the boat for a map or a chart. What is in the boat with you? Describe what you see. All things are possible in imagination. {Pause} You begin t be concerned that you don't know the way back and it is growing dark. Out of the corner of your eye you see something shiny under one of the seats of the boat. You pull it out and place it before you. It is a chest, like the kind the pirates used to bury. It is marked with your name. Open it up. What is inside? Take the contents out, touch it, hold it, examine it. Describe what you see and feel. What happens? {Pause}

Slowly begin to bring yourself back to the present moment. Let your imagination recede and your conscious self float to the top. Slowly open your eyes when you are ready and take a stretch..

Think about what you have experienced in your imagination. Using the questions in the visualization as a guide, write about what you experienced. Pay attention to the symbols you are using, and what you actions or reactions were to the events described. You don't have to write in a narrative form, it can be stream of consciousness, or a chart, or a drawing, a collage, a painting, a sketch. Look for connections between your life situation and what you imagined. Can you find references and keys to the issues you are facing? How does it direct you?

Lorretta told me about a type of glaze paint that Michael's sells - called "Glaze Vernis" and it is found in the stencil/home decorating section. it is very cool & has great colors - I use a wonderful pale yellow and a linen color the most. there is also a vanilla, a deep green, a burnished gold, and a mushroom color I have been using. You can make a glaze by adding gloss or matte medium (not water) to acrylics. (it must be applied sparingly also to avoid the pages sticking together) You apply it with a dry brush & use only one coat. I also use Caran D'Ache watercolor crayons, and just avoid soaking the page. I apply my wash by dipping the tip of my watercolor brush into the water and stroking it on the crayon end, then applying that to paper. I can further dilute it by dipping the brush again into water and going over it. I also use ink which I apply with a sea sponge. I use a piec of cardboard, like the back of an old sketchpad or notepad, and tiny binder clips to clamp the paper down when I am worried about warping. Sometimes, I weight the book down overnight to flatten pages.

Janet Hofacker demonstrated the technique for creating backgrounds using an acrylic ink. She uses any brand mixed with water - more water for a light color and less for a stronger color. She mixes the ink and water in an ice cube tray, then lightly applies the diluted ink to the page with a brush or sea sponge which has been dampened first with water. She made sweeping motions across the page and used several different colors of acrylic ink. The neatest part of her demonstration was when she used all sorts of unusual items to make an impression on the dried background (dry overnight with a heavy weight on top of the journal). For example: plastic doillies (the cheap kind with holes), foam template alphabets (the large 2 inch ones), rug canvas, the plastic container lids with the grooves that look like bicycle wheels (looks like a star burst), keys, wire mesh, etc. The key is to have journal paper that is strong enough to handle the watered-down ink without buckling. During the drying process, you can put an old iron on top to try to control the buckling, but the paper in the journal is a major issue. I used a light brown wash first and then applied a scattered gold acrylic ink. After the background was dry, I used the capital "E" foan stamp upside down, right side up, etc. in varying intensities of black. Then used the plastic container lid covering various "spokes" in black and red full strength acrylic paint to create a starburst pattern (really cool). Over the top of this, I applied scattered gold foil streaks. I left most of the right hand side of the page unadorned so I can journal.

Lorikay and Rice inspired me to play with my rolls of tape, when they ranted and raved several posts back. So I'll share my big fun ---since collage is my flavor of the season, I have indulged in a spectacular way: experimenting with everything except the carpets on the floor and the sheets on the beds (tho they may be next). On a forgotten shelf I found some heavy duty tracing paper which I cut to the size of my journal page, taped the left edge to the page, and created an opaque collage on it (which lies over the collage on the journal page). Now there will be an altered collage with the tracing paper upon the other page and a regular collage when the tr paper is lifted. If interested in this silly fun, you might also be tempted to use the clear loading sheets (like an envelope for a notebook that loads from the top). Cut it to fit your journal page, draw (permanent scripto works), or paste, or something new, and tape it over a written or collaged page.

Uni-ball VISION Xtreme gel pens by Yasumota

Papermate black fine point

Gel Writer Uhu glue sticks

Prang Glue Pens

ZIG 2 way glue pen

Tombow glue stick

Scotch Magic Brand Transparent Tape

So I honed my carrying case down to these things: small set of pens (black ink, six pigmented Micron colors (Sienna brown, burgundy-red, leaf-green, indigo-blue, tangerine and highlighter-yellow); two graphite sticks of soft black and an almost tuscan-brown and some greeting card samples. For quotes, study: a small art book on figure drawing; Nine Gates of Poetry (Jane Hirshfield) and Writers Dreaming (Naomi Epel). For paper, small tracing papers and postcards-size smooth cards with a green-blue border and a journal with cream pages.

The Personal Stamp Exchange has minature stamps with a four-pigment (gold, turquoise, forest green and gold) small cube--I obtained the Architectual set and thought I could make my own inspirational cards, journal-page borders that might work as stationery when I am on the run. I supplemented the small cube of stamp ink pigments with white and a silver and two smaller stamps: a trailing ivy branch and also a small series of squiggles, which look like a distant flying bird formation. I thought of cutting down a few colored papers to go with the stamps and Micron ink writing pens.

* Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.

* And tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

The Woman's Book of Creativity by C. Diane Ealy, Ph.D.(1995) ISBN # 1-885223-06-4.

A big, fun read. I especially liked the part that said : "An outline doesn't happen first". Thank god, thought I was the only one that couldn't sit at my desk and design a quilt from start to finish on paper or write the outline for my novel before I had put pen to paper!

Surviving a Writer's Life by Suzanne Lipsett (1994) ISBN # 0-06-25067-9 First of all, the cover is sunflower yellow and the end pages are red. How can you not pick up this book! It's a coming-of-age/travel memoir by an author who worked "many years as an editor and collaborative writer before she breaks through to find her own voice."