Ready, Set, Go: Traveling Art Supplies

Here is what I want to bring!
I need to made a new portfolio,
though. My old one, upper left,
is worn out. 

It's time to decide what I can realistically bring with me, and what I cannot. I want to bring my large, daily journal, but it's too big and heavy, so I pulled out the smaller one, shown in the picture at the bottom. Even that one is too thick, and takes up too much room. Instead, I am bringing my "circus" book to use as a daily journal, and for collage. It is an altered book my dear friend Lois gave me years ago, and I have traveled with it previously. Time to finish it. It is the perfect venue for journaling now, since I feel like a plate spinner in the circus!

Now, to make a new portfolio. How, you ask? Decide if you want a square or rectangular one, mark off the dimensions on a nice, thick stock or, as I used, watercolor paper, and grab a metal ruler and a bone folder.

On my hand-painted watercolor paper, I marked a 7" square, then, using a compass (you can use a large bowl, too!), I marked 3.5" scallops. Next, I added lines for an additional 1/4" outside of the 7" square. That gives the portfolio some thickness for holding the papers I will pack.

Mark the dimensions, trim and fold using a
metal ruler and a bone folder. I added a set
of double lines, 1/4" apart, for depth.

You can close this type of portfolio by just overlapping the scallops, but I decided to recycle the tabs and ribbons from my old portfolio and use those. Since I have a grommet tool and a ton of pretty, colored grommets, I pulled those out and picked a pretty blue color to match.

This tool punches and attaches a grommet all at once.
I don't even know where I got it, but have had it
forever. It is a handy-dandy tool!

Squeeze and attach the grommets. Insert knotted ribbons through my hand-painted tabs. Choose loose drawing papers and some collage scraps to put inside. I'm not on vacation; this is a serious, personal trip, and isn't about making art. I'm packing light compared to what I normally would bring.

Hurrah, they all fit!

All set! My selected art supplies and new portfolio of papers all fit in this nifty bag my friend Gail gave to me. That, in turn, will take up little space in my luggage. Sometimes being limited in what you have to use forces creative responses. I'm counting on it!