When most people think of journals they think of a conventional book with conventional pages, just like the ones you find sitting on the shelves of the local library.

But a book can come in almost any conceivable size and shape. The only requirement as far as I can see is that there must be a physical, visual or intellectual binding factor. I would say in the context of this article that a book is a thought or a collection of thoughts bound together by a recognizable singularity.

It would be conceivable then to create the tail of a kite by stringing together ribbons, where each ribbon had a line of verse or a story on it. This would effectively turn the kite into a flying book.

I talked about making a basic journal from a three ring binder and watercolor paper in my last article. So, I won’t go into that again.

I believe that the fun in making your own books is finding things to make them out of. A place to get a free ready-made book is at a paper store. They give away paper sample books like this one.  All you have to do is alter the covers. You already have your pages.

Other places to get free material are wallpaper stores. Lumber stores may have laminate samples. I live near a school where the art of clothes making is taught. Outside of the classroom they have a large bin of sizable discarded scraps, free for the taking.

If you can’t get them free you can get them really cheap. Your local thrift store is full of odds and ends for pennies. Fabric stores are sure to have scrap bins or bargain tables. Somewhere I got hold of a cigar box. It will make a great window box type book enclosure. This is not to say that you can’t buy some things: beads, buttons, hole punches, rubber stamps… etc. You can make some of those too. It’s all up to you.

Some things you WILL need to purchase are the basic building tools such as scissors and glues: lots and lots of glues. I use the plural because there are different glues for different substances. Go out and buy a sample pack of Mod Podge © by Plaid. It comes in matte finish, gloss, and sparkle. You can use it for glue and on top of your papers for a glossy or sparkly top coat.

These make great book pages

A good book to look at if you are making your first few art journals is Making Books that Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop up, Twist and Turn by Gwen Diehn. Better write that down. You will never remember it when you are in the store. Supposedly it’s a book for kids: but hey, we all have to start somewhere. When I want a simple idea for making a book that’s not a big deal I refer to this one.

Another book I refer to often is called Cover to Cover: Creating Techniques for Making Beautiful Books by Shereen LaPlantz. Inside this you will find books that look like fish, buildings, snakes, and some that are just plain indescribable. I wish I could show them to you but you know: copyright laws and all that.

I found a few good magazines to help you with your ideas. Expression, Paper Crafts, and Somerset Studio are great. There must be many more but they can get expensive if you must have all of them all of the time. Believe me, you might just need one or two of each. The ideas go on forever.

Once you begin the creation process you may start to think differently. Things that you used to discard might look great in your journal.

And don’t forget the writing. Poems, quotes, phrases; your own or someone else’s will go inside. An art journal page simply has to convey a feeling. It doesn’t have to “say” anything: at least, not to the outside world.

A small and easy journal to make

 

Each page folds out to a square