You’re probably saying to yourself, “She’s hunting Thanksgiving dinner.” Not so! Wild turkeys continuously roam our property in Oregon, but this summer four toms, fondly named Darrell, Darrel, Darrel and Darrel, took up permanent residence. They definitely deserved some pages in my daily journal.
I use almost anything for journaling. Some days when I’m feeling really creative I try new techniques and go all out embellishing the pages. Other times, it’s just a note on my calendar, torn out and glued into my notebook. For the turkey pages, I wanted to experiment with watercolor and coarse salt to create the backgrounds. I made all four background pages at the same time, letting them dry overnight. The water colors and the salt created swirls and wonderful designs.
I’m not a fan of my own handwriting, so much of my journaling is done on the computer. Often times I will take a few minutes in the evening to make my notes in a word processing program. After printing, I cut the notes in blocks of text and glue them to my pages. I’ve used this technique throughout these projects. I always like to make a pocket on a page for holding more pictures—or, in this case, a couple of feathers. I received permission from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to use the feathers for this article.
The life span of a wild turkey is short, as they fall victim to many predators. I knew I needed to preserve their memory in photos. They have a keen sense of hearing and very good eyesight, so it’s really hard to sneak up on them. This is where good tracking procedures come in. I followed them around our property and found they would usually be in the same place at the same time. A little corn for a snack was also helpful. I used their pictures on half of this page and made a tag from the photo scraps.
Ink Jet Transfers are a favorite of mine. You will find I used transfers throughout these journal pages. To achieve the same results, you cannot deviate from the paper and gel medium. Great White Paper is currently being manufactured under the name of Hammermill Jet Print Photo - Imaging and Photo – Matte Finish. The original boxes of Great White can however, still be found at stationery and discount stores. Be sure to read all labels and warnings when working with gel mediums. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from the Rossmans and Darrell, Darrell, Darrel and Darrell. Gobble Gobble.
