Let’s Journal

I really wanted to have this great post ready for you on Thursday with all kinds of ideas on what to journal about in your art journal...but the unpacking of our new house has gone much slower than I wanted it to go. I have all these awesome ideas in my head but by the time I would fall into bed at night, those ideas would be hidden behind a wall of exhaustion.

What I thought I’d do is to just to plant some ideas in your head on what you can journal about...topics or prompts that can help remove that feeling of blankness that so many of us get when it’s time to do the journaling part of our art journals.

This might even be a good thing to print out and keep in the back of your art journal (with your own ideas jotted on the page, too) so if a blank moment hits you, just pull out your little prompt/idea sheet and get some ideas from there to help you out.

• Write about a good memory...or a bad one. (Remember, art journaling isn’t just about the happy, happy, joy, joy moments in life.)
• Save a favorite quote.
• Write some poetry...or save a poem that is special to you.
• Journal about things or people that you love.
• Make a list...places you’ve been, your bucket list, foods you want to try, the best days of your life, crafts you want to try, pet peeves, books you love, anything! Just list it.
• I remember when...
• Journal a complete song or just some lyrics that mean something to you.
• What makes you happy? Angry? Sad? Melancholy?
• The best advice you’ve ever received?
• Write a letter to your 16 year old self...or your 80 year old self.
• What things are you appreciating today?
• What is your biggest secret? Who have you shared your secret with?
• Who do you trust the most in the world?
• Talk about the last time someone let you down.
• What is the happiest you’ve ever been? The saddest?
• Journal about your surroundings...the room your in, your yard, the park or coffee shop you like to journal in.
• What would you most like to change about yourself? About your significant other? Child(ren)?
• What is your biggest regret? Your biggest fear?
• Who are you envious of and why?
• List some of your favorites (colors, songs, books, flowers, cities, vacations, sports, etc...)

These are just a few of the things that come to my mind when I think about what to journal about in my art journals. But most of the time, I tend to write about those things that are most prevalent in my mind as I am working on the art part of my page/spread.

(This is one of my earlier art journal pages...and it’s one of my favorites, too.)

Just remember, you don’t have to say a lot for it to be deep and meaningful. Like my favorite high school English teacher told me when describing how long a paragraph should be...like a woman’s skirt, long enough to cover the subject and short enough to keep things interesting. lol

Your journals are not a place that you have to make everything pristine and all about what you want others to see. You don’t ever have to share a single page of yours if you don’t want to share them. Of all my art journals, I have probably only shared about 20% of the pages I’ve done. Some things are private and only you can decide what you want to share with others. Don’t create your pages with the idea of what others will think of them...create them according to what YOU think of them, then share as you see fit.

I know that I had said we would be hitting lettering next and I hope I haven’t let you down.  I just felt it was really important to discuss what kind of things there are to journal about before we get to the many, many different ways there are to get your words down on the page. At first, just get the words down in whatever way that feels right at the time. Pen, marker, pencil, stickers, rub-ons...big letters, small ones, printed or cursive...just go with how you’re feeling.

And on Monday we WILL be going into the many ways there are to beautifully letter those wonderful journal pages you are creating.

Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me while I tried to get this move behind us. Taking care of my mother is much more work than I realized it would be, too. We spent 8:15am until 2:20pm at the VA Outpatient Clinic today so see what I mean?

Anyway, I am so very thankful I have this little home here to share with everyone the love I have for art journaling...it is my respite (the art journaling and the sharing with you all.)

So get out there and have a great weekend, everyone...oh, and get lots of journaling in if and/or when you have the time.

Much Peace & Love,
Barb