One of my readers left a comment saying she has trouble finding pens that will write on backgrounds done with acrylic paint in her journal.  I have heard this question often, so I’ll answer it here.

My favorite pens for journal writing are the UniBall 207 by Signo.  I have never had any trouble with them writing on acrylic backgrounds.  They come in several colors and are available at office supply stores and discount stores.  I also like Jelly Roll pens (link below).  They come in all sorts and lots of colors including neon and metallic.  I especially like them for writing on dark backgrounds.  They are very smooth and write fine on acrylic.  For a white pen, I like the Sakura white pen (link below).  They seem to run out of ink quickly, but they are smooth and write well on acrylic.  For a larger tip, I also use the Sharpie paint pens in white.  I have also used white out pens if they have a small tip.

I use other pens but sometimes they do clog up with paint and take some babying.  One tip I can give you is when writing, try to sort of glide the pen tip over the page, rather than digging into the paint.  It’s hard to describe.  It’s like pulling the ink along the surface.  Hopefully you can play around and figure it out.

Here is a link to a very extensive article by Kelly Killer on pens she uses in art journaling.  The links I referenced above are in her article.  It’s much more comprehensive than mine, so I’m sure you’ll find some pens to try there.

I did a little Photoshopping with my photo today.  It is a picture of some icicles hanging from our neighbor’s eaves.  It looked pretty blah so I removed the background and used a Photoshop filter.  It’s pretty cool now I think, and something I might use in a collage.

Writing

I have always loved to tell stories.  Some people say that gift is a precursor to writing.  I’m not sure I agree.  For me, story telling involves a lot of body language and tone of voice.  But I want to learn to write, so I’m taking a leap and trying to tell my stories in written form.  My word for 2010 is acceptance.  I am bringing acceptance into my life by starting a blog where I actually write my stories.  I am accepting that I dont’ write well;  I’m accepting that I want to write better;  I’m accepting that the only way to improve is to do it;  I’m accepting that people who read my writing will not dislike me or shame me;  I’m accepting that if I accept myself exactly as I am, good writer or not, that others will accept me, too.

So, you will notice a new tab at the top of this blog.  It says, “Stories I Tell”.  If you click on it, you can read my writing attempts there.

Today’s podcast is an interview with Chris Cade from Spiritual Short Stories.com

I think you will enjoy this interview with Chris who is a person with a unique perspective and an inspiring attitude. My life has been enhanced by getting to know Chris, and I hope yours will be, too.

Check out the site for his upcoming e-book for some great free gifts!

[audio:http://creativeclown.com/podcasts/chriscade-interview.lite.mp3]

I am so pleased to post this podcast. Terri St Cloud is an amazing person and I am happy that you all get to learn a little about her. I think you will be inspired by her abounding love and energy.

Please take a moment to go to Terri’s site and read some of her bone sighs.  They will reach to your core!

She is now publishing books of her bone sighs, and you can find those here.

After you hear this interview, I know you’re going to want  more, so check out her blog.