Traveler's Notebook Love

About 6 months ago, I came across a blog post with a quick tutorial on creating a Midori style notebook, or a Traveler's style notebook.  I'd never come across this style of notebook, and was quickly drawn into the obsession.  Since then, I've made a hardcover version, and 4 leather versions.  I still haven't bought the original Midori, and haven't ruled it out, but figuring out how to make my own has been tons of fun!  

For the past few months, I've been using the last two additions & thought I'd share the little buddies with the Internet.

My most used notebook is my Field Notes sized version, and this little guy is chucked in and out of my purse everyday.  This is where my weekly planner lives, as well as my commonplace book, to do lists book, and sketchbook.  One of the most appealing features of this style of notebook is the multiple notebooks. I have 4 notebooks in this guy, plus a folder & fly leaf. Everything is held together by a piece of elastic cord strung through the spine of the leather cover.

I also made a full Midori sized notebook, which is a tad narrower than the standard A5 size.  I like it so far!

I make my folders, so they're less than professional!

I received a few official Midori notebook inserts for Christmas, and I love them! So much nicer than my homemade versions...  I do love using my notebooks, but I think my favorite part of this discovery has been looking at everyone else's!  People are so creative, and they make beautiful notebooks.

There are plenty of options if you're in the market for one of these.  Amazon seems to be a good place to find the original, while Etsy seems to be the hot spot for Traveler Notebooks in general.  There are also tutorials for creating you're own on YouTube, and on blogs.  Check out http://www.mylifeallinoneplace.com if you'd like to learn more, Ray Blake's blog is so helpful!

It's that time again...

It's New Year's Resolutions time!  I have a bad habit of setting very general goals for myself, not writing them down, and relying on my less than stellar memory to bring them to mind as the year marches on.

That is not working.  Not to say that resolutions are really necessary to a well-lived life, but after a bit of inspiration from a few YouTube videos (yes, I'm one of THOSE people), I thought it would be nice to actually write them down this year, and maybe really try to finish them.

Start small I always say, and I did.  Here are 5 goals that I think I can do, and while they may not live up to my past lofty and general goals, whose to say that completing these won't change my life in some way.

Turning Over a New Leaf

Happy Birthday to me...

Five Pictures : 5000 words?

     I used to keep an art journal religiously... Almost everyday!  Not lately.  I scanned my five most recent pages, and they begin in July!  Oh dear, oh dear... ach sin agad e!  There you have it :)

Curb Appeal

Finally back into art journaling after some inspiration from http://marloesdevries.tumblr.com/ and my old favorite http://www.annadenise.nl/.

I planted my first ever flower garden and veggie patch this spring!  Small steps is the name of the game...  Watering them on a regular basis has been a bit of a challenge, but so far so good!

I once suspected that I had bipolar disorder

Circa 2008

The suspicion was short-lived, however, and I have since come to the conclusion that I'm just bad at making tough decisions...and sticking to them!

Luckily, these days I'm not suspecting bipolar disorder, but maybe just a dash of schizophrenia.  A tad?  Since I've been home, I can't seem to get a handle on the girl I was before I left.  I'm finding it difficult to understand her and some of her decisions completely, and in addition to being mildly baffling, this is also a bit scary.  What if, 3 years from now, I'm in the same position, and I can't understand why I felt so strongly about following a path I'm about to choose?  Whew...  I usually end this train of thought right here, so...

That brings me to a funny little paragraph I found today while I was looking through one of the many boxes of stuff I stashed at mom's house while I was away.

On the first page of an old blue Peter Rabbit journal, I found this gem:

This is a storybook I wrote in my spare time.  I wrote all these storys from the insporation of all my animals.  My sister Robyn was writing about her cat sugar.  So I am grateful.


Come again?  Seriously, who was that?  I have no idea... but I suspect that whoever it was would probably be mortified that her future self would post it on a blog.  Sorry lil Jennifer.

Journal Entries!

No, I have not given up on my new Art Journal!  The very idea...this early on in the game?  Have you no faith in me?

What?  You want proof?  Fine then.

Feb 2- I felt like making paper snowflakes...and out came this rather awkward journal page...also went nuts with the whiteout!

Feb 4- After our power outage, crawling out of bed in our freezing house was HARD.  I definitely missed the days at home when my mom and dad would get the house warm for me!

There's nothing quite like the feeling I get when I'm given a calendar for free, so when I came across this one, and got it delivered to my door no charge I was soooo EXCITED!!!

Feb 5- A visit from the police shouldn't brighten your day, but our local law enforcement officers were so pleasant and agreeable that I didn't mind the visit at all.

Feb 10- I love bunnies...

Right.  That oughta show you!

I'm no Pyro...

...but there is something very satisfying about starting a good peat fire.  I'm not sure how it happened, but at 9 Habost, I am in charge of our open fire.  Serves me right I suppose...since I managed to shirk my fire lighting/tending responsibilities at home for years.

Anyway, I was trying to lead in to my newest journal entries...  Maybe I should've just said... here are my newest journal entries.

Back on the Wagon

After months of neglecting my art journal, I've finally started journal #3...well, technically #4.  Journal #3 was very disappointing.  So disappointing that it's lost its number status.  The pages were not watercolor friendly, and honestly, any page that doesn't get along with watercolor, doesn't get along with me.  In the past, I made my own journals using a Moleskine planner cover and watercolor paper, but seriously...this time I could not be bothered.

So, Hobby Lobby to the rescue!  I made time during my Christmas holiday to make a couple visits to this amazing store, and boy did it come through for me.  It's by far the best art and crafts store I have ever visited and possibly will ever visit.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder they say, but my love for this store has been a constant for years.

Anyway, here's the main event:

Hmmm...it's 3:00...tea time!

A few hours ago, I drove down south to Barvas with Murdo and Golly (the surviving molly) splashing around in front of the passenger seat. I'm off early tomorrow morning for Ireland, and I barely remembered that I'd needed to find somewhere for my babies to go. Just days ago, I was actually in line at the Post waiting to add to my electricity key when it hit me! It would've been a hectic Monday morning had I just remembered then...

Oh yeah, did you catch that?? ..."for Ireland"? Whoop whoop! I'm headed to Connemara to visit some friends tomorrow, and I'm beyond excited! I've been once before, but it was November and it rained every day, so I'm excited to see it in the 'heat of summer.'

Random pictures for the day:

The few from my front garden this weekend

And here are the first pages from my brand new art journal! This is the first art journal I haven't put together with watercolor paper, so I was a bit apprehensive. Turns out it's not too bad, but definitely not as easy to work with. Twas convenient and cheap, but probably not worth it in the end...

Cloth, paper, scissors

Look at what I've been up to!


I recently was inspired by this very crafty post, and started to gather supplies straight away one at a time (I really love getting parcels in the mail). I ordered 3 cahier journals, and accidentally sent them to Kansas...forgot to change my address on a certain account. Luckily, I realized what I had done within 24 hours (which is too late to change a delivery address on this site apparently), so I didn't lose any time ordering another set and having them sent here. Once they arrived, I ordered this stuff called Bondaweb from Ebay. Got that, so I finally got serious about fabric and ordered a bunch of samples from a shop on Etsy. My fabric was delivered by our loyal postman two days ago, and the rest is history. I'm gonna miss waiting on my packages!

Summertime and the living is easy...

The revelation came as both good and bad news. I was chatting with the Postman (whose name is Ronnie), and he asked me how I was getting on. I told him that I really liked it here and thought that everyone seemed to be very friendly. At that he laughed and said something to the effect of..."That's because it's so nice out! What until winter comes..."

The good news was that the summer season on the Isle of Lewis means that everyone is in a good mood ALL the time! Yes, it's true. Strangers smile at each other as they pass. Drivers watch out for those poor few with the Learner plates on their car so that they can help them out. Shopkeepers are chatty and everyone is always ready to help others in any way they can. All of this means that for the rest of the summer I can look forward to feeling like the sweetheart of this community as people are quick to forgive my cultural ignorance and are ready to smile at my accent.

The bad news is that because I came here at the beginning of April, I thought that this was just the way people were here. I thought that I really was the sweetheart of the community because everywhere I go people are smiling at me and seem to genuinely care about how I am getting on. Oh well, at least I was made privy to this phenomenon before I bumped into it come winter.

In other news, I've been working on my art journal a bit! See for yourself :)

I have joined a ceilidh dancing class...it's a bit like square dancing slowed down...

The second picture was drawn in a cafe in Amsterdam...
the wall was much cooler, but that's part of what it said.

We spent an afternoon at Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris (which is technically attached to Lewis).
It was warm and beautiful!

Wishing...

Well the world is still slowly turning and yet another week has passed since I've been home. The job search is still in full force, but the future looks grim. It isn't exactly the busy season in this part of the country, and the economy could be better. Not to mention my agonizing past history of job hunting...it's not exactly the easiest thing for me to do. But I will continue on, unemployment is worse than job hunting.

I've been trying to keep up my spirits since being back from the farm, and some days are better than others, but lately the uncertainty of my future in Scotland has been distracting me a bit.

South to North Carolina

Yes, I'm behind, but better late than never I always say. A couple weekends ago I took a trip to visit a friend from Liberty University who lives in Boone, NC. She's actually the one that told me about the missions program that I will be training for in about a week. Thank goodness for old friends! So, since I'm not much of a writer, here's some pics from my travel journal about my trip...
(warning, these pictures didn't turn out so well...resist squinting, it's not your vision)

I think Boone is very very cute...but there are a lot of trees...

The very intimidating first post...

I think the worst part about setting up a blog must be writing the first post. But unfortunately it is a necessary part of starting out so here we go. With this blog I will do my best to chronicle my journey into the world of serving as a journeyman overseas. In the Isle of Lewis, Scotland to be more specific. Although I won't be technically leaving for Scotland until January, the real life journey has already begun as I prepare for this new and exciting phase of my life. Yay!!!! I must say that after spending two restless years waiting and watching, I was starting to get a little nervous!
Since I like pictures in blogs, here's a map of the UK that shows my destination:


And here's my little rendition of the island: