30 Day Art Journal Challenge: June 2020
In the middle of May I sent out an email to my list and asked if they would be interested in doing a 30 day art journal challenge in June. It was the end of my work day as I sent off the newsletter, and the next morning I was (happily!) surprised to see my inbox filled with “yes!” replies! I immediately started thinking: what would the theme for the challenge be? At first I though summer, since the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere is June 20, but then I realized not all of my fellow art journalers live in the Northern Hemisphere! So then I thought… Joy! (Of course! haha!) 30 Day Art Journal Challenge While I’m calling this a “30 day challenge”, it’s most important to me that you have FUN with it! (I’ve done the 100 day project several times now, and while it always feels good in the end — and I have great growth as a person and artist — it can feel like A LOT OF PRESSURE – especially towards the middle.) So, no pressure here! If you can do one art journal spread each day, awesome! If you need to skip a day? Or only participate once a week? THAT’S OKAY, TOO. Also, the list I’ve created for each day’s prompt is just a suggestion. You can take the prompts quite literally, or you can be completely creative and do something wild and unusual! It’s your art journal, so it’s really up to you! Each day, after you’ve created your art journal spread, please share it with us on Instagram! (More info about that, below.) I’m going to *try* to stay a day ahead myself, and post my interpretation for each daily prompt early each morning on Instagram. But I, like you, am busy and have a lot going on in these crazy times… so while I will do my best to hold to that schedule, I might get behind sometimes, too. Again, this is meant to be joyful, and low pressure, right?! 😉 But also: I’m REALLY excited! I haven’t hosted a 30 day art challenge for a year and a half! I’m not sure why I waited so long to do it again, because it was so fun last time! Anyway… Below is the list of prompts. I’ve made them a few ways so you can: print it out and keep in in your art journal for reference, you can share it on Instagram, and finally I made the tall/skinny one to share on Pinterest, if you’d like. (I’d love it! Pinterest is my love language! ;)) If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below, contact me, or send me a DM on Instagram. IMPORTANT: to that we can see what everyone is making, please do share your art journal pages on Instagram using the hashtag: #JoyfulArtJournalingJune
Using Recycled Materials in Your Art Journal: Security Envelopes
One of the things I love about art journals (and creative exploration in general) is that there are no real rules. You can color, paint, collage, stamp, draw, doodle, write, create your own journals, and so much more! And yes, I did *just* create this ultimate list of 150+ art journal supplies, but I’m a BIG believer in using recycled materials in your art journal! Today I’m going to talk about a fun and free material you probably have somewhere in your house right now: security envelopes! Have you ever noticed that the inside of security envelopes usually have some sort of cool (or wild, fun, minimal, silly, etc.) pattern? Here are just a few from my own stash of junk mail finds: If you look closely, you’ll see all sorts of patterns… mostly in black or grey, but a few are blue. There are squiggly lines, cross hatching, an almost “animal” type print, random fuzz, weaving, geometric patterns and more! (I also included a few other cool finds from my mailbox, like colored papers, a hand drawn pattern, etc.) I keep these all in my stash, and use them in a variety of ways! Just this week I used them as a background for this spread: I’m not even sure what you’d call that pattern?! It reminds my of something biological, or maybe some kind of print you’d see on t-shirts in the 80’s, with bright geometric pops of neon! But I digress… I encourage using the inside of security envelopes as recycled material in your art journal for a few reasons: One is because they provide an instant background or first layer to start off your art journal page or spread. It’s a quick and easy way to start, so you’re not just staring at a (sometimes intimidating) blank white page. Another reason is because they add this wild dichotomy of minimal and intense pattern. On one hand, they provide an almost neutral background to start your art journal page. Yet, on the other, the patterns are typically pretty wild and definitely interesting to take a close look at! (psst… if you like this idea, please consider saving it to Pinterest:) Of course, this is just one idea of virtually countless ideas! You could: create your own pattern with multiple security envelope patterns you could cut letters from the paper to create a quote you could layer it with more colorful patterns you could color it in with markers turn them into small envelopes inside of your art journal (meta!) dry brush paint over them write a quote on top of them Hopefully these ideas have sparked an idea for your art journal! TOOLS & SUPPLIES USED IN THIS PROJECT:USING RECYCLED MATERIALS IN YOUR ART JOURNAL Stillman & Birn Zeta Series Softcover Sketchbook, 5.5″ x 8.5″ Recycled Security Envelopes Old & Newer Magazines Acid Free Glue Sticks 1970’s Houseplants Book Winsor & Newton Gouache in “Flesh Tint” Non-Stick Scissors Fiskars Softgrip Craft Knife And in case you wanted to know, I was watching Parks and Recreation while I journaled! ☺️
How to Start An Art Journal
Whether you’re a first time art journaler or you’ve been doing it for years, knowing how to start an art journal can always feel intimidating. But not after today! I’m going to share with you five light and joyful ways to start your own art journal, because art journaling should never be intimidating or hard. I think, in some ways, I’ve always been an art journaler. As a little girl I collected stickers in an album (the puffy, and scratch and sniff varieties were my favorite!) I’d draw horses and unicorns and Pegasus constantly. And as a teen I was always filling up notebooks with drawings, doodles, poems, patterns (I looooved making patterns!) and more. Later, in art school, I always had a sketchbook on hand, but that was also when I started incorporating more collage elements. If I drew a professor’s face in the corner of my notes during a boring lecture, I’d tear it out and glue it into my sketchbook; along with test prints, art supply receipts, art show fliers, doodles, notes from classes, and yes, actual sketches. Having said that, now that I art journal for fun (and share a lot of it here on this blog and Instagram and Pinterest), when I open a brand new journal, it can still feel intimidating! Which is why I came up with the first idea in this list… 1. How to Start an Art Journal: Skip It I can hear you asking… What do you mean, skip it, Jules? I mean skip just that: the first page. For many people, this is the most intimidating part of an art journal. It’s the page they want to be the most “successful” (that could mean pretty, no mistakes, colorful, etc.) and so they put WAY TOO MUCH PRESSURE on it. So rather than stress yourself out, just start on the second page. You can always go back and work on that first page when you’re ready. In fact, I know one art journaler who doesn’t create anything on that first page until the rest of the journal is completely finished. That way she has an idea of the theme that journal took on, and can highlight that on the very first page. An Important Note: One thing that I LOVE about art journaling is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. You can incorporate: mixed media, watercolor, words, collage, pencil, pens, drawing, doodles, sewing, illustrations, patterns, lyrics, washi tape, stencils, photographs, stickers, pastels, stamps, painting… the ideas are virtually endless! But sometimes you’ll make a page in your art journal that you’ll just hate. I’m pretty sure it happens to everyone, at some point. (I know it’s happened to me!) And that’s okay! Because we do have so many ways to art journal, even if you despise a page, you can always cover it up! My “go to” is creating a collage over anything I don’t love. But you could also paint the whole page a solid color and start over. Or glue another blank page right on top of the “unsuccessful” page you dislike. So even if you don’t skip the first page, and you end up hating what you make, there is always a way to do it over. So relax and enjoy the process! 2. Another way to Start an Art Journal: With a Quote I’m not a confident hand-letterer, but I still like to use the written word in my art journals. (I recently bought “Learn Brush Lettering” to improve my skills!) But the thing is, you don’t have to use your own writing for the quote. You could cut a complete quote out of a magazine or greeting card, etc. You could paint all over a page, cut the letters out of that and then glue them to your page. You could cut different size/color/font letters out of magazines “kidnapper” style. You could even use stickers: either individual letters, or a sticker with a quote already on it. (This collection of stickers has both. In fact, I blogged about how to use that set here, “Art Journal Ideas: Using Crate Paper Stickers and Die-Cuts in Your Journal“.) I think starting with a quote, no matter how you make it, is a fun way to not only start your art journal, but give it a theme (if that’s something you want to do.) Either way, the quote could be something that you said, something that someone you admire said, a line from a song, a phrase you like to use, a poem, or something to do with the theme of that particular art journal. In this example, I simply use the word “begin”… so it can be as simple as that! 3. An Easy Way to Start an Art Journal: Use a Prompt Using a prompt is a great way to start your art journal! In fact, there are so many prompts out there on the Internet (and right here on my blog!), you’ll never really have to come up with your own art journal ideas if you don’t want to. In fact, I created an art journal prompt generator. With the click of a button it will give you a new art journal idea… keep clicking until you find one you like! I also have an entire Pinterest board filled with art journal prompts and ideas, so feel free to follow me there for new ideas, too. I took this watercolor class where we had new painting prompts every day, and I used that to fill this page: 4. How to Start an Art Journal: Join In On An Art Journal Challenge I love participating in art journal challenges! In fact, one that really helped me get back into my regular art journaling practice was the Daily Art Journal Challenge with Get Messy on CreativeBug. The “live” challenge is over, but you can still participate on your own time: I have art journal challenges from time to time, too. So
Visual Journaling: Drawing Your Feelings – A Class Review
I’ve been taking creative classes on Skillshare for years now, but when I took “Visual Journaling: Drawing Your Feelings” last week, I know I had to share it (and my class projects!) with all of you, because I think you’ll love taking it, too. (Especially when you learn, below, how you can take it for free!) In case you haven’t heard of it, Skillshare is kind of like the Netflix of online learning. They have nearly 20,000 classes, on all kinds of topics: from creative classes like this one, to business and social media and photography, and beyond. The classes are taught by people who are experts in their field to everyday creatives like you and I, all sharing their gifts. The best thing is, when you use this special link, you can take this Visual Journaling class, as well as any of the other 1000’s of classes FREE for 2 months! Anyway! Enough about Skillshare… let’s get to the class review: Well, I’m going to share a spoiler here, which is probably obvious but I loved this class! I only have one complaint, and it’s pretty tiny and based on a pet-peeve I have with classes like this, so I’ll just get it out of the way now… I’ve taken a lot of art journaling classes in which the teachers aren’t making art in their actual journals (or even sketchbooks). I can see why they might do this (flat paper? If they make a mistake, no one has to know? Bigger size? Maybe there’s another reason I can’t think of…) This class is the same way. Even though the extremely talented instructor, Jordan Sondler, shows bits of a skecthbook or art journal, her actual projects are done on a single sheet of paper. Again, this is just a tiny pet peeve of mine, and should you decide to create your own class projects on a single sheet of paper, I suppose you could always glue it into your art journal later. But enough about that! Let’s get to the good stuff! One of my favorite things about this visual journaling class is actually the instructor herself! Jordan is not only talented, but she’s REAL. For instance, she makes mistakes, but just goes with it. She’s vulnerable in her projects, too, letting us into her world. But besides the fun class projects she teaches, my favorite thing about her is how funny she is! Okay, maybe not like Bridesmaids kind of funny, but she has this subtle, honest humor that made me laugh, over and over! She’s the kind of person you want to be best friends with, and the type of person that helps you bring your own guard down when doing each project. For instance, it was easy to share what inspires me (the first exercise of five in the class)! (Hand-lettering has never been my strong suit, but I had fun with this one!) But in the next exercise, we had to draw four examples of what we hate. That was harder for me. I try to live my life hate-free (I mean, this blog is called joyful art journaling, after all!) But no one is perfect, and of course there are things I still hate. The first one that came to mind had to do with politics, and to be honest, I just didn’t want to go there. So I had to dig deeper and really think about it. (Thank you, Jordan!) This is what I came up with: I came up with: hot and humid days (my face turns bright red when I get hot, and my hair get’s so frizzy in the humidity!). Uncomfortable beds (because I LOVE a good sleep!) Arguing (I’d rather just get along!) And final, making mistakes (even though I know they’re just part of the learning/growing experience of life.) I don’t want to give away all the class projects, but let’s just say there was more digging into some more of the dark and light sides of life, and the final project we got to go “freestyle”, creating something based on what we learned in the class. This was mine: Overall, I highly recommend the class! It’s not only a fun way to fill up several pages in your art journal, it’s a great way to explore your own feelings. And again, you can take “Visual Journaling: Drawing Your Feelings” for free for two months with this Skillshare link. I posted all of my class projects over in projects and resources section, if you want to see what else I made. And if you do take the class and upload your projects too, let me know if the comments below so I can come see what you made! Tools I used for this Visual Journaling Class: Art Journal: Canson XL Series Mix Media 9″ x 12″ Colored Pens: Tombow Dual Brush Pens (Pastels) Colored Pens: Crayola Super Tip Markers Bold Black Outlines: Sharpie Bold Oil Pens
52 Blog Post Ideas for Artists
I know that this blog is mainly about art journaling, but I’ve noticed that a lot of the art journalers who come here are also bloggers. So I decided to come up with 52 blog post ideas for artists. (Wasn’t that thoughtful? 😁) Pre-S.: Would YOU like to make passive income with your art? I now have a FREE class on how to do just that! You can learn all about it here! (And that link will open in a new tab so you won’t lose your spot in this article!) But before we get started, one of the things you want to consider when using these topics or coming up with one (or more) of your own is this: Who is your target reader? Sometimes I see artists blogging like their target readers are other artists. But are they? I mean, some of that is okay… but don’t you really want to target art buyers? You know, the people who might actually want to buy your art? (Not that other artists aren’t also art buyers, but you’re really blogging for patrons, not peers.) So I really tried to come up with ideas that would appeal to potential patrons, and maybe even press or other blogs that may want to feature you and/or your art, over other artists. Of course, if you just want to share your art journals on your blog and not sell any of the art you make, this might not be the right post for you. (But if enough people let me know they want it, I’ll happily come up with a list of blog post ideas for art journalers, too!) Yet, I can already hear you asking, so… But Jules, what if I’m a terrible writer? Well, you’re probably better than you think you are, first of all. But second, if that is the case, get help! You could ask a friend with a keen eye to go over your post before you hit publish. Or even hire someone to do that (you can pay as little as $5 for that service on fiverr.com). Also, because you’re an artist, it’s more than acceptable (and expected, even) for your blog posts to be image-heavy. Rely on your work to tell part of your story. What do I do once everything is perfect and I hit publish? That’s when you promote it! Make sure you use long, tall images in your blog post so you get maximum exposure on Pinterest (about 600×900 pixels work best). You can use a graphic like I have for this post, but you can also include shots of your artwork, your studio, you making art, and other relevant images. Then save them all to Pinterest. (I have another class on Skillshare that you can take for free for the next 2 months called: Promoting Your Online Business on Pinterest: Especially for Artists, Makers and Creatives). You can also Tweet about it, share it on Facebook, and post it to Instagram. (And/or any other social media sites you use and/or love.) You can also share it with your email list. (You are building an email list, right? 😉 ) So now that we have those objections or worries out of the way, let’s jump to it! 52 Blog Post Ideas for Artists X# of ways to live with art How to choose the right sized art for your space Celebrating small wins with your art Share some guilty pleasures Your favorite artists from history Your favorite living artists Favorite art books Your favorite art documentaries Write about your favorite art teacher(s) Talk about the tools you use to create your art My art strives to… As an artist I want to… Write about how you get unblocked What inspires your art What have you learned, being an artist? Tell your story: when did you first discover art? When did you first know you were an artist? Did you go to school? Or are you self-taught? Interview another artist you admire Share your favorite art blogs Your favorite podcasts to listen to while painting/making A DIY art project for “non-artists” Write about an upcoming show you’ll be in How travel influences your art What it was really like to go to art school Share your studio space A recent art museum experience A drawing or painting tutorial Talk about how you title your artworks Share the progress of a piece, from start to finish (with many WIP shots along the way) Make video of you painting/making Write about a new gallery you’re in Do a challenge and blog about it (like a painting a day, or the #100dayproject) Write about an artist collaboration you did Share any recent press / media mentions Write about your process You latest work (with tall, thin photos perfect for sharing on Pinterest!) Write about a series of work you created Thinking about donating a portion of your art proceeds to a charity or cause? Blog about that Share tips for framing art Write about creating a gallery wall to display art Create a list of your favorite art museums, and your favorite pieces within each one. How have your relationships influenced your art? Write about your creative practice How has your art/style evolved over time? If you could be anything besides an artist, what would you be, and why? Tell a story about how a specific piece of art moved you Talk about the products you use to create your art and why you chose them How do you come up with ideas for your artwork? What is your favorite art movement and why? Write about what it feels like to be an artist in today’s world If you’re a parent, write about how that effects your art Share drawings from your sketchbook and why they are important to make Share patron feedback and/or any photos they shared with your art in their
Altered Book Flip Through and Class Review
Last month I took an altered book class on Creativebug, and I swear it somehow altered my life! (See what I did there? 🤣) So today I’m going to share this Altered Book flip through, as well as share some of my experiences in the class! This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click through and purchase something. Want to know more? Click here! I made a video of my altered book flip through, which you can watch at the bottom of this page. But first I want to share more about the class, and give you a closer look at some of the pages I made! First of all, the teachers for this class, Faith and Courtney are so much fun! They made me look forward to every single day, just so I could watch the lesson and follow along. It’s because of this class, I think I might actually be an altered book artist! Don’t get me wrong, I’ll forever be a creative explorer… But I think that’s why I love altered book arts (and art journaling!): you can do pretty much whatever you want to do! Early on in the Altered Book class I took on Creativebug we made these blackout poems, and I ended up doing three throughout my book (at the chapter beginnings). They’re definitely a fun and easy way to get started in your altered book journey, especially if you’ve never made one before. Here are the actual poems: No Two Alike Everything under the sun, no two exactly alike. Its own kind differs, an individual twist. When an artist wishes, slight divergence always occurs. Be endlessly fascinating. Create something beautiful. Express. Imagine. Evolve. Spontaneous little scribbles, On a clean piece of paper, Boldly outlined. Wasn’t that fun!? Here’s another… Pen, Pencil, and Chalk A drawing means, – the many kinds of them – employing all the hues of the rainbow, enhance the quality of play. Perhaps best defined with a furry animal. Possibly. How delicately she handled this most familiar. Okay, I admit that one was a little weird… but still fun! (And if you watched the video below you already know my silly sense of humor! 🤗) And finally… The Universal Language read a story, visualize characters, images likely pictures we have seen in a distant century. on the opposite page language speaks. create beautiful things, and feel at home with them. whatever the artist intended to convey. imagine. certainly. As a person who wrote a lot of bad poetry in high school, I actually really like these! 😊 Some of my other favorites include this 2 page spread with collage: The image on the left side (above) is a collage of a painting over an illustration that was already in the book. Needless to say, they all look pretty concerned, if not horrified. 😬 😂 The woman in the original illustration had to cover her eyes! And why not, I mean, this little girl is pouring out eyeballs, after all: Even the flying monster (by Dore, from The Divine Comedy) is like, what in the hell?! I should mention that the book I chose to use was a discarded library book called “Drawings to Live With” (from 1966.) Many of the pages were torn or soiled, so I didn’t feel bad about cutting it up and making it into a new piece of art. In fact, “Drawings to Live With” kind of became the theme of my book, as I used a lot of my old art in there. Prints that I had tucked away, and even some originals are now stored in there. I wasn’t doing anything with them anyway. So why not give them a fun “home” to live in!? This was probably my favorite spread: The idea kind of just came to me when I looked at these pages. But there is a similar prompt in the Altered Book class where you just work with what is on the page. I imagine that would be a bit harder to do if there was only text, but the class gives you some cool ideas! In fact, something to note is that I didn’t even do all of the prompts from the class, and even some that I did do, and share with you here, are my own take on that day’s lesson. So needless to say, if you end up taking the class on Creativebug, you’ll still be surprised (and delighted!) with each day’s lesson. Like when I made the “rainbow arc” (one of Faith’s lessons) I used vintage book pages. So it wasn’t very colorful (it wasn’t colorful at all, in fact!) and it turned out a little bit wonky, but I love it nonetheless: Here’s the title page that I collaged (I especially love the little reverse-cutout on the left page — subtle but fun!): And one more spread, just for the fun of it…. And finally, here is my altered book flip through video so you can see all the pages inside (as well as get a glimpse of my weird and nerdy sense of humor! haha!): HEY… ONE MORE THING BEFORE YOU GO! IF YOU ENJOYED THIS POST ABOUT ALTERED BOOKS, WOULD YOU MIND SHARING THE LOVE? YOU CAN… Save any image from this post on Pinterest (and/or follow me on Pinterest) Subscribe to my email newsletter Follow me on Instagram Talk about this page (and/or my blog in general) with a link on your blog. Thanks my creative friend!
How to Draw Modern Florals Review
One of my goals for this year was to start drawing and painting more flowers (and other flora) in my art journals. Other than a giant drawing of a rose I did in art school (that took me over 26 hours to draw), I never really felt great about my flower drawing skills. But when I saw Alli Koch’s Instagram, and learned she had a book about it, I knew I had to buy (and practice!) How To Draw Modern Florals. This post contains affiliate links. You can read more about that here. The book itself is a statement is simple beauty, which is a lot like how Alli teaches drawing flowers. Her simple line drawings bloom into gorgeous, realistic flowers. And she breaks her technique down in a way that makes it so easy — even for someone like me who was lacking the flower-drawing skills. Here is a quick video of some of the drawings I made from the book, as well as some of the pages of the book itself: The book starts with an introduction to the author and artist, and then gives you a list of supplies you might need. But the truth is, and Alli says so too, you could start with any piece of paper, a pencil and a pen of any kind. But if you want to upgrade, she does suggest a lead mechanical pencil, TomBow MONO sand eraser (because it erases both pencil and pen!), Micron Pens, etc. There is space in the book to practice each type of flower she teaches you to draw, but I used a simple and inexpensive sketchbook just for my floral drawing practice. She then covers some basics for flower drawing, and it really helps you learn how to see the flowers in front of you in order to draw them. She breaks them down into shapes that anyone who knows who to write can draw. It gives you such confidence in yourself you’ll want to get started right away! The first flower she teaches you how to draw in this book is a Daisy. I did practice this one in the book at first, but found it kind of hard because I had to flip the pages back and forth to see what I was supposed to be drawing, and then draw it. I never used a pencil when making these floral drawings, partly because I believe in happy accidents, but also because I wasn’t trying to make an exact copy of Alli’s drawings. I still wanted my own hand in each piece. And the truth is, pencil or not, I think your own hand/style will come through as you learn how to draw flowers from this How to Draw Modern Florals book. For instance, you can see in the example below that I drew the magnolia twice from the same tutorial. You can see how different they look from each other — partly because of practice and growth, but also because I’m just using a pen, trying not to overthink it, and making (happy) mistakes. So not only am I not copying Alli’s drawings exactly, I’m not even able to reproduce my own original drawing exactly how it was. Just like the flowers themselves, no two drawings are exactly alike! Besides flowers, you’ll also learn to draw some cacti, succulents, wreaths and more. And even though I’ve shared a lot of my own pieces from the book, I won’t share everything because I want you to be delightfully surprised but what else you’ll learn from How to Draw Modern Florals. Tools I used to Review How to Draw Modern Florals: How to Draw Modern Florals Book Strathmore acid-free sketchbook Sharpie, bold, oil-based Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen Totoro fine point pens Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen Crayola SuperTips Markers Overall, I not only thoroughly enjoyed How to Draw Modern Florals, with its beautiful imagery and delightful instructions, but I feel like I’ve grown as an artist because of it, too. So I definitely recommend it and give it 5 out of 5 stars. HEY… ONE MORE THING BEFORE YOU GO! IF YOU ENJOYED THIS POST, WOULD YOU MIND SHARING THE LOVE? YOU CAN… Save any image from this post on Pinterest (and/or follow me on Pinterest) Subscribe to my email newsletter Follow me on Instagram Talk about this page (and/or my blog in general) with a link on your blog. Thanks my creative friend!
Word of the Year Ideas
For the last few years I’ve been choosing a word (or, I will admit usually two!) for the year. I believe the original idea is from oneword365 and the premise is, rather than setting New Year’s Resolutions (that you might just quit by February, anyway) choose one word for how you’d like to feel, be, or live for the entire year. To give you some examples, in previous years I’ve chosen words like: alignment, empower, thriving, enjoy, etc. Choosing a word for the year is a great way to set the tone for your entire year. And I think incorporating your one word in your art journal is a great idea… and reminder! But whether this is the first or twenty-first time you’ve chosen a word for the year, you might have a hard time coming up with one (or like me, two!) So I’ve put together this list of over 200 word of the year possibilities. Over 200 Word of the Year Ideas: Abundant Achieve Acknowledge Action Admire Adventure Alignment Ambition Ambition Amuse Appreciate Artistic Aspiration Aspire Automate Balance Bask Blissful Bloom Blossom Boundaries Boundless Brave Breathe Bright Brilliant Build Calm Cheerful Cherish Chill Clarify Clarity Clever Committed Composed Confidence Connect Connection Consistency Contemplate Content Cool Cozy Crafted Crafty Creative Cultivate Curiosity Dare Declare Delight Desire Destiny Diligence Discerning Ease Effortless Elegant Embody Embrace Emerge Enjoy Enlightened Evolve Expand Explore Exquisite Faith Fancy Fertile Flourish Flow Focus Follow-through Forgive Freedom Frolic Fruitful Generosity Giving Glow Goals Grace Grand Gratitude Grow Gumption Harmonious Healthy Heart-felt Hope Ideal Imaginative Improve Independence Innovative Inspired Integrity Intellectual Intentional Intuition Inventive Joy Leader Learn Light Lightwork Limitless Lively Love Luxury Manifest Meaningful Mindset Minimalism Momentum Move No Nuance Opportunity Optimism Original Passion Peaceful Peppy Perspective Play Pleasure Poise Possibilities Practice Praise Present Proclaim Productive Profound Prolific Prosperous Purpose Quiet Reach Rebuild Refined Reflect Rejoice Relax Reliance Resourceful Revel Rise Secure Security Serene Service Share Significance Silly Simplify Sincere Skillful Slay Smooth Soar Soften Sparked Spirited Spiritual Stability Steadfast Stillness Streamline Stretch Style Successful Sunny Swanky Teach Thankful Tranquil Transformation Travel Trust Truthful Understanding Unfold Unique Unstoppable Upgrades Uplift Uplift Vibrant Voice Wanderlust Wild Willpower Wisdom Wish Worth Yes Youthful Zeal Zesty I hope these Word of the Year ideas have been helpful. And if you use one (or more, like me!) in your art journal, use hashtag #joyfulartjournaling so we can see what you made! Oh! And here’s how I incorporated my words in my art journal: If you want to start art journaling (or already do, and want more art journal goodness), please sign up for my email newsletter: You might also want check out: Recommended Art Journal Supplies Hey… one more thing before you go! 🙋♀️ If you enjoyed this post, would you mind sharing the love? You can… Save any image from this post on Pinterest (and/or follow me on Pinterest) Subscribe to my email newsletter Follow me on Instagram Talk about this page (and/or my blog in general) with a link on your blog. Thanks, my creative friend!
My First Art Journal Flip Through on YouTube!
Hello, joyful art journalers! Today I’m sharing my very first art journal flip through on YouTube! It’s pretty basic and I edited it to be square (when YouTube videos are supposed to be rectangular. Whoops!) But it’s my first attempt, so I’m not too worried about it. I know I will grow and learn as time goes on. Just like with art journaling itself! I may earn commissions from the links in this post. See my full Affiliate Disclosure here. Here it is: My First Art Journal Flip Through on YouTube! In this art journal I collected colors in a variety of ways. With different paint sets (like my Posca Paint Pens, Pastel Dreams Watercolors, and Arteza watercolor brush pens set), old pieces of artwork I made into collages, vintage ephemera, cut outs from magazines, washi tape, paint chips, colorful pieces of packaging, color tests I did with watercolor and inks, and more. I put it all in a junk journal I made, and it was super fun “collecting” all the colors for it. So what did you think? If you have any suggestions or feedback for me, I’d love to hear them in the comments below! If you like this flip through, please share in on Pinterest by clicking this image: Hey… one more thing before you go! 🙋♀️ If you enjoyed this post, would you mind sharing the love? You can… Save any image from this post on Pinterest (and/or follow me on Pinterest) Subscribe to my email newsletter Follow me on Instagram Talk about this page (and/or my blog in general) with a link on your blog. Yay! Thanks my creative friend!
Where to get free images for your art journal
Hello, joyful art journaling friends! I love incorporating collage into my art journals, don’t you? I have loads of images and papers I’ve purchased and/or accumulated over the years (and I’m guessing you do, too!) But sometimes you need something specific. Or maybe you’re still building up your stash. I may earn commissions from the links in this post. See my full Affiliate Disclosure here. Either way, I’ve found several places where you can get free images for your art journal. In fact, I have lots of ideas about where to get free images for your art journal, including some right here online, and some offline too (and yes, still for free!) It really depends on your needs and wants for a particular spread. For instance, do you need one certain image right now? Well, searching online is going to be your best bet! But if you want a bunch of images in a variety of subjects and colors, printing them all out could be costly, so finding already printed materials (still for free) will be your best bet. Online sources: free images for your art journal Unsplash – Unsplash offers free, beautiful photos that you can search by subject, color, and more. They are my favorite free photo spot on the internet. Flickr Commons – This site’s goal “is to share hidden treasures from the world’s public photography archives.” oldbookillustrations.com – Looking for that “storybook” or printmaking feel? This is the site for you! You can search by artist, subject and more. British Library – If you search Flickr Commons for free images for your art journal, you’ll likely find that some of the results come from the British Library. But you can also just go directly there, if you prefer. Pexels – Pexels also has a wide variety of (more modern/contemporary) images for you to search from, but you do have to give them your name and email if you want to download any of the photos. Pixabay – From their site: “Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images and videos. All contents are released under Creative Commons CC0, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist – even for commercial purposes.” Burst – From the people at Shopify (where they make it super easy to set up your own online shop) comes Burst: Popular collections of royalty-free images. The Smithsonian – The Smithsonian is a great resource for free images, especially if you’re looking for historical people or moments, or even photos of space! If you’re willing to spend a little cash, I really like the selection of art journal images you can find on Etsy and Creative Market (they also offer a new set of free goodies every Monday, so be sure to check back there!). But I promised you free images for your art journal, so below you’ll find my other suggestions and hacks! Offline sources: free images for your art journal One of the easiest ways I’ve found for getting free images for my art journal is by asking my friends and family for their old magazines (as well as keeping my own, of course!) I know some people save their magazines, but most will just end up in the recycle bin. I find people are more than happy to share their old magazines when they know they are going to a good cause – like your creative hobby! 😉 One of my favorite tricks: When you’re at the airport (or any tourist-y spot!), check out the free tourist magazines and brochures. I know I’ve found some really high-quality images to use! From travel scenes Iike beaches, rivers, lakes, mountains, flowers, forests, to shopping and dining images, art and historical museum images, and so much more. You can also save old cards, gift bags, shopping bags, wrapping paper, etc. that have a nice color, pattern and/or images. I tend to cut out a small section – or just the most interesting parts. That way my stash isn’t just filled with excess paper I won’t actually use. If you subscribe to catalogs, you can use images from those in your art journals, too. You can also check your local libraries. Sometimes they will give away old magazines or books they no longer need or use. If they don’t offer them for free, they might charge a nominal fee. A library where I used to live sold their old magazines for .10 cents each and books for a quarter. So while that isn’t free, it’s very close! There you have it: some ways to get free images for your art journal! I also have to add… while they’re not free, I do have a bunch of books with tons of vintage ephemera for you to cut out and use in your art journals, junk journals, collage, scrapbooks, mixed media art, and more! Again, they aren’t free, but to print the same amount and quality of images at home might actually cost more than one of the books, with ink prices being so high! So I thought I’d mention my books. Hey… one more thing before you go! 🙋♀️ If you enjoyed this post, would you mind sharing the love? You can… Save any image from this post on Pinterest (and/or follow me on Pinterest) Subscribe to my email newsletter Follow me on Instagram Follow me on TikTok Talk about this page (and/or my blog in general) with a link on your blog. Thanks my creative friend!