The Midwinter Book 13/14

For the past few years I've kept a seperate journal during my Christmas vacation and this time was no different. I usually call this a midwinter book. It's always a different kind of book and this time I decided to use the small Dylusions journal that I had gotten at Kreadoe.

The first thing I did was alter it a little so it would look more like a ... well... Midwinter Book!

I did manage to fill the entire book in a little over two weeks, but most of it was writing, so even though that was very good for me it's not very interesting to look at for you.

But I did do some visual things here and there and here's a selection of some of those more colourful or interesting pages.

 

I really liked the paper in this book and its size. It was very handy to take with you and it could take just about any medium okay, although it's best suited for pencil and pens. I might be hesitant with lots of watercolour layers, it did seem to get roughened up a bit if it got too wet. But still, I think I will buy more of these journals as they seem pretty all round to me.

The drawings of the branches are my personal favorites in this journal. They were done from my imagination after seeing some twirly twisty branches on my walks and being intrigued by them. It also reminded me of my love for simple pencil drawings. It had been a long time since I did any of those. By the way, don't confuse simple with fast, because especially the second one took forever to finish with all that crosshatching for the background. ;-)

The journal was a good companion in a very reflective time so I am quite happy I filled most of it with writing. It helped me think things through and really get to the bottom of stuff I'm currently dealing with. It also reminded me a journal is not for pretty pages, but an instrument for personal expression and reflection. That's easy to forget sometimes, especially if you're used to sharing your pages on your blog.

I hope you enjoyed this peek in my vacation journal and I wish you a wonderful and artsy Wednesday!