Journalling Supplies

Now first of all I must do something which I ought to have done a few posts back, but events overtook me - as so often happens! A couple of weeks ago Ada Bea from Vintage Sheet Addict blog, awarded me the 'Lovely Blog Award' which was so kind of her. Ada has only been blogging a short while and has already got right into the swing of it...pop across and visit! So........

Big thank you, Ada, and I nominate....gosh this is hard.......and you kind of forget who's got which award so hope I don't duplicate anyone here........

Christine at A Mermaid's TaleA mermaid's tale...........Els at Fiberrainbowfiberrainbow........Wendz at 15 Coast Road15 coast road
Sue at  crafts@homecrafts@home and Penelope at L is for LoveLisforLove. I will try and do the linky thing but if it doesn't work, take some time out to visit these lovely sites, if you don't already know them.

Oh and.....a few things you don't know about me...that you don't already know....that I don't mind you knowing! Even more difficult!

1. I love horses and riding but have quite recently lost my nerve, which is hugely sad, but there you are.

2. I have wasted 6 months of a gymn subscription; partly due to a family bereavement and partly to the trouble I had with The Toe, but mostly because of sheer apathy. Smack wrist!

3. I am having difficulty getting back into my textile mode - this is not a Good Thing!

4. And because the other 3 have been mostly confessional and a bit negative I am going to blow my own trumpet and tell you that my usually non-commenting melodeon tutor made some ridiculously lovely comments about my playing the other night, I was beaming widely all the way home, 50 miles in the car! I have to say he is not a grumpy tutor - far from it, just doesn't make a fuss about progress etc. So such comments are highly prized, believe me!

That's your lot about me.  I was asked about the pens and markers I use for my journals so I thought it would make a good - and colourful - post. Bear in mind that I am not the fount of all - or even very much- knowledge on this topic, I am very much a beginner and it is kind of a side-line with me. If you want to know more there are LOADS of bloggers out there who really know what they are talking about, and some brilliant tutorials on youtbube.

So, starting back-to-front, really, the markers which I use for my favourite bit of journalling, the last bit, the writing and detailing. I do sometimes use them in the earlier stages, but mostly not.

These are Letraset PROMARKER permanent twin tip inks. They blend beautifully and the wedge and bullet tips are really useful. Yes, you can store them like this!

Ah, my lovely twin-tipped ink markers, various brands. Great for both coverage with the brush tips and fine detail with....the other end! I have  Marvy LePlume,  Tombow ABT, Zig Art & Graphic Twin, Zig Calligraphy, Berol, Stabilo `Write-all.I have a pack of Staeddtler triplus fineliners which are nice for detail, and can be found in supermarkets for much less than the full price. I think that's it, I will never turn down a new brand, and would LOVE to be able to afford COPIC markers which everyone raves about, but as a messer-abouter I am not going to take on a mortgage to buy markers which are definitely in the professional league.

I also have a collection of the most important BLACK MARKERS which I forgot to take a piccie of, sorry. Journallers will atest to the fact that a good black lettering marker is a special find and you choose carefully. I have various tip-sizes of Sharpies, a bog standard Multi Purpose Marker Pen, Faber-Castell Pitt markers are brill, various tips with them, Uni-pin fineline by Mitsubishi do a great pen, and I pick up anything I think will do the job.

WHITE MARKERS are less common and I use mine up quickly. I have a new uni POSCA white marker, also mitsubishi I just note. Pilot do a variety of tips but are a bit  over-emotional at times! Sakura do a BRILLIANT gelly roll white, I love it, and also I have a Hybrid Gel by Pentel. They use up at varying rates.

 Ooooops, I notice I also have some metallic markers which I use for small details - too much is....too much!

The surfaces these markers write best on also varies, some will cover almost any surface, others are a little more temperamental. As long as they are permanent you can varnish over them, but to be on the safe side I varnish (if I'm going to at all) before I add the lettering and final details.

I've also got some Derwent Inktense water-colour ink pencils which give a lovely saturated colour when you paint over them with water, and some Aquapastels which do a great finishing job, or as an all-over background which I then knock-back with a thin layer of white acrylic or white gesso, scraped down with an old credit card - a brilliant and simple technique.

I also buy large tubes of acrylic from discount stores which come in great for backgrounds, I love scraping a layer of in onto the page as well.

..............and I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a book or two on the subject!

These are my own journals....the top smaller one is one I am prepping the pages to take to Ireland with me.  Each page is ready with a background, some colour, maybe some collage, some barely-seen background stamping....so all I have to do is the lettering and final detail, which means I don't have to take a load of stuff with me.

 (Besides which I shall be stitching, playing and listening to some music, shopping, sight-seeing maybe..and just generally chillin'!)

Here are some detail shots of the page I made in response to the way I was feeling about the 'count -down' to the Olympics. I was quite angry with all the shennanigins, but I am now enjoying the stuff that REALLY MATTERS - sponsors take note YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT.  I do not want to eat your disgusting beefburgers or drink your toxic brown liquid.  You do not 'own' the logo or the name or anything else. Stop spreading your noxious influence round the world and do something honest with your billions. There. I promised myself I would not rant on my blog and I just did. Get over it.

Phew, well, it's just between you and me, isn't it? Actually I felt we should have orchestrated mass civil disobedience and everyone worn 'illicit' tee-shirts or hats to the torch journeys through each town...let them try and sue everyone - hah! Anyway, the superb efforts by the real heroes of the events have pushed all of that to the background and there is true Olympic spirit being shown every day. Well done to them!

well, I think it's all I've got to say about my journalling 'stuff'. I have re-organised my space to better accommodate things near to hand. But I'm now feeling the tug of the textiles urging me to get my mitts on some fabric and commence stitching again. Thank goodness! I wish I could be an evenly balanced person....after all, I am a Libran...but I am a bit all or nothing...there, that's another thing about me! It's amazing, really, that I get anything finished at all, but I muddle through, somehow.

Hope you are enjoying your Olympic  weekend, and that some of you, at least, are having some continuous sunshine! Catch you next time.

Textile Tarts

                                                      Self Portrait. AKA Lily the Pink!


Are you a Textile Tart? Could you be true to only one genre, or do you like to play the field? Perhaps you are a serial monogamist, or yet again, you may be blissfully happy, wedded to a single calling.

I have to confess to being something of a style philanderer. There is so much out there to dabble in, I just could not restrain myself to one creative outlet. And there-in probably lies my expertise downfall. I've tried them all, cross-stitch, first on printed cloth, then counted stitch work, becoming more proficient until I was designing my own samplers; cloth doll making - from the prosaic Raggedy-Anne to the more contempory, handpainted, much embellished Art Doll; (looking a tad muscular, it must be said!)

Wild and wonderful wacky waistcoat making - this even led to a series of workshops given across the county, some years ago; and  for a while I became known for my naive folk art quilts, and again, taught classes on the subject.

Then I was off - experimentation was the name of the game, and I became - briefly - a Textile Artist!

Yes! It's true! I was a member of a bone fide Quilt Art group, Anglia Textile Works, which is an excellent body and goes on from strength to strength. With ATW I exhibited in Churches, Arts Centres and Galleries, - and even sold one or two pieces. But I always felt somewhat bogus, to be honest, and I left the group, quite amicably , several years ago.

 For a while I stopped stitching. My sewing room became a depository for anything which didn't have a home and made me feel even less like going in there. Then I discovered PAPER and zoomed off down a blind alley to pursue  journalling, book making, paper making, stamping, and a myriad other things to do with mixed media.

Then a friend told me firmly I had played around long enough, time to get back to stitch, and took me to a delightful Janet Bolton workshop. Picking up cloth, needle and thread once again was like coming home. And working on a small scale such as Janet has perfected was somehow so satisfying. Janet is, of course, an artist, and is so well known her workshops and books have spawned a plethora of pale imitations of her work - my own included.  I love making these small stitcheries, they are just so .....complete in themselves, is the only way I can describe my feeling for them.

Once back into my sewing room I began making quilts and other stitched items, samplers, hangings, and so on. Oh, and while I'm in confessional mode, I have to mention a prediliction for beading and other embellishment, and admit to ongoing but superficial flings with rag-rugging and crochet.

Oh dear, it's all looking a bit sleazey, isn't it? And we haven't even been near machine versus hand quilting, applique versus pieced quilts, tradtional versus contemporary, indigo dyeing and shibori, bag making, hats, scarves and cushions. I know, I know, you faithful types are probably pursing your lips in disgust at my profligacy. I can say only one thing in my defence: no experience is ever wasted, and I have learned a lot along the way. Oh, ok, that's two things.

So, yes, I guess I am an unrepentant Textile Tart, and my life has been all the more colourful because of it. How about you? Leave me a comment and let us all know!