My Plan

On my long list of things to bring to training is writing paper. That was sort of boring, and I want to be able to have at least something small to be creative with, so I cut up a bunch of scrap watercolour paper into postcard-sized pieces and I'll bring that instead. It's amazing what a travel palette and a few waterproof pens can do.

Goin' to Winnipeg

A few years back Fountain Tire came out with a terrific commercial in which the annoying Fountain Tire guy is on a plane in a loud tropical shirt, talking excitedly to the two business men in sweaters next to him about vacationing in Hawaii. They look at him strangely and inform him this plane is destined for Winnipeg. He kind of nods, looks resigned and says "Goin' to Winnipeg." Which is what I'm doing this weekend. I packed up a few crafty things; namely, the bit of leather that is destined to cover The Tell-Tell Heart because I can embroider in the car. Not that I got very far despite the six hours of completely flat prairie (If you ever travel across Canada drive the Yellowhead through Alberta to Manitoba, it's much prettier). I blame Stephen Fry's Harry Potter audio books for that.

I forgot to take a photo before I left, of course. So, consequently, I wasn't going to post anything. However, I just made a big sale and I'm pretty excited. Four books! And some of my favourites. I'm going to miss the postcard book, it looks so nice with all of mine on display. Good thing I have an idea for another one. This is definitely the best sale I've made to date, and not having sold a painting in some time it's pretty exciting. Oh, I lie, the Caryn's Kite painting is getting sold - to Caryn no less! Beauty! And on that note, here's a bit of Winnipeg for you from local band The Weakerthans. One Great City! is the name of the song, taken from the signs welcoming you to the city.

All my bags are packed.

I've been thinking even more that usual about traveling. I made an etsy treasury of all the things I need to take to travel light and stay away for months! Featuring my own postcard book, of course, (I'm a sucker for a good postcard. Museums keep the best stuff in the shops) and then everything else I would need. Especially this bag.

Sorry about the odd placement of the items here, not sure what is up with that, but follow the links anyway!

Postcard Potfolio

I've been trying to find ways to display paintings in the fantasy artist portfolio I will someday make myself when I came across this tutorial. I really liked how it looked when it's all done and it looks easy to add/remove/move pages while still displaying almost the entire page, plus the back-to-back display means you don't have to see the blank back of the sheet of paper. But I didn't like the folded look, that the corners could still flip up, or that the back stayed very tight together.


So instead of acheiving this with origami I made the elements seperately and sewed/glued it all in place. The corners that hold the postcards are sewn in the centre so everything stays in place very very well. I wasn't 100% on how it would look with the back of the accordian fold not held together in some way, without the postcards in it it bulged out too much and had no shape, but now that it's done it fans out so beautifully to display everything that I'm really really pleased. Experiment succesful! This will be perfect for my portfolio.