Tuesday Morning Art Journaling Supplies Haul $10 Challenge

The Tuesday Morning Stores are a great resource for buying art journaling and travelers journal supplies at a discount.  I recently did another shopping challenge with my friend to see what items I could purchase at the store without exceeding the budget.  The one rule we have is that we do not purchase anything that we truly will not use.

The first item that I bought was a Dina Wakley Ranger Stamp & Stencil Set (Essential Sihouttes) for $4.99.  This set sells for around $12.99 on Amazon.  I enjoy the Dina Walkley line and getting this set at that price was a cool score.  I will use these in my art journal and planners.  Below is a close up of the stamps.  They have some fun details.

The stencil has a good assortment of patterns that I will get a lot of use of.

The second item was a sticker sheet full of different quotes and phrases the "Little Bicycle line.  I thought the inspirational quotes are great to use in my planners and art journal.

I did not find anything else that I needed or wanted.  The total with tax came out to less than $8 which was below the $10 budget we had set for the day.  I think it was a pretty good haul for the amount I had to spend.  If you want to see a past haul I did at Tuesday Morning, then just click here to go to that post.

Note: This is not a sponsored post, I paid for everything with my own funds.

Prima Nomad’s Traveler’s Journal Review

The new Prima Nomad's travelers journal is a beautiful brown bonded leather cover that features a side zipper pouch to securely hold small items.  The mixing of the leather and other materials to make the bonded leather gives this cover make a visually appealing texture and feel. It is the cover I like for everyday use, since it has a more classic appearance. This is just one of the new Prima Marketing Travelers Journals that I purchased.  If you want to read my review on the Prima Jet Setter Travelers Journal then just click on the name.    The prima travelers journals all come in a plastic box that helps protect them during shipping. 

Here is a view of the back side of the clear shipping box.

Bonded Leather Protector Piece

The Prima Nomad's Travel Journal starter set that I purchased includes:

• 1 Bonded Leather Cover is 16.256cm x 21.844 cm folded (click here for conversion to inches) 
• Bonded Leather Protective Piece (6.36 cm x 3.85cm) attached to the outer elastic band 
• 4 Interior elastic bands, 
• 1 Journal Charm, and
• 2 blank smooth white colored paper inserts (notebooks)
• 1 Zippered Pouch

One of the best features of the Prima Nomad's Traveler's Journal is the zippered pouch which securely holds coins and other small items.  

Side view of zipper pocket

The zippered pouch features a zipper pull and has the Prima Travelers Journal charm attached to it.

The Nomad's travelers journal includes two non lined paper journal inserts. These journals are stapled so I recommend putting some washi tape over the staples to protect the elastic.

The Prima travelers journal itself measures 10"x6.5" (16.256cm x 21.844 cm) when folded.   The Prima Jet-Setter travelers journal starter kits sell for around $34.99 to $ 39.99 on Amazon and other online sources. This journal is beautiful. I love how the pockets on this one are layed out.

I was able to stuff this travelers journal with four inserts, a ruler, credit cards and some sticky notes and it stretched to approximately 2" inches(4.5 cm) and it held up very well. 

You can add more than the four books to the Prima Nomad's Bonded Leather Traveler's Journal by using the "Travelers Notebook" connecting Bands in the standard size.  I tried them out and they fit these journals well.  

Additionally, the pockets on the front cover of the Nomad's journal are quite unique.  

Jet Setter Front pockets vs Nomad's Front Pockets

You can see the difference in pockets between the Prima Nomad's Travelers Journal and the front inside cover of the Prima Jet Setter Travelers Journal in the photo above.  I really like the unique pockets on this one.

As you can see in the first picture (above)  I have laid out a Hobonichi stencil so you can get an idea of the length of the two top pockets.

I can actually fit the entire stencil in either of those two pockets. So it would hold a ruler or other similarly length item without any problems.

In case you wondering about the quality of the paper, I did an ink test on one of the inserts which is in the Jet-Setter Review.  I found that my pens worked great on the paper.  The ink just went on so smoothly.  Some of the inks did bleed through a little on the back side of the paper but over all it is pretty good. I don't mind the shadowing from the inks onto the back side of the page, since I tend to add ephemera to my pages anyway.  The Prima Marketing site states that these papers are great for mixed media.  I decided to run my own test to see how well these papers would do. In the first photo I used the Prima Watercolors on the paper.

Here is a look at the back of the page.  As you can see there is a very slight shadowing of the watercolor on that side.

I also tested the paper using my Tim Holtz Distress Stain. I choose a pretty bright color to see how much of it would bleed or shadow through to the back side of the paper.

I think it did really well.  I can hardly see the shadowing of the stain on the other side.  

The Prima Marketing Company offers 11 different paper inserts that suit a variety of needs which include mixed media paper, monthly, daily, and even weekly inserts. The paper insert notebooks are pretty reasonably priced and can be purchased on Amazon and other online stores.  They also have a line of stickers and stamps that were created to use with the travelers notebooks.  

Disclaimer: I do not work for Prima Marketing. I purchased these Travelers Style journals with my own money.  Also, these are my own opinions which can vary from others.  My best advice to do a bit of research on the travelers journals that you like and make sure they meet your own personal needs.

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DIY Watercolor Paper Inserts for Travelers Notebook

Most people have their favorite watercolor paper but it is hard to find the various brands in all travelers notebook sizes. It is even harder if you have one of the smaller pocket size and or micro size travelers notebooks.  I have been using my Hobonichi for an art journal and while that works well the size is a bit bulky (Cousin Size) to carry in my purse.  So I decided to make my own art journal out of my favorite Canson Motval 140 Watercolor Paper and add to my Onica Hamby Travelers Notebook.  It is great paper to watercolor on.  The watercolor paper is not too thick and it is perfect for folding into a more portable size.  It also dries fairly quick which I find helpful when i finish working on a page.  Additionally, I can easily find the paper online and at my local art store.

Instead of making a cover for my watercolor insert, I decided to purchase some great premade folders from Analog Stationers. They have a great selection of folders that offer different style pockets which I found quite useful for holding watercolor paper scraps, stickers and my favorite ruler.

Onica Hamby (Analog Stationers) Pocket Folders

Supplies Needed:
Canson 140 lb Watercolor Paper (or the paper of your choice) (9"x12")
Analog Stationers Travelers Notebook Pocket Folder (I bought the personal size pocket folder for my Travelers Notebook).
Paper Cutter
Plastic Bone Folder tool
Ruler
Pencil (optional)

Step 1:
Measure your Travelers Notebook to figure out what size to cut the paper down to.


Step 2:
Lay open your pocket folder and measure it.  Take a 1/4" off the top and side measurement to be sure that your folded watercolor paper will fit into the pocket folder. If you are not using a pocket folder, you can also make your insert cover by just cutting a piece of card stock to use as a cover.  I just like the pocket folders because they offer the convenience of pockets to hold various supplies like stickers, ephemera and other things I like to use in my journaling.

Step 3:

Using the paper cutter, cut the paper to size.  The size of the these particular papers allowed me to cut a page for my personal and a page for my passport sized Travelers Notebook.  Tip: Save the scraps, they are great to use to test out your watercolors and for other projects.

Step 4:
Fold each sheet in half. Then use the plastic bone folder to score on the crease line. This helps the paper to stay folded and makes the paper fit inside the pocket folder better.

Step 5:

To finish, just insert the folded pages into the pocket folder and then insert them into the Travelers Notebook.

I don't sew or staple the paper because I want to be able to pull out the pages whenever I want.  It also makes it easy to add or remove pages to the pocket folder.

I was easily able to fit these pages into my personal sized travelers notebook.   Below is a video on how I set up my art journal to make it easy for me to carry with me and use.  I would love for your to share links to your set up videos below.






Note: This post is unsponsored. I purchased all items myself.



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My Review of the Yoobi Stamp Rollers

If you love stamping on cards, paper, journals and planners then you are going to enjoy the Yoobi
Stamp Rollers.  The Yoobi Stamp Rollers are marketed mostly towards back to school crafting supplies. However, I love using the Yoobi Stamp Rollers in my travelers journal.  I recently signed up for a fun 30 Day Bullet Journaling Challenge and was looking for something easy to use to decorate my bullet journal.  I came across the Yoobi Stamp Rollers when I saw them displayed at the Yoobi store in Arcadia, California.  I was intrigued with their company motto:

 "For every Yoobi item you purchase, a Yoobi item will be donated to a
classroom in need, right here in the U.S. It's that simple."

Pennant Flags in Red Ink

The single ink color stamp rollers sell for $4.99 and the three ink color stamp sells for $6.99.  According to the website, the inks are refillable. However, I did not find the refills on the site.  The stamp rollers come with covers that fit fairly securely and that helps keep the ink from drying out.  These rollers are very smooth and I had no trouble using them on my journal pages. I even tried them on my pocket travelers journal pages.

The Yoobi Stamp Roller dimensions are 1.14" x 1.1" x 2.28.  This is a great size for small hands to use to create some great kids crafts.  I lent them to my neighbors kids and they decorated some gift tags with them. 

3 ink color - Winter Stamp Roller

My favorite Yoobi Stamp Roller is the Winter Stamp Roller.  This is a 3 ink colored stamp that leaves the cutest winter Design.  I think it is perfect for creating fun holiday cards.  I am going to use it for an easy kid craft at church.  The rollers area really easy for kids to use. Here is a close up of the stamped image which is so cute!

Winter Stamp Roller

I stamped each roller onto one of my travelers notebook pages.  I love decorating my planner pages with fun designs and these worked perfectly.  The ink is pretty pigmented and does show a little through my Travelers Notebook paper.

The back side of my TN Notebook paper.

Yoobi Stamp Roller on Hobonichi Page.

I tested it on my Hobonichi Planner Page and it rolled very smoothly.  The Hobonichi Paper is very thin so I did get some shadowing on the back side of the stamped paged.

Yoobi Stamp Roller Ghosting on back of stamped Hobonichi page.

I also tested it on the paper of my Happy Planner which is a much thicker paper.  Once again, the stamp roller worked great.

Yoobi Stamp Roller Tested on a Happy Planner Page.

The Yoobi Stamp Roller did not leave any ghosting or show through on the back of the stamped page.

Back side of the stamped Happy Planner Page.

The Yoobi company did a great job with the patterns they are offering in the single ink stamps too.

As you can see, each roller shows the image in the ink color on the actual roller which makes it easy to tell which roller image you are working with.  I have used others that were not as easy to see and that makes me very appreciative that Yoobi took the time to do this for their customers.

Cupcakes in Pink (Magenta) Ink

The four designs and colors are:
Pennant Flags in Red Ink
Trees with Birds in Green Ink
Flowers in Orange Ink
Cupcakes in Pink (Magenta) Ink

I am really happy with my purchase and love that these stamps are kid friendly.  I plan on using them of for some fun kids crafts in this upcoming holiday season.  My family loves all the items we purchased for back to school from the Yoobi store and look forward to their new releases.

Note: I was not paid for this review. I purchased all the items with my own money at the Yoobi store.

Citysketch London: A Doodle Book for Dreamers: A Fun Pocket Travel Journal

Citysketch London is a cute light weight doodle book with nearly 100 creative prompts to inspire sketches of the city.  If you are planning on going to London or just dream about it, this is a fun book to inspire your own quick sketches or doodles.

The Book offers over 90 creative prompts to help the reader with ideas.  I love to use sketch books as traveling journals where I can put tickets, jot down thoughts and other fun paraphernalia  that I may collect on my trips.  This Citysketch London has some interesting information on different locations in London and gives the reader some some ideas for choosing a location or subject to sketch.

The prompts are easy to do like in the "Borough Market" section, the authors talk about some of varieties of foods sold in the area.  It also offers a great tips like warning the reader that the market is busy on Saturday mornings and will be crowded so the reader can plan accordingly.  Also the prompt for that section is to "complete a sketch of your favorite foods" with a few other ideas.  The prompts are all straight forward and easy to do. The main points is that the authors are trying to encourage the reader to actively participate in their surroundings and take note of the many small and interesting things London has to offer. The book provides some space for doodles or to adhere paraphernalia. I would say you have a half page of drawing space for most prompts.  Which is enough room for a quick sketch or to use for a short journal entry.  The video will provide a better idea of the space available for it.




Of course you do not have to do the prompts but they are fun and provide some interesting information along the way.  If you do take it on the road with you, I recommend using a pen loop or band to attach a pen or pencil to the sketch book to make it even easier to sketch when inspiration hits.

What types of sketch or journal books do you like to take on the road with you?