I’ve had a large pad of Bristol sitting on the shelf for a couple of years. It’s really nice paper and I kept meaning to do something with it but somehow I never got to it. I’m on a kick to try and unearth some of these gems in the studio and put them to good use. The Bristol’s day has finally come! I cut all the pages in half, including the heavy backer board. I got out my Rubi-Coil and punched holes. The boards were too thick so I dug out my treasured but long forgotten and never used Japanese Screw Punch. (It’s like digging in a diamond mine around here.. so many gems to be rediscovered!) A little bit of time and a plastic binding coil later I have a new Artist’s Journal!

I thought a good exercise for the first page would be doodles. (Chris stop wrinkling up your face at the word “doodle”!) I thought it would be a good way of telling myself to let go and let the Muse drive for a while. (Heh, heh… and that way if it looks like junk in the end I can blame Ruby!)

I only had 30 minutes to play this afternoon. Turned out to be just what I needed to fill the page. Elise, you said you wanted to do some challenges… get some scrap paper or a notebook and doodle for 30 minutes. It doesn’t matter what it looks like… just sit back, relax and let the Muse take it from there.