Do you have a hobby? Mine is rubber stamping and card crafting. My last voice teacher got me interested in this, and I must say that not only is it quite relaxing, but it brings me great pleasure, It's so satisfying to create beautiful physical objects. They stay around, unlike a performance, which is gone as soon as it's done (unless it's recorded).
Lately, I needed a new journal, and rather than buy one, I remembered that I had an unfinished “Subway Journal”, in one of my crafting supply boxes. I gave these items that name because I used to make them as accompaniments to my NYC subway rides. I haven't been on the NYC subway in years, and indeed, I probably started this journal sometime around my “Escape from New York” days, back in, oh, 2013.
Here's what I started with:
It began life as a plain, brown, craft paper covered Moleskine lined journal. The first thing I add to the front cover is some Wonderland-themed clip art. This John Tenniel illustration of the Hatter comes from Chapter 11, “Who Stole the Tarts?” of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This is from a Wonderland clip art sheet put together by a company called Alpha Stamps. Next comes some gesso, which you can see already on the photo on the left, above.
Eventually, I apply gesso to the entire cover, front and back. Let dry.
I then apply background color using paint and craft crayons. The paints are Distress Paints and the crayons are from Faber-Castell.
Once the background colors have dried, it's time to layer the main image over them. I used to use a large, Harlequin-patterned rubber stamp, but it is smaller than the journal, which makes it tricky to cover the entire front with the design. A few years ago, I acquired a Tim Holtz stencil with the same pattern, so I used that this time. It's still not the same width as the journal, but the height is perfect, and because it's a stencil, it's easier to reposition than a rubber stamp. The ink is Encore's Blue Metallic pigment ink. Let dry (this took a surprisingly long time, I have to say. Love those Encore inks, though.)
I always put a quote on the cover that's connected to the clip art. I use a set of Alphabet Rubber Stamps by Hero Arts. As you can see below, they are woodblock rubber stamps already into a lovely diamond-shaped surface. Bonus!--they fit perfectly into the Harlequin pattern. (I love it when you find craft supplies at different times and then find that they play well with other things already in your collection.) The quote connects to the clip art, of course. It's part the King's opening sentence to the Hatter, “Don't be nervous…” The Hatter, poor guy, has been called up as a witness in the trial of the Knave of Hearts. I used Black Soot Distress Ink for the letters.
I always put some variation on my Flying Tea Time design on the back covers of my Subway Journals. The next group of photos shows how I construct the figure of Time from a few different stamps--the clock face, the hour and minute hands, the wings. I also add some flying cups and saucers, teapots, and “Time for Tea” in there. These come from various collections of stamps. My ink here is Brilliance Pigment Ink in Graphite Black.
And then the inside needs a little decorating…
Next, I always like to contextualize the cover quote, and what better place for that than the inside of the front and back covers? Here you see more relevant words from Chapter 11. I simply ink jet print these onto plain white paper, cut them out, and paste them in.
But, I can't simply leave them like that, so they get a bit of painted embellishment.
I sew a diamond-pattern ribbon bookmark--with a little bronze tea bag added--onto the back cover…
And then I finish it off with the “April + Madison 2026” signature (Madison's “signature” is the Hatter's top hat). Voilà! Another completed Wonderland-inspired (non-)Subway Journal!
Share in the comments what your go-to relaxing hobby is, if you have one. If you don't have one, maybe this blog post will serve as inspiration to find one.