I was so bummed out yesterday when I found out an Art Journaling class I really wanted to take was completely sold out and to top it off the wait list was too long that they wouldn’t even let me add my name. Darn. I guess I’ll just have to keep my eyes open for other opportunities.

Anyway, the good thing is that my latest edition of Art Journaling magazine arrived yesterday so at least I have that to keep me inspired. I can’t wait to spend time with this issue. There are articles on sketchbooks, finding your visual voice, prompts and even digital art journaling. Fun stuff.

In case you were wondering about my crafty adventures, I started a  two page spread. I’m using a sketchbook moleskine and the first thing I did was place washi tape on the blank pages. I put a layer of  collage pauge to make sure it sticks as washi tape is removable and finally I scraped some gesso on it.

This is just the beginning of a background to give my page some texture. I’m not sure where I’m headed next with this but it probably involves some paint!

Someone asked me if I use my own handmade journals for art journaling and while I would love to I haven’t yet simply because I need to make a new journal for myself. I do use a lot of the journals I make for daily note taking and regular journaling but for art journaling I need paper that’s thicker and will withstand paints, glues, etc. I do make sketchbooks for my shop but right now I just have some in progress. So for now I had to go with a moleskine.

Anyway, that’s the latest in my crafty life. How about you, what have you been creating lately?

It’s that time of the year again to dig into myths, fantasy, folklore and other-worldly reading. Thanks to Carl V. who hosts the Once Upon a Time reading challenge, now in its 8th year, the most important goal in this challenge is to have fun. I can definitely get onboard with that!

There are different levels of participation and I first I thought I was just going to go with The Journey which just requires one book but I decided to just jump in and go for Quest the First which is to read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time categories.

I don’t have a list of books yet but I was thinking some books I could read would be The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and some of the fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, thus also incorporating some classics. I have books on my shelf by Connie Willis, Charles de Lint and Jo Walton. And then I thought how about Steampunk? A novel like this one would qualify for this challenge right?

Alright, it’s time to go look for some potential reads! By the way isn’t the art for the challenge button beautiful?