Some WIP art journal pages, photos from Stockholm, and I'm packing my suitcase again

It has been yet another unproductive weekend spent mostly on the sofa, mostly thanks to a colonoscopy on Monday. Have you ever had a colonoscopy? Most people who have never had one, find the procedure itself the most worrying part, while actually, it is the least disagreeable part. At least if you have a doctor like mine - you get some muscle relaxing stuff put into your vein and happily doze through the whole thing. By far the worst part is that disgusting stuff you have to drink to completely clean your bowels beforehand. I've had several colonoscopies, and many more to come, and having to get those 2 litres down is always the thing I dread most. It takes me ages, and it just makes you feel sick and miserable and exhausted.

So I didn't get much drawing or painting done, this week, but I have a couple of journal pages that I started. The first one is in my Leuchtturm journal, and it turned into a bit of a colour sampling page, as I tried to decide which red to pack for my next adventure (more about that at the end of the post) - Cadminum Red Light (top) or Cadmium Red Medium (bottom). I decided for the latter.

I have quite a few stamps and stencils, but I hardly ever use them these days, and I try not to buy an new ones. I do like their designs, but in my art, I just prefer to use my own designs, instead of someone else's. But I went to a big craft shop in the centre of Stockholm, and I just couldn't resist buying some clear stamps with sentiments in Swedish.

These tow pages are in my Moleskine journal, and I actually started them in Stockholm, in my hotel room, using some of the pieces we had used and created during the workshop.

I also got some more photos from Stockholm and Vaxholm edited.The beautiful old town, Gamla Stan, with its warm coloured old and wonky buildings.

It was especially magical in the beautiful evening light.

Norrhamnen in the early morning light. If you ever go to Vaxholm, make sure to visit this little bay, just a few minute's walk from Söderhamnplan (where the bus and boats arrive), and to stop at the Hembygdsgårds Café. It's a charming place, and they have amazing food and cakes at the café! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go there this time, I only had half an hour for a quick visit before the workshop started, but next time I'm there, I will!

On my last day, I met up with a friend I only knew from Facebook. We went to Rosendal, a charming garden with a café on Djurgården. Social media are great to find and connect with like minded people all over the world, but it still just isn't quite the same as actually having a coffee or lunch together and talking to each other in person. It was so lovely to meet her, and we had a great time, and it was the perfect thing to do before having to go to the airport and travel back home later that day.

Tomorrow, I'm off to another adventure. I've always wanted to go to an art retreat, but I was always far too late and they were sold out long before I even knew they existed. But a year ago, I was finally early enough, and now I'm going to spend next week drawing and painting in Scotland. I would have preferred for my two art adventures abroad to not be quite so close together. In my mind, I'm still in Stockholm, and still full of all the inspiration, which I can't wait to let flow into my art journal. But of course I'm also very much looking forward to next week, albeit feeling slightly apprehensive about spending an entire week with absolute strangers, in shared accommodation... But I'm sure it'll be a blast. And after Scotland, I'll travel to the other end of the isle, to lovely Dorset, to spend a relaxing week with N. I am really looking forward to that. Relaxing, resting, doing nothing, recharging. That's just what I need right now.

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