Making an album

Recently, I celebrated my two years anniversary with my boyfriend. We usually give each other a gift, and so this year since I starting making hand bound books, I decided to make a photo journal of sorts. I took an old book with a sturdy cover and painted it blue. After that, I used duck tape (fancy one!) on the spine inside and outside the journal to make it sturdier. I got my favorite pictures printed (on my "to do in the future" list: figure out if I can print on photo paper with my printer, and do it!) and got to work! 

I used watercolour paper in the journal, it is thicker than regular paper and has a nice texture. I glued all pictures before I added washi tape around some of them. All rectangle pictures were printed elsewhere but the ones with special frames like the round ones (thank you hipstamatic) I printed at home on regular paper, and I think it looks good!

We went on so many adventures this year, and I had a lot of great pictures! I can't wait for the next adventures!

This project took 2-3 days to complete. I hand bound the journal in an evening, but then painting and letting dry the cover took some time, and when everything was done I added a coat of medium gloss gel to give shine and varnish to the cover, and for added protection.

Going to Mexico

In two weeks, I'm going to Mexico with my family, to a resort where everything is already paid for. I've never been in such a trip before, so I'm getting ready by looking for traveling tips and tricks online, reading reviews of the resort, and of course I'm preparing my travel journal!

I don't have an "I always do this or that" because I don't travel that often, but I do always have a journal in progress. So, since my budget is restricted right now, I decided to use a new journal that I already have. This is a pocket sketchbook Moleskine:

I have not yet decided if I am going to glue something on the cover or not, but I intend while I'm there to bring it with me wherever and write and draw as much as possible, and also collect different ephemera to glue in later.

Here are a few other pages:

As you can see, I painted some pages with acrylic craft paint, to give color and a certain grip to the texture of the page. I also glued in some pieces of paper with washi tape to add little pages, and some magazine pictures (the Corona ad). I have a punch (Fiskars) to make the holes in the corners of the pages, witch I love it is very decorative!

I will bring a selection of pens, two water brushes and a small kit for my watercolor. I don't find the picture so I will show you the kit later, but here is a sample of colors I have and mixed only with this kit:

Thank you for visiting, and don't hesitate to leave a comment! :)

Guru

J'aimerais vous parler de mon Gourou.

À l'origine, j'ai commencé à tenir un "cahier" dans un cours au cégep. On a acheté des petits cahiers à dessin au dollarama (ou au prof, qui les avait achetés au dollarama), et on devait faire 5 pages par semaine. Elle disait qu'on pouvait faire des dessins, des collages, notre liste d'épicerie, etc. Au début, notre premier devoir a été de faire la couverture (en dessinant, collant, peignant...). Ensuite, les dessins. Et au fur et à mesure que ma session avançait, je dessinais plus, je faisais des collages, j'aimais ça!

J'ai découvert le super Danny Gregory à la même période, et j'ai lu The Creative License: Giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are. J'avais maintenant l'objectif de tenir un journal (que j'appelle plutôt mon cahier) où je dessinerais et j'écrirais mes pensées. Ça fait maintenant plus de 7 ans que je tiens des cahiers, et j'espère ne jamais arrêter afin de pouvoir un jour les léguer à mes enfants. J'y retourne parfois et je relis ce que j'y ai écrit, et je me retrouve dans le passé, et je me souviens de tout.

Lorsque je dessine quelque chose de particulier (mon déjeuner, une plante), je suis concentrée et je passe un bon moment à regarder cet objet afin de le reproduire au meilleur de mon talent. Quand je regarde des vieux dessins de ce genre, dessins du quotidien, je me souviens de ce que je mangeais s'il y avait de la musique, de ce que je pensais. C'est plus vivant qu'une photo, et ça devient de précieux souvenirs.


I would like to tell you about my Guru.

At first, I started a journal (or sketchbook, but I think it's much more than those two words), at school. We had to buy cheap 1$ sketchbooks and fill 5 pages per week. It could be drawings, collages, grocery list, etc. The first homework we had to do regarding this sketchbook was its cover. I remember making a drawing of Cate Blanchett, after a publicity in a fashion magazine. As time went by, I drew more and more and really took to this new way of keeping everything in the same place. I loved it!

I discovered the amazing Danny Gregory a few months or a year after I first started this journal keeping. It began with The Creative License: Giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are, and continued with his other publications over the years. I have been keeping a journal for more than 7 years now, and I intend to keep this habit forever (even if sometimes I don't touch my journal for a week long) and give them to my children. It is a different way of keeping a journal, and practicing hand/eye coordination, remembering the everyday.

Voici une photos de mes cahiers il y a trois ans/Here is a picture of my journaux 3 years ago:

Voici quelques photos récentes de mes cahiers/ Recent pictures:

Danny Gregory a publié plusieurs autres livres depuis The Creative License: Everyday Matters, 

An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration From The Private Sketchbooks Of Artists, Illustrators And Designers, A Kiss Before You Go: An Illustrated Memoir of Love and Loss et  An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers.

Il publie aussi régulièrement sur son blog, et non seulement c'est un grand artiste mais il écrit bien, et ça vaut la peine d'y aller régulièrement.