More Old Journals and Gelli Printing on Fabric Flags

Do you ever have one of those weeks that disappears right in front of your eyes? As I write this, it's actually very early Friday morning (or really late Thursday night, depending on how you look at it) 😉 and I'm catching up with all the things that have patiently waited for me. 

Last Drama-free Friday began with a few more beautiful old journals that I found. Every time I look through these journals, they become even more special to me. (If you care to take a closer look, just click the images below.)

I love reading through copies of my grandmothers letters and her diary from the early 1900s.

Although she was gone many years before I was born, I feel as though I know her because she took the time to tell the story of her life. I bet she thought it was as boring as I think mine is, 😉 but I'm so grateful that she took time to leave her life and handwriting behind for me.

I wish I could have been in my grandmother's presence, listened to her voice and celebrated holidays with her. Reading about her life is truly special and I cherish every page of the books she left behind.

In my stash of old journals, I also found a unique book kept by my grandmother's sister, who was a midwife. She recorded the details of all the births in which she assisted, which is fascinating reading. Most interesting of all are her entries where she helped with my mother's AND my father's births! They would not meet each other for another 25 years! This thing called “LIFE” is amazing, isn't it?

In my family it appears that it was much more common for the women to write about their lives than the men, so  you can imagine how excited I was to discover my dad's very tiny date book in which he recorded events that were important to him. Most of the dates are birthdays he wished to recall, but 2 others included the day he met my mother and the day he proposed to her.

My parents' courtship lasted 4 years and because they lived miles apart, they communicated almost exclusively by letter. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that each of them kept all the letters and carefully combined them for me to one day stumble across! Not only do I get to eavesdrop on their relationship, but I am privileged to enjoy their lovely handwriting. 

After my father retired from teaching at the local university, he joined a class about writing his memoirs. When I was tasked with cleaning out his home office, I happened across his notebook of rough drafts from the class. Since my dad saved almost everything, I was able to read through his revisions as well as his final papers. Even though I grew up with both my parents, I feel like my dad's memoirs allowed me to know him much more personally.

Drama-free Friday was just getting started! After discussing the pros and cons of journaling, I set up for monoprinting with my Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate in order to print some small fabric flags. I used Dylusions acrylic paint with various stencils and texture tools. If you don't have a plate for monoprinting, I bet you would enjoy it as long as you don't worry about the outcome. Printing with a Gelli Plate is a great way to relax and play!

Please join me for my next LIVE stream on Friday, June 16 at 2pm Eastern when we'll finish the flags AND have a BIG announcement! 

Until then ~

Remember to Get Creative today. It's Easy!

Barb