This Week's Visual Journals

week 31 of 2026

Hello! Good morning! Hope you’re well. It’s August so happy August! My kids are well and truly off school now and we have a jam-packed summer so I will be taking the next 3 weeks off (more on that below).

This week though, I was visiting my parents in Northern Ireland with my younger two which was stunning (and refreshing). There’s a lot of photos in this post, mainly from the area of Benone, Donegal and Eglinton: hills, coast, my sketchbook work, food and some more highlights. So let’s get started!

sketching in the fields

My Creative Reset

As mentioned in my post last week, I was keen to dive deep into a creative reset while in Ireland. I took several sketchbooks and my trusted travel kit and ended up sketching quite a lot of loose landscapes, in a relax way using all sorts of greens and touches of neon pink. Fun!

I also ended up doing most of the things on my non-negotiable morning rituals as well as most of my ideas on the flexible list: swim in the sea, sketch and journal whenever I could, go for walks daily, generally slow down. And for this I’m thankful.

As a gift, below is a printable of the sheet I used (which I tweaked back in the spring). If you missed my post last week and you would also like a creative reset of your own this summer, this is for you! If you print this (please download first, then print for it to fit on one page), I’d love to see how you’ve filled it in!

This Week’s Visual Journal Spread

This time-lapse shows you my process while creating this week’s spread in my 2026 visual journal sketchbook. I was very inspired this week by the landscapes/seascapes in Ireland. I took a small sketchbook and a larger one to Ireland: both Stillman & Birn, the Beta series.

Step 1 - I put down some tape and added a base of watercolour and Neocolor 2, adding swatches of colour I used on the bottom left of the sketchbook spread.

Step 2 - Once the first layer was dry, I added definition with Neocolor 2 and once that was done, I left the tape on until the end for that crisp effect.

Step 3 - Using my Kaweco fountain pen, I logged some of the magical mundane moments that happened during my visit to Ireland and continued to log events by illustrating little things that brought me joy. For example: the Donegal strawberries we had to eat, nasturtiums I spotted on my parents’ street, thistles in the local hedgerows.

My week in Ireland

More Magic Mundane Moments in Ireland

• sketching in the fields while the kids zoomed down the hill on dad’s handmade go-kart

• having a cup of tea with family - simple and good

• swimming in the ocean at Downings, Benone and Shrove - all quite cold but very much worth it

• picking up a spiced chai latte at the Sea Shed in Benone after a cold swim

• full breakfast at the Red Castle hotel

Downings: the bay, McNutt and the traditional Irish pub

• first time visiting the original Irish weaving McNutt blanket shop in Downings after having had cushions and blankets by them for years

• the old traditional Irish pub in Downings which I had been to in winter but never in summer - still gorgeous and cozy

• all the vibrant colours: bright green, turquoise, reds, fushias, blues and greys

• eating white chocolate and raspberry scones from The Green Cat, Eglinton

• re-reading some of my very old correspondence and journals (bit cringe but sweet and also quite pleasing to know that at age 45, I now know myself a lot better)

Ireland in July

End of Term Club News

• Monday 3rd August and 24th August - I will be out of office/studio. ALL PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS WILL BE PAUSED for a summer break - if you’re already a paying subscriber, you don’t need to do anything, and you get full access to all the archives free of charge during this time - it’s a great time to catch up on any sessions/challenges/series you’ve missed. Plus I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the club prices will be increasing in September and if you just stay as is, you won’t be charged that increase (basically, you do not need to do anything, this increase will only affect anyone who becomes a paying subscriber from September onwards). If you would like to join the fun and become a paying subscriber, please note that you cannot do this during the pause, you need to do this either prior to my break or after.

• Monday 24th August 7pm BST - New Term Prep Party: Co-Creating session (1hr) sharpen pencils, swatch new paints, share summer projects, perfect opportunity to share your summer bingo outcome. This is a chatty session throughout.

• Friday 28th August 7pm BST - Co-Journaling session (1hr) This is a silent journaling session (muted, bring your own music), with 15mins to chat at the end.

• Monday 1st September - Gazette Drop with all the dates for the month.

I’m already setting up dates for the new term - thinking sharpened pencils, dahlias and so much more. September and October are my absolute favourite time of year and I can’t wait to enjoy it with you! It’s going to be sooooo rich and lush and great!!

Note: all Zoom sign up Luma links are now in a post that is pinned at the top of the club page (look out for “Sign Ups for This Month”) and I also post every event in the club chat (which is exclusive to paying members). Head to these Luma links to sign up, they calculate your time zone and it will remind you a day prior to the call. Super clever!

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Thanks so much for reading! If you’re new around here, welcome!

🍋 Join us and carve out time to be creative with us in the club! The Time Foragers’ Club is an opportunity to meet together, celebrate the seasons and create.

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🍓 Have a fantastic summer and I’ll see you soon! xx