Monday, April 13, 2015

Travelling and Junk Journals


My love of traveling - both overseas, and  in Australia is enhanced by my love of documenting these travels in photographs, and in my own hand-made Junk Journals. I make a journal specifically for a forthcoming trip - using favourite saved papers, envelopes, Travel Brochure pages and lined and blank papers, some painted papers and then I sew these together into a cover. I edge some pages with Washi Tape, add newspaper/magazine words, estimate locations and add some travel brochure pictures to various pages. I use a mixture of of sizes of papers - some narrower so that I can add tags, tickets, cards etc., some made into envelopes and flaps and some envelopes as pages. Then I'm ready to go, with a glue stick, a small pair of scissors, some washi tape and a few favourite pens and markers.
OVERSEAS
During December and January my husband and I visited Central Europe - beautiful cities, magnificent buildings and some snow! Lots of museum and art gallery visits, train journeys and flights, newspapers, magazines, brochures and fliers - so lots of wonderful souvenir papers in Czech, Polish, German, Turkish.



I usually make my Travel Journals with folded A4 papers and a slightly larger cover. Easy to carry around and work in!
I work in my journal every day that I'm away - in a train, in waiting areas, airports, and at our accommodation. It becomes a travel diary as well, where I document the events of each day.





 I  took a smaller journal - a  watercolour book for practicing sketching and playing with paint.


TASMANIA
We recently went on a Caravan Trip for 3 weeks in Tasmania and that entailed another Journal, and working in it as we traveled there via the Melbourne to Devonport ferry.


I  had quite a few small pieces of leftover paper on my desk and couldn't resist making a mini arty journal - just for little pieces and some doodling. A tiny size that fitted in my handbag for those waiting times.

LOCAL WORKSHOPS
I tentatively approached our local library with the journals one day and was thrilled to be offered the job of teaching two workshops for teens, during the Easter School Holiday Program. This entailed lots of preparation and collection of supplies, but the 31 teens who participated completed great sewn  hand - made journals that they'll be able to use for photographs, drawing, writing, collageing, collecting or many other purposes. It was great to see their enthusiasm and pride in completing a journal.