Documenting the Journey

i've been asked a lot recently about my travel journals so i thought i'd share here.

i always have a journal or notebook with me when i'm travelling (well just always actually). The one i took with me on my last great adventure ended up being filled with tickets, leaflets & other memorabillia. i took a pritt stick with me so i could just glue it in but it also had some great pockets for storing things in.


i find my travel journals invaluable both at the time of writing them, because it helps me to get my thoughts out & also for reflecting on. Not just for the dates & names of places i visited but it's great to read back on my feelings & impressions of places when i was actually there. My memory can get a little blurred... i love to read over my jounrnals, i'm always reminded of things & the memories come flooding back. i have never shared them with anyone else though.

One thing i did when i was backpacking, as i was going to so many places was to pick up a postcard everywhere i stayed. i wrote a few notes on the back of them & they are now gathered in this sweet little album that i picked up in Thailand.




i am a hoarder. i have a whole box full of stuff like tickets, leaftets & postcards. A small portion of this will eventually get scrapbooked. Here's some pages i don't think i've shared before.




As you can imagine the number of photos & memories i have are overwhelming!! So for this next trip i decided to take a different approach. Enter the mini book/ art journal, which i plan to work on while i'm away.


Lately i've become somewhat obsessed with collecting found papers & whatnot. i've gathered some of these into a book & this is going ot be the foundation for my art journal. i've left it unbound so i can add or subtract pages as i see fit. i considered taking some alphabet stickers & embellishments but have decided to keep it to a minimum. So i'm just taking 2 pens, & some adheisive. Getting back to basics. i'm hoping to stick in memorabilia along the way. i'll show you the results when i'm back! i already did the first page. The run up to a trip is all part of the excitement :)


i'm all packed & ready to go! i think i am going to dislike living out of a suitcase even less then living out of a backpack! i am so excited for what we have planned!! And i can not wait to see Adrienne, we have so much to catch up on!

Not sure if i'll be blogging while i'm gone, most likely not. So take care, be safe & have fun!

And then there was floor...

Apologies (again) for being such a hermit of late, not just on the blog but irl too!! So unlike me. i blew out everyone this weekend to stay in & tidy my room (it took me 2 days & another trip to Ikea, for reals!). i will post pictures soon! It was a tough decision, Bank Holidays are the best & usually include much drunkeness, a BBQ, plenty of food & usually a very long walk. It's been so sunshiney (my favourite) and i've been stuck indoors. But never mind, it's been long overdue & it was worth it. i am so happy with my new space & it's making me feel so creative!!

Here's a little page i made last weekend (posted with special permission from She Who Must Not Be Named). Love these girls (and all the girlies in my life) so so much.


i've been working with a kit from RVA making a scrapbook about hopes & dream & favourite things. i've been playing with non scrapbookey items & it's soooo fun! i am obsessed with kraft, graph paper & woodgrain at the moment.


And finally getting around to some projects from the RVA Class. It's a sunglasses case & just in time for all this lovely weather we're having!


i've also been stitching, but i need to bribe someone into taking a photo of me modelling the stiched project in question, so that will have to wait.

Today was one of the loveliest days ever! We went to Brighton for a shopping trip & i finally got the Converse high tops i've been lusting over FOREVER!! i always feel so inspired after a trip to Brighton. My heart is full of cupcakes, vintage typewriters, lomography photographs & Art Books. Sigh.

Footloose

There's a challenge over at The Spark this month about feet. You may have noticed my tendancy to take pictures of my feet, so this is the perfect challenge for me. There's a little collection of my pictures over here.




i think it's kind of cool to capture things from a different perspective sometimes & it can tell a lot about your surroundings or the itme of year, for example the autumn leaves or the Japanese charaters on the Tokyo underground.

Anywho, the prompt led me to thinking that i haven't scrapbooked my first tattoo yet, or any of them infact. i will probably make a mini book on them explaining the meaning of each one & where i had them done, when i am eventually finished collecting them. But for starters here's the story of my first ink:


The title is handcut and i made the buttons. i am really enjoying playing around with non scrapbooky items lately. In this picture it looks really dark as it was taken just after i'd had it done, it doesn't look like that anymore! However it's quite difficult to take a decent shot of it myself as i'm not that flexible!

And as we're on the theme of feet, here's a page i did some time ago about an experience i had in New Zealand. i posted the page before, the story came from an old blog post. It seriously made me so happy to feel the grass & pick the daisies.


And here's another one, just to prove i do scrapbook these random pictures of my feet. ha ha!


Hop over to The Spark to see what the other fabby ladies came up with :)

Oh and i'd like to point out (because yes, i've had comments about it) that i am not naked in the picture on the below post, i had a strapless dress on people!

Magical Music

My friend Chris is making music again! Yayness! i love his music, his lyrics are sooo romantic & he's got a unique voice. Anywho, he's got himself a band & is starting to do gigs again so along we went to see him last night. He was great & we had a fun time. Check him out, i promise you will love him! And i'm not just saying that because i know him!

Chris was supporting Teitur, who i now have a little crush on...

Not only is his music looooooovely & inspiring, but he is super entertaining. He took the time to chat to the audience, explaining the songs and doing a little bit of stand up comedy. ha ha! In honour of Eurovision he also finished a couple of the songs in Eurovision style (cha-cha-cha). And he has the craziest accent i have ever heard! Plus he was wearing All Stars! If he is playing anywhere near you (last night was the first of his UK tour) then I would highly recommend you go! He is by far one of the best live acts i have EVER seen & i've seen a lot of live music!

Other then that i've mostly just been scrapbooking this weekend! & it's been making me happppppy! i haven't had much love for it of late, but the love is back! i will share some this week.

May Mayhem

Turns out if i don't blog for a while, i get moaned at by more then a few people. i apologise for my poor blogging etiquette, but May so far has been very very busy in the world of Le Gill. It goes a little something like this:

i love you, man. Laughed the whole way through! They don't give away all the good bits in the trailer!
Girls night out, which somehow ended up being a mixed sex night out.
Hotel booked for Toronto! Eeeeep!
A 30th Birthday celebration.
RVA package.
Milkshakes @ Shorties (and the longest walk evvvver to get there!)
Sewing.
X-Men marathon.
A random evening out with a late night stop at the traditional sweet shop. Yes there is one in Albert Road which opens at 11:30pm.
Drama Lama.
Pranks at work. My favourite one of late was when Mark wrapped up Paul's cereals in newspaper and the cellotaped the box up. hee hee.
Another night out featuring the homing beacons.
New green bedsheets. More growney uppey.
Arguments about facebook.
Boys breaking hearts.
My first 3D film (much excitement for this new era in cinema!) p.s. does anyone else think that the 3D glasses are pretty cool?
Muffin attack!
The Office - an American Workplace, consuming my late nights.
Constantly writing e-mails.
A Scrapbook from my mum. Not just any old scrapbook, a green one! She is always buying us presents. Loooooveeeeee her!
Boys. Boys. Boys. Boys. Boys.
Online chats with far away friends.
Getting excited together about our tattoo appointments!
Hardcore gym sessions (ouchies) minus the Lazyboy. Miss him So muchly.
Starting to feel inspired again...
Marvelling at the fact i get thanked for going to the cinema now.
The least suckiest hospital visit ever. Love you CWN.
Peep Show obsession.
Feeling like a learner driver again whilst driving someone elses car.
Writing lists on average of 4 times a day.
Too much to do.
Ghosts of girlfriends past. As to be expected: pretty blah.
Still wearing slips & turning the heater under my desk at work on. Body thermostat broken? Me thinks so.
After much deliberation i finally decided to go Unlimited.
Sending secret mail.
Brain = full

Love yoooooou! Thanks so much for reading & sticking with me when i don't bother to post! i will endeavour to blog more regularly and hopefully i'll have a few projects to share soon so this corner of the cyberworld starts to look a bit more crafty again.