New Pages of My Travel Journal

I hope you have created a journal and are ready to start creating the page designs. I love tabs and created them with postcards glued to the pages with about 3/8 of an inch sticking out past the page edge. After that I glued little titles to the tabs on both sides. You can also trim them with rounded edges. I used the tabs to divide my trips, going to Riverside, back home, and up to Joshua Tree. However, the year isn't over so I have plenty of blank pages to add tabs to when I need more. Consider this a work in progress, rather than something that needs to be finished in sections as you move on.

On the right is an envelope glued onto the page to hold various bits of ephemera from my medical stuff (the reason for all the traveling this year, and the theme for the journal). On the left is the page with details and little stories filling out the theme. I created story cards from index cards and made pockets on the page by just glueing the sides and bottom of the piece of decorative paper that I added to the bottom. I also added a narrower pocket on top of that one and tore the top edge. I love measuring tape decorations. You can scan your own and print it to use on your pages.

You can also get out your markers and begin to color the page edges. I do this while sitting in front of the television in the evenings. I like to lay down a band and then work smaller elements into the band. I use squares of a darker color on top of the drawn band, and then little detail elements in the lighter squares, or little detail elements in the darker squares (use a white gel pen for this it is great). You can also use rubber stamps to decorate the borders, and then color them with the markers.

I'm Back (kinda)

I must say it has been a very interesting year so far. First the medical issue with the possible skin cancer that turned out to be a mole. (I am reluctant to return to the physician who cannot tell the difference and didn't do a biopsy to be sure, hmmm) And the gastric issue that evidently worked ittself out (not to make a pun, heh heh). All taking up huge amounts of time because none of my appointments through the maze that is now healthcare were anywhere close together. And since I had to travel almost 200 miles to get to this health care, I chose to stay with my sister since she lives in the same city as the health care facility. Also the fact that I am now completely dependent on my very small Social Security check each month makes planning anything that costs money relevant to that third Wednesday every month. So I have been home between June 25th and July 25 of this year since February!

The first time I brought my Etsy boxes and Art Fire boxes and planned on doing business from my sisters computer. I knew I would be staying a while so I packed accordingly. The second time I thought I would only be gone a couple of weeks (Boy was I wrong!) and decided after realizing that this would be a lot longer than I planned, to put my Etsy shop on vacation. But it has made me realize that this was a year to travel. Even though the travel only involved a very small area on the map of Southern California. So I decided to make a journal about it. I needed to do some artwork and had very limited materials (I was only going to be gone a couple of weeks, remember). Now I have decided this would be good for the blog, to inspire experienced art journalers and to be a kind of tutorial for those who would like to try this very fun, creative and inspiring art medum.

In the coming weeks I will be posting pages from this journal with ideas and noted on how I made them. I will also be adding some of my graphic stuff as treats for those that would like to play along with me.

So the basics. I started by folding 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper in half to make 8 1/2 by 5 1/2 pages. I nested these into groups of 4 (if you put more that 4 they have a tendency to stick out, if you don't mind that add more to your groups) these are called "signatures". I used bond paper, the cover sheets from the bond paper packages (nice and shiny and thick), construction paper, pages from an old tool catalog (this is a treasure I will be sharing with you later), and some lovely papers from a "stack" I bought at Walmart. Then I bound them together after stacking and marking them. This is my text block. I used the standard bookbinding stitch, you can use that too or any other stitch that holds all the pages together. I had a lovely piece of canvas that someone had had a painting printed on of yellow roses. It is stained beautifully and perfect for my cover. I used the back cardboard of the construction paper pad for the inside cover that I glued the first and last pages of my text block onto.

Then just for fun and to get things started I used postcards and greeting cards that a friend of mine was getting rid of to created tabs for the journal sections. I had no idea how things were going to be organized I just figured it was a good start. I love putting tabs in my journals.

Here is a photo of the first and second page layout. Stack paper on one side and construction paper on the other. The fish were from an invitation card, I cut out the bubbles and made the pink ones look like the thing on my back. I rubber stamped the torn paper before glueing it in and writing on it. The title is from a sticker page that came with the "stack". More to come.

Stay tuned.

An Early Christmas Gift

This is a journal spot/scrapbooking embellishment that I made just for this blog and my readers. Just click the "save picture as" button after clicking on the picture ittself and save it to your pictures folder. If Windows Paint is your only photo editing tool, make sure when you open it, it is set to 1/1 page. You can do this by going into the print options on Windows Paint.

If you have other photo editing programs you can resize this (make sure to copy and save the resize so you don't lose the original). So it can be a tag, a card (you can personalize it with a photo that has been copied and pasted into the frame) or a scrapbook embellishment or frame.

You can also scan some background papers and paste this onto it after saving the scan. Add your own decorations with peel and stick jewels or glitter pens. Put pretty ribbon into the punched out hole in the tag that you print on cardstock, or print on paper and glue to a shipping tag and make a personalized gift tag. Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone and have fun!

Mesquite Bean Extract and what you can do with it

Mesquite trees grow all over the southwest. They make long light yellow bean pods. It is the pod that is used for food.
I throw as many beans (whole) as I can into a pretty vodka, rum or whiskey bottle. Then I fill it with vodka. Let it sit without touching it for at least 3 months. It turns golden. I just leave the beans in it as I use it. This is an extract like vanilla and can be used all the same ways. I love to make cool drinks in the summer by using this with fruit juice (like apple or pear) and ice and make it a smoothie with ice in your blender. Superb.
You can also use it in baking. Or behind your ears to smell delightful. I am going to use it as a base for fruit brandy this winter, where you just add canned fruit and sugar every couple of months.
During the winter, I boil the beans on the wood stove to make the whole house smell like apples and cinnamon. Then I use the broth in bread and cakes.
you can also grind the beans and sift out the seeds and use this with flour in baking (like corn meal)
Finally got the printer coordinated with the solar stuff so I can print things. The camera is next, I will add photos to some earlier posts.

Summer Days Countdown

I have been keeping a daily journal since I moved out here. Each day also has a countdown to the last day of summer. It isn't that accurate because here in the lower part of California, we have summer like weather sometimes until October. But it is encouraging the see the days dwindle down and know that eventually, I will be able to bake something, use our refridgerator again, and be able to go outside without having to run back and sit in front of the fan after only about 10 minutes.
I have learned to harvest and cook Palo Verde Beans! They are easy to harvest with a rake and a sheet. Just lay the sheet under the tree and rake the branches. They fall to the ground quickly because they are dry (a nice golden beige color) and many fall off of the sheet for the other desert denizens to enjoy. Hulling them is tedious, and I would have used a flail and basket type method, but some of the hulls had little holes in them and also little holes in the beans! Don't want all that work to be eaten up in the storage jar. They should be soaked before cooking, because those little suckers take up a lot of water. Even after soaking the ratio is about 5/1 for water and beans in the pan. They cook in about 2 hours, and are the consistency of corn kernels. But after that, you can add them to rice pilaf, or salads, or stews. I have used them as a garnish as well. They are black and add a nice contrast to the food colorwise.
Palo Verde Bean Rice Pilaf
1 Cup Cooked palo Verde Beans
1/2 Cup Chopped Onions
2 T. Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Canned Corn
1/2 Cup Chopped Tomato
Saute all in Cast Iron or heavy sauce pan until onions are transparent.
Add:
1 Cup Uncooked Rice
1 T. Chicken Boullion
Garlic Powder to taste
Saute with other ingredients for about 2 minutes.
Add:
2 Cups of liquid (water from the corn, stock or just plain water)
Cook on high until bubbly. then lower heat and place good fitting lid on pan.
Check after about 15-20 minutes, if rice is just starting to stick to the bottom and all the liquid is gone, turn off heat and replace lid. Wait 5-10 minutes before serving. this gives the food enough time to even out liquid wise and the rice will no longer be stuck to the pan. I think it is caused by condensation from the lid.
Garnish with: Chopped greens from the garden or chopped green onions.
Serve with tortilla chips or as a side dish.
We have been eating variations of this dish almost every night so far this summer. It is quick and easy and lends ittself to any extra items you might want to add.

My Watercolor Technique-A Free Lesson

I have just posted this on Flickr.com, it is one of my favorites. It is a demo painting that I do, I have always had fun with it. First, you place the torn masking tape down for the fence, then wet the paper with a big soft brush. Then mix a wash in the lightest color you will use in a small dose cup and pour it over the paper, leaving some white where the sunlight will be coming from. After the shine disappears sprinkle with salt and let dry. After it is dry brush off the salt and rewet the paper gently, using only one stroke at a time so you don't disturb the underpainting. Mix another wash in a dose cup of the second lightest color. Repeat these steps until you have done the middle darkest color.

After it is dry and you have brushed off the salt, carefully peel off the masking tape and paint shadows and details using the colors you used in the washes and greys made from contrasting versions of those colors. I used yellows so my greys and darks were made from mixing violet and yellow together. You will love the opportunities to play with this technique, do a lot of these. Enjoy.

Big Sale on DaWanda even More Downloadables

I have so many more downloadables on DaWanda, come and see. All during the month of May they will be three for 4 Euros.

http://en.dawanda.com/shop/Donnalda

Card for Mother's Day

I just made these. I started with cracker box sides. It is a nice lightweight cardboard, I love to recycle. I made a pattern, marked it, cut it out and painted it white on both sides, several times. Then I drew with Sharpies and made pretty flowers. Each one is unique because I cannot draw the same thing twice, and signed on the back by me. Size about 4 1/2 x 9 inches. And it is free standing. You could even mount a photo in the "O" opening, just for Mom. For sale on my Etsy Shop. http://www.donnalda.etsy.com/