Creating in My Art Journal Step-by-Step

I find it helpful to see another artist's process step-by-step, so I thought you might also.  Here's the beginning of an art journal page-- a blank, clean space in my board book.

I was thinking of a visit to the summer camp where I worked in my youth as I pulled out a collection of collage papers from my basket.

When I have extra watercolor paint at the end of a painting session, I often splash washes of color on scrap paper and stick it in my collage basket.

I laid out some papers and spread some Yes! paste down with an old cruise card.

With the base glued down, I worked out what I wanted for the next layer.

After I glued it down, using a glue stick and Tombow Mono Aqua glue, I decided I wanted a little sparkle.  I drew with the pen tip of the Aqua glue, and then dusted the page with some vintage gold leaf dust.

I let the glue dry.

After the glue dried, I dusted off the excess gold powder and felt that the spread needed a bit of contrast.  I rubbed ink pads --black and vintage photo color -- along the edges of the pages.

I felt the page spread still needed something... so I added a few hearts and the word Camp.

When I'm art journaling, playing with little embellishments like the hearts, the glittery gold dust and the stamp pads deepens the process.  It's all play, and there's no wrong answer.  If I decide I don't like some element, I can paint or collage over it.

When you create in an art journal, I hope you give yourself this same latitude.  Create freely, on a whim.  Don't wait for perfection -- it never arrives!  Listen for that quiet, little nudge from your intuition and have fun!

Happy Creating!

Upcycling a Board Book into an Art Journal

I got the idea to upcycle an old board book into an art journal from this YouTube video by Ceri Griffiths. 

https://youtu.be/XijpQxrfh_8?si=7RH4uvZHCJKXcnuS

Ceri walks you through the process of removing the printed surface of the book to create a blank board book to journal on.

Inspired by Ceri, I thrifted a board book at my favorite Goodwill store and prepared it for art journaling.  Then I dug through my painted papers and other collage scraps, pulling out bits that appealed to my artist's eye.  I didn't use them all, but followed my Intuition, that tiny voice within, and started gluing down papers, adding text, drawings, tissue paper, whatever!

  The brown "calligraphy" below on the left is from a Wanderlust 2024 class with artist Eugénie Bilotte.  You can find Wanderlust - a year of classes in art journaling -- at Everything Art (https://www.everything-art.com/). 

The fern on the right is a gelli print on a book page.

I love black print on earth-toned papers -- from tea bags to old book pages and cardboard.  On some page spreads, I simply created a background of collaged papers.  I can add more later as the inspiration strikes.

Other pages came together with a focal point and a theme, like this bluebird & nest page about the revitalization & nurturing I receive from time spent in nature.

My favorite page of the entire book so far is this one, reminding me to follow my Intuition (rather than my inner critic, the Hobgoblin).  I mingled collage, hand-cut stamps, gold acrylic ink and ink pens.

The beauty of creating in an art journal is that you can use any medium you have, from pencils and ballpoint pens to bits of paper from your daily life, to stencils, stamps, paints ... anything!  

And if you find you don't like something you put down, you can paint or collage over it, shaping the page in a new direction.  Just listen to that quiet little voice -- your Intuition-- and follow what it says.  

I find my Intuition never leads me astray.

Happy Creating!