The Art Of Journaling

I was creatively stumped on my artistic journey when I was introduced to the 'Art of Journaling' and was at that very moment a reformed journaler. I went to a group in which just a small number of artists gathered and amongst them was a wonderful lady named Alice. She showed me her art journal and taught me how to go about getting one for myself. She called it "Gemming" in which she decorated the front of her journal with beautiful shiny gems, chains, pearls... basically whatever pleased her eyes. This inspired her to draw in her sketchbook (ofcoarse it was originally a black hard covered sketchbook initially). However, when whe was finished creating it was a beautiful masterpiece of art. The first picture I have posted is the cover of my Art Journal. I used basic gray duct tape and covered the entire covers (both front and back) of my sketchbook (which is crucial for the next step). Secondly, I took a palette knife and covered the majority of the front cover with modeling clay paste. As I did so I added little trinkets to the cover by sticking them directly into the paste (so you must have a thick enough layer in order for the trinket to firmly stay in place). I chose trinkets from my jewellery box, ones that I had collected over the years that I no longer wore but desired to keep for sentimental reasons. Each one is precious to me (although none are worth much money), but each represent a specific time in my life... for example (I became an auntie when I was 14 years old, so I placed a picture of my first nephew that was in a charm for a necklace, on my journal cover); I placed a button from one of my maternity blouses in another spot; an earring I used to where when I was a teenager; a key my father found once when metal detecting... I found these to inspire me to create more in my journal. After I was finished I painted the edges with gold acrylic paint and lightly brushed over my trinkets with that same paint - giving it an antique finish. I was very pleased with the results. There are no 'official' rules to what you can create on your cover. This is just one idea that worked for me. Give it a try and you will be amazed at the masterpiece that will be staring at you from the cover of your new 'Art Journal'.