Art Journaling Ideas

Brave Art-2011

My love for art journaling began nearly 2 years ago. Being a writer most of my life is what led me to this way of journaling. I LOVE it!! And I can't believe how many wonderful artists there are in this field. I hope you enjoy this post on creative ways to add sparkle to your pages, links to other artists and more.


The first thing to think about is what size and type of journal you want. Here are just a few...

Strathmore journals
Skecthbooks
Spiral-my fave

As for the size of your journal...that really depends on you. I prefer the larger size but have used as small as a 5x7.

After you find your journal it's time to gather your supplies. Your options are endless.

Just a few supplies

Watercolors, acrylic paints, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, old patters....

Foam stamps, paper doilies, masking tape, bubble wrap....

Even a styrofoam cup! You can use the top or the bottom for cool circle effects.

I don't know what I'd do without these....

I pour my paint in the small circles...my Mod Podge in the center. This just makes it easier to use and mix my paint.

The totally awesome thing about art journaling is that if you are/were a scrapbooker you probably already have all the "fun" little goodies that add the perfect touch to your pages. Pattern paper, stickers, rub-ons, chipboard, ribbon, lace and flowers can all be used.

Just a small sample of all my flowers!

If you asked me what one thing I would never want to live without when journaling I would say INK!

Ink is soooo cheap nowadays. Most of this was a dollar.

Along with ink I must have stamps!! So many uses with each one....

Backgrounds, words, numbers, card-making, letters,,,,so many uses. Most of these were a dollar.

The next time you need a phrase or word for your journals be sure and look at your patterned paper. This cute square came from an old piece of Love, Elsie paper.

Another supply I use often are paper doilies. They add the coolest look to your art page.

Paper doilies are available in the baking section of Wal-Mart, Michaels and Hobby Lobby.

Remember these from art class? A box of 12 is under 2 bucks.

See these toilet paper and paper towel tubes? Just put paint around the rim and "stamp" onto your pages, canvas's whatever. One of mu favorite effects.

One can never have to much bubble wrap!

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Don't you love the way it looks?

Just paint your fave color directly on the wrap then pat on your page. All over...

Or just in a few places...t's really all up to you. I like to add a few of these on every project I do.

When it comes to your backgrounds...you can use anything. If you're going for a softer look, watercolors are perfect. I take a few favorite colors and begin swirling my brush around.

I love the way watercolors can be dark or light.

Here is an example of watercolors on the cover of my first art journal. It's my favorite. Light and airy.

And while we are talking about covers...you don't have to deck yours out...but it sure is fun! My favorite journals are spiral bound. I usually add ribbon to mine.

Okay, back to painting. Acrylic paints are perfect to use in your journals. There are dozens and dozens of colors to choose from and they are so cheap...sometimes you can find them on clearance for 25 cents!

Acrylic paints are richer looking than water and can give a messy look to your page...which I love:)

The messier the better I always say.  This is my cover from a class I took with Melody Ross. Lots of cool stuff going on here. Foam stamps {the letters and the star}, pattern paper, markers {used to outline the letters}, rub-ons and stickers.

Another page using acrylics.

Sometimes it's fun to use just one color in a few shades on your page. Instead of stamps I took black acrylic paint and hand lettered the title. The heart is a stamp.

Sometimes you just want to play in your journals! I used scraps of patterned paper, images and tags to complete this page.

When I'm short on inspiration and time this is my favorite thing to do.

Like I said before....there are 100's of things you can put on your pages...the options are endless. This  is a scrap of paper I had punched a butterfly in. Instead of using the actual shape I thought the scrap leftover was cooler and made a cute tag.

Got masking tape?

See all those white spaces? Before I painted my page with purple acrylic I laid down4 strips of masking tape, painted over them....

Then after they were dry, ripped the tape off. A sweet, little journaling spot was left. Love it!

You can also leave the tape on your page like I did here.

This page isn't finished yet. One of these days i'll be inspired to finish it.

Which reminds me...some days I create pages soley for fun. I go in my studio without an agenda and just play. This is the best way I know to learn and grow, try new techniques and besides....it's so nice to have lots of pages done so you can write whenever you want to.


Here's a page using cray-pas. The aqua border was made with a foam stamp and aqua acrylic paint.

Art journaling pages don't always have to be a collage of words and images. Sometimes you may want to create a scene. Sunshines happen to have special meaning to me...I made mine out of orange pattern paper.

The flowers are 3-D stickers with a painted stem. The bird is a stamp I stamped on white cardstock then cut out. I added a gel sticker with the Happy on it.


I use flowers quite a bit in my journal. These were fun to make. Just adhere buttons to your page then doodle around them. FLOWERS!

Here is a typical looking page of mine. Lots of pattern paper, acrylic paint, ink, stamps, images adn words. So much going on here. LOVE IT!

I found this bird image in a Missouri Conservation magazine! You never know where you'll find inspiration.

I recently starting using photos in my journals. Instead of the original I print mine out on typing paper.

Almost every single one of my pages is filled with Words. I love them! And I love the look of  printed Words and Phrases. To save time I spend 15 minutes or so typing inspiring Words, Quotes and Phrases on my computer. It's nice having a stack on hand especially on days when you need a creative boost.

Another thing you can put in your art journals are your drawings. Now, I am not pretending I even know how to draw...that's why my journal means so much to me. It's the one place I go and practice. I plan on painting this cutie on canvas one of these days.

The main thing to remember about  your journals is just that...they are YOURS! You can put anything your heart desires in them. Use them for your ideas, dreams, goals, feelings, etc. 

Make your journals YOU!!


Check out these AWESOME art journaling blogs!

A Girl and Her Brush
Journal Girl
Art Journal Everyday
Nancy Lefko



*Be sure and see our other page  "Journaling with Emotion" coming soon!