Journals & Journeys

My friend Claire is moving…all the way to Texas. We have been friends for many years…way back when our oldest children were just babies. She’s part of a book club full of wonderful, diverse, incredible women who I meet with monthly. We’ve been meeting for over 15 years…wow!

Anyway, we wanted to give her something meaningful from our group and I suggested a book journal. My sister gave me a book journal for my birthday and I love it. Sometimes, I just write down the name and author of a book I loved and sometimes, I write more. So, it seemed like an appropriate gift. I was commissioned to create it and I couldn’t have been more honored.

Claire is special so I wanted to make it equally as special. I created one and didn’t like it, but it helped me to figure out what works and what doesn’t. What I came up with is pictured here. I used scraps of mulberry paper and handmade papers and combined them in a collage fashion. I then stamped some words and images on it and added the words “book journal.” I added some embellishments … a little paper crab to represent Annapolis, a crystal (just because), a piece of cloth with the word "dream," some book quotes and a bunch of doodles.

Inside, I added a picture of our group at our annual cookie exchange with some quotes and embellishments and on the back inside cover, an inspirational quote and some girly stamps, tinted with iridescent inks. I also included a pen and a cloth book mark that I made.

Making a journal was such a fun project that I decided to jump into another four-month project or exploration called “21 Secrets: An Art Journal Playground.” I’m going to start my 'art journal journey' next week, so I’ll share some of my creations!

It will be so much fun to explore art journaling and I hope you’ll come back and join me on my little creative adventure.