As per previous post, I have been thinking about my Traveler's Notebook a lot. This time it's about storage! I wanted things to matchy match!

Much cardstock was cut up while trying to figure out if I wanted to make an insert for a pen loop. I looked at a lot of pen cases and pen loops online! I finally settled on making something up on my own, that sat outside of the TN, to match the tallest and fattest pen I might ever carry (Opus 88 Omar).

At first I was going to make a smaller pen wrap, but then the scrap fabrics that I had were fat quarters, so I wanted to maximize the size and not cut things down unless I really needed to. In close second place was a square sized face towel that someone gifted to me...but I ended up using the fat quarters!

First I cut the 2 fabrics into squares, and then sewed them together. These are probably a decade old, but luckily very well matched! I chose the patchy fabric mosaic pattern to be the outward-facing surface, and matryoshka pattern to be the inside.

Then I folded the left/right corners towards the middle, then folded the bottom edge towards the upper-centre. Then I made a few small/X shaped stitches to keep things held together. The top flap is meant to be loose/tucked in, and the flap jutting out on the right side is also intention. I wasn't sure where I was going with this (I didn't make a pattern or have anything specific in mind) but I kind of liked the wabisabi folded look. Vaguely origami and furoshiki-inspired! I wanted it to be slimmer than my TN when laid on top. Can also use the TN elastic to hold it in place on top.

Inside of the cloth are removable fountain pen (or whatever pen what has a clip) inserts. These were made with left over HWA cover stock again. Can make the loops as small or as large as you want, for whatever size pen you have. The loops are also made out of card stock, and threaded through slits of the backing card stock—a lesson learned from Cross Structure Binding HWA! It's pretty secure and doesn't slip easily. You can also make different inserts for different situations.

I tried stuffing both inserts (back to back) into the pen case and it also works, just gets a big chunky! Otherwise you can also put inserts into any pencil case, if you're the kind of person who doesn't want your fountain pens to be touching each other. I'm not really that kind of person, haha, but I also haven't gone outside to write much since pandemic started.

Or clip the pens directly onto the fabric. Have a pen sticking out for quick access. Or dunk all your stuff inside without inserts.

Anyways, I think it's a fun match with my TN. Both have browny tones, inserts, customization, and versatility. It also looks like a stealth handkerchief that's poorly folded. Or a fancy pen burrito. I had fun making it up as I went along!

Laughing because the inside insert I made is very neutral tone, and the TN was more chill. Now with this bright warm cloth case, the vibe is completely different, and it matches matches the risograph cover notebooks more. Whoops!

I also stamped the interior notebook and the back cover with the new(ish) cling stamps I made, and an Aranzi Aronzo Rakuda-chan one.

Was gifted a sea otter cross stitch kit designed and compiled by Rachael Faith. I haven't cross stitched in probably, 20+ years. The pattern was easy to follow, though I messed up a few parts cause I got lazy with counting, as well as I just began to go rogue...

It took 2 full days to finish!! Probably because I wasn't particularly proficient with getting the needle through the back-to-front.

I had a super busy week so I'm glad for the weekend to be here. I'm also recovering from a mystery injury, but thankfully it is getting better and wasn't affecting my dominant arm. I treated myself to some Provolone Soresina and it's soooo good! Love the sharpness of it.

I tested out non-latex liquid masking fluid (non-latex, Demco) for the first time. I wasn't sure how it'd turn out but it was pretty straightforward to use, but Wai and I have the same gripe about how it's like erasing shavings on your paper later on!

I'm always looking for excuses to use my fountain pens more. I did learn cursive growing up, and although I do write semi-cursive on the regular, I forgot a lot of the uppercase letterforms in cursive.

I recently re-read HWA book 1 on my ereader and was feeling embarrassed about it all...

Today's music post: Sheep by Hiroshi Yoshimura

I have these extremely old risograph prints from 2012 that have been sitting in a portfolio...so I decided to make abstract art out of it haha.

I cut the prints up in 1" x 17" stripes, then taped one end and wove them together.

After that I sacrificed this peeler to the craft spirts and shaved some candle wax onto the surface, and ironed the wax to melt it and have it penetrate the paper. I flipped it over to do the back-side as well. I ended up using a hair blow dryer as well to flatten down the uneven wax parts as much as I could.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do it this, but I do like it more than the original drawing...

Today's music post: Jumping Dance by Mario Mathy (1987). This is one of those times where the video is a must watch for the strange but extremely passionate and energetic vibe this person has for their keyboard playing. It's REALLY 80s...