Finished First Art Journal Last Night

Last night I finished off making my first art journal. What I mean by that is I bound the papers into a hardcover binding. The journal is now ready to use. It is a 72 page journal with already-painted backgrounds of watercolor paint on watercolor paper. I ended up blending two different sets of directions on how to make a journal. I also didn’t have waxed upholstery thread so I improvised with waxed dental floss that we had on hand (!). It works just fine so far but it does seem a little thin. The next time I am near a fabric store I will purchase a spool of the right kind of thread.

Last night I made my first entry and also began decorating the cover and inside of the cover. I decided to leave the front cover up for ongoing collaging, as well as the inside of the front cover.

I was so tired and really wanted to get to bed so I took some magazines and a pair of scissors to bed with me with the intent of finding words and images to put into the journal. However, right then my younger son vomited and so then the plans for the night were changed.

My older son loves the journal and is asking that I make one for him. I think I will make one with regular paper (not watercolor paper). I have some large sized 120 lb. paper here intended for children’s drawings which would be sturdy enough for a book like this. I think that a journal such as this for an eight year old is a great idea, because the pressure is not on writing with words, composition, and handwriting (all of which are still difficult for a child of that age). The focus can be on adding things in, in a scrapbook or collage sort of way. Perhaps this can also be a place to journal and share feelings and thoughts? If it only ends up being a visual art type book that will be fine.

Now my husband is asking that I make such a book as a photo album for his father, of the cruise trip that my father-in-law took our entire family on earlier this year. I will have to think about that. I need to figure out what pro’s a handmade book has over purchasing a photo album. For example I wouldn’t want to watercolor the pages and put all that effort into it if most of the page will be covered with photos. If I do this the photos will look like regular photos, they won’t be cropped and ‘scrapbooked’. Sorry, but I still don’t like at all, the look of the typical ‘scrapbook’ fad albums.

I also was thinking of making some small books as gifts for friends. I can’t remember the name but there is a name for little books in which people write their favorite quotes or poems. As one is found, it is added to the book. It becomes a custom built inspiration book!

I will take some photos and will post them one of these days.

I plan to try and find time each day to make entries in my journal! I am so excited!