This past May we had a small-but-mighty group of travelers on an unforgettable adventure with Adventures in Italy.  I was thrilled to welcome Michelle Schratz, AKA rasberrybluesky to lead the group in creative play!  Michelle attended a workshop in 2022 and we got to talking…which ended up with me inviting her back to teach this year.  Michelle has a super playful style and reminds us not to get hung up on perfection.  This “permission” to play and try things really opened up opportunities for everyone to experiment with new methods of creating art in making travel journals.  For a lot of the group, the biggest new thing was using the sewing machine to stitch on paper, and add extra threads to the rubber band that holds the book together.

The group used stencils, watercolor and acrylic paints, watercolor and water-resistant crayons, and found papers to create pages for the travel journals.

paint and stencils

artist at work

all the different papers that found their way into this journal

Art journalers are scavengers.  We took paper placemats, promotional flyer, maps, business cards…wine labels!  Any kind of paper in our path was fair game.

carefully peeling a wine label off the bottle

Along with creative time, we had cultural excursions and lots of meals, which all also became opportunities to forage for materials for our books.  At Pozzo della Cava we learned about the history of the over 1200 caves beneath Orvieto.

inside the pozza della cava

We had a fabulous tour of the Duomo with Lucianna.  May is a great time to be in Orvieto as the corporal cloth is on display.  You’ll have to see for yourself!

the corporal cloth

Locally produced olive oil and traditional Umbrian foods and wines were on the evening menu at Bartolomei, guided by our sommelier, Graziella.

We visited Lorenzo at his farm, Casale Polegri, and cooked a delicious lunch.

making dough

To cap off the week, we visited Palazzone for wine tasting and a beautiful look back at Orvieto on the rock.

some of the wines and snacks at palazzone

view of Orvieto in the background from the belvedere

Michelle coordinated with Federico Badia to create a special way to keep our travel journals together, so we had a field trip to the shop.

at Federico Badia’s leather shop with Hannah, who made the leather pieces for our books

We shared our journals over aperitivi at the Blue Bar.  It was an unforgettable adventure of a week sharing stories and pieces of ourselves with these wonderful women.  Find yourself an adventure of your own and join us!

Anthony at the Blue Bar

Other posts you might enjoy:

A Food Tour of Orvieto

Pozzo di San Patrizio

Wood Work

Michelle Logue leads cultural and creative adventures in Orvieto, Italy. With a mandate to provide "travel that transforms", Adventures in Italy gives guests an immersive experience. After more than 15 years of return trips, Orvieto has become a welcoming home base surpassing the typical Italian vacation. Adventures in Italy operates trips in May and September, with two options: Artistic Enrichment nurtures creative expression, while Discover Orvieto invites visitors to focus on the history and culture of Orvieto and live as locals. Find out more about tours and special offers by following Adventures in Italy on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and visit www.adventuresinitaly.ca Slow Travel Tours is an affiliation of small-group tour operators who offer personalized trips in Italy, France and other European countries.