This was going to be a Zen type post

We had a gorgeous warm New England day yesterday, so DH and I went to the beach. As we got there, we could see that the tide was out and there was a bit of a sandbar - hence the gorgeous green water - it looked like the Mediterranean.

I had my tiny camera with me, and decided to take a few shots, crop them and just show one or two critically cropped photos, with a few words underneath to show the beauty of the day, the colors on the beach and the wonder of it all.



That was my plan. We had a lovely relaxing day at Race Point Beach in Provincetown - too cool to go swimming but lovely anyways. I was peaceful and calm.

Then I got home and found the new Cloth, Paper, Sissors and started reading and got excited about a new project...so there goes the zen and I'm gonna show you my traveling art roll and a book I made following a video that Suki posted.

The book is made from hot pressed arches watercolor paper, you can see the instructions here (Suki's post again - but it links you to YouTube - for the whole series of instructions)





This book will be fun to use as a short art journal on my Italy trip next week. The instructions call for the pages to be painted, and I might paint one or two, but I like the clean white pages waiting for black ink.

The traveling sketch roll is fun. I took a length of cloth - probably 7 inches by 30 - as I wanted it longer than they suggested in the magazine. I colored the front of the fabric with neocolor crayons - which are crayons that are water soluable - and act like watercolors....sort of. I did designs all over the front of the fabric, and then put polymer medium all over the design. This kind of worked on the crayons a bit, but not so much that you can't see the design. I let it dry overnight.

This morning I cut different types of paper to fit inside the roll - maybe 6 inches high and varying lengths...and then stitched them in overlapping layers. I also attached a length of cord that I had to one end to act as a closure. At the other end, I improvised (clever person that I am). The instructions call for a length of metal to use as a way to roll the piece, but I made two little pockets - one holds a pencil and the other a watercolor brush with the reservoir to hold water.

Here you can see a bit more of the way the papers overlap.

It'll be interesting to use this roll. The papers that I used are probably too heavy for this application, they will hold the roll too much, but I will just flatten them out when I draw or paint. I might glue a map to the front page, and make it a journal - but I'll see about that. I am not a good journeler.

And finally - when I got my "Girlfriends" book last week, I also received one that is still in progress - KatieJane's book - so I worked on that yesterday and will send it off to Suki for her page. Everyone in Kates book did something about Believing - so I did also. Here is one side....



and the other....

Watercolor paper, acrylic paint, watersoluable crayons, gel medium.

Well, nothing zen about this post is there. So far it's been a busy weekend and the upcoming week will probably be busier. And I have to finish (start!) packing for Italy...get directions to the house, print out my itinerary and everything else that goes along with being away for 10 days. I have a long packing list - nothing light about my packing! You'd think I was going to be there for a month - but what the hell...it's not like the old days when everything had to fit into my backpack.

Have a happy Fathers day - we are off to NH to see the family before we all scatter for vacations.