Thursday, March 11, 2010

New Travel Journal

I am going on a dream trip in late April to Tunisia and Morocco so lately I've been working on putting together the journal in which to record my experiences. Sometimes I honestly think that the best part of a trip is coming home and having my travel journal to remind me of all my experiences.
I've done my interpretation of a minaret for the front and back cover, one in the day and the other at night. I used paper for the minaret and the moon/sun, acrylic paint and gel medium for the rest of the covers. I like the texture I achieved with a small roller with the gel medium. I am a messy journal-keeper and am likely to put my journal down in a puddle of something at a restaurant or coffee shop, so water-proofing the covers is a real requirement.

I love this quote from Proust and decided it would be a good reminder while I was traveling, so I put it opposite the first page of the journal.

I like the effect I achieved on the inside of the covers using walnut ink, glimmer mists and kosher salt. I will definitely use that technique again.

The other big news is that I turned 60 earlier in the week. My family gathered last weekend to celebrate the beginning of my 7th decade (!!!) and that was the very best gift I received. I must say that never have I had so many birthday wishes, phone calls (from as far away as Norway and Nepal), flowers and gifts. I feel so very loved with this out pouring of well wishes and love, and rather humbled by it all. I've been taken to dinner, to lunch, to coffee and I've been emailed and hugged, spoiled and cosseted and it's been going on now for over a week. I guess I can honestly claim to be having a birthday season rather than just a birth day! I like it---it's fun! And there will be more celebrating when my dear friend Bee arrives as we celebrate our mutual birthdays together. The birthday season continues.


There are so many flowers in the house from all these lovely friends that it looks like there has been a death---and then I realized that there has been.....my "youth!"

2 comments:

Gwen said...

I agree with you about travel journals. I enjoy the trip before I leave the house while making the journal, and having it to work on when I return extends the trip! I love the look of your journal, and what a fabulous place to go!

Dreamcicle Journeys said...

Happy Birthday, Michelle! Your new travel journal looks like a fun book to fill up with all of your adventures.