Reading Journal

I created a reading journal the other day. It's a place to list the books I've read, write my thoughts about those I've finished, save the never-ending "to read" books, and copy down quotes I love while reading. Check it out,and maybe you'll be inspired to make your own. 

This is just the divider page for the "Read" section of my journal. This is where I've tried to list the books I've read so far and where I hope to continue the list!

Part of the list I've started in the "read" section. The books I've read so far. I've recorded 212 so far and I'm slowing down. It really is fun to try to remember them all, but it's so challenging!

This is the divider for the "To Read" section. This is where I keep a list of all of the books I want to read, those others have recommended to me, and books I see in magazines that I want to read one day.

On the left is the list i've started of books I wanted to read. The other page is a list of books Jane sent me in the mail.

Some book recommendations I found in magazines. (Oprah's magazine always has the best!)

This is section is where I record my thoughts on a book when I finish it.

My most recent review on "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

In this section I record quotes that I love while reading a book, or after I've finished it.

 The quotes I loved from "The Time Traveler's Wife" I love Audrey Niffenegger. She writes beautifully.

More art journaling

Mail Art, Mail Tag, and Art Journaling

 I've posted some pictures of mail art I've done lately. I've written so much and I wish I had taken the time to take pictures of all of it.

 This picture below is a really fun way to decorate an envelope. You cut a piece of scrapbook paper to cover the front of the envelope and then tape it to the front with washi tape.

 This is mail tag. If you haven't heard of it, it is a list that you send in your letter to a friend. Then, when they write back to you, they include everything on your list as well as a list of their own for you to complete.

My box of supplies is growing!

 Letter in a bottle I received from one of my pen pals.

This is one of the newest pages to my art journal. It's my summer bucket list! I couldn't fit them all on these two pages so I included a tiny envelope and notecard to write the rest in. 

Here is the new addition to our family. Her name is Georgia! She is only 6 weeks and 6 days old!

Two SUPER EASY ways to create a journal/art journal from an old book.

I wanted to create my own journal instead of buying those expensive ones, So I bought a couple cheap old books from goodwill and a pad of mixed media paper from michaels for 5 dollars and went home to figure it out. I did A LOT of searching in the internet. I didn't have any special tools, and really did not want it to take hours to make. After a lot of searching, I decided I was just going to give it a go myself, my own way. Here are the two that I came up with.

For my first journal, I used an old book that had been stitched together, not glued. However, I don't think it would really matter since I just used the front and back covers. First I took all of the pages out. 

Then I took the mixed media paper and measured it to the the size I wanted it to be and cut it into pages. I thought about adding in some other patterned paper as well, but decided against it. (Sorry I did not take pictures of this process.) I took a yarn needle and poked 3 holes where I wanted the embroidery thread to go. I used this first page to help gauge where the holes needed to go in the rest of the book. Once that was done, I poked the holes into the front and back covers where they needed to go. I had a thimble to use for pushing my needle through, but you may need to use a hammer and nail if you can't get yours through. Then I cut three pieces of embroidery thread, and sewed my book together. I didn't do any special stitches. I just threaded it through from the back to the front and then went through the same hole again and tied it off, and cut the extra string. Then I was done :)

I decided to include this title page from a different old book I had because I thought it was really cute!

This is what the final book looked like. I only used about 20 pages because that's what was in my pad of paper, but you could make it as thick or thin as you want. I feel like this holds up for me because the paper I used was VERY thick, so the string doesn't cut through it. So, I'm not entirely sure how it would work with other paper. I also added this stencil with just a sharpie to the cover to give it a little something extra. 

While I was working in this journal, I hadn't decided what to do with the other old book yet. After finishing a page, I had all of this extra paint left over and I decided it would be silly to waste it, so I decided to use it up by painting the pages of the other old book. 

I didn't feel the need to cover the whole page, just the words, which as you can see are not entirely covered. I could use a white gel pen, calligraphy pen, paint pen, or sharpie on these pages to write, but I will probably end up using it as an art journal. 

Now every time I have extra paint I'll just paint a couple pages in this old book. I could also use it to just experiment with techniques or to get the right shade of color I'm looking for, or try out designs. 

Oh, and to keep the pages from sticking to each other while drying I put pieces of wax paper between them. I also ripped out about 70% of the pages in this book because once it's painted and once I add stuff to the pages while journaling the pages will be a lot thicker and I don't want the book to bulge. Also, a lot of pages is intimidating! 

This book had some interesting pages that I decided to leave in here and there. 

Two SUPER EASY ways to create a journal/art journal from an old book.

I wanted to create my own journal instead of buying those expensive ones, So I bought a couple cheap old books from goodwill and a pad of mixed media paper from michaels for 5 dollars and went home to figure it out. I did A LOT of searching in the internet. I didn't have any special tools, and really did not want it to take hours to make. After a lot of searching, I decided I was just going to give it a go myself, my own way. Here are the two that I came up with.

For my first journal, I used an old book that had been stitched together, not glued. However, I don't think it would really matter since I just used the front and back covers. First I took all of the pages out. 

Then I took the mixed media paper and measured it to the the size I wanted it to be and cut it into pages. I thought about adding in some other patterned paper as well, but decided against it. (Sorry I did not take pictures of this process.) I took a yarn needle and poked 3 holes where I wanted the embroidery thread to go. I used this first page to help gauge where the holes needed to go in the rest of the book. Once that was done, I poked the holes into the front and back covers where they needed to go. I had a thimble to use for pushing my needle through, but you may need to use a hammer and nail if you can't get yours through. Then I cut three pieces of embroidery thread, and sewed my book together. I didn't do any special stitches. I just threaded it through from the back to the front and then went through the same hole again and tied it off, and cut the extra string. Then I was done :)

I decided to include this title page from a different old book I had because I thought it was really cute!

This is what the final book looked like. I only used about 20 pages because that's what was in my pad of paper, but you could make it as thick or thin as you want. I feel like this holds up for me because the paper I used was VERY thick, so the string doesn't cut through it. So, I'm not entirely sure how it would work with other paper. I also added this stencil with just a sharpie to the cover to give it a little something extra. 

While I was working in this journal, I hadn't decided what to do with the other old book yet. After finishing a page, I had all of this extra paint left over and I decided it would be silly to waste it, so I decided to use it up by painting the pages of the other old book. 

I didn't feel the need to cover the whole page, just the words, which as you can see are not entirely covered. I could use a white gel pen, calligraphy pen, paint pen, or sharpie on these pages to write, but I will probably end up using it as an art journal. 

Now every time I have extra paint I'll just paint a couple pages in this old book. I could also use it to just experiment with techniques or to get the right shade of color I'm looking for, or try out designs. 

Oh, and to keep the pages from sticking to each other while drying I put pieces of wax paper between them. I also ripped out about 70% of the pages in this book because once it's painted and once I add stuff to the pages while journaling the pages will be a lot thicker and I don't want the book to bulge. Also, a lot of pages is intimidating! 

This book had some interesting pages that I decided to leave in here and there. 

Art Journaling

 I have recently gotten really into art journalism. I signed up to teach a journal writing class a month or so ago because my entire life I have kept a journal and I wanted to pass along that passion to middle-school students. Journal writing has helped me to get through some difficult times and to learn about myself. However, what I found was that sometimes it felt like a chore. When I did find time to write there was so much I had to say and so much I had experienced and felt since the last time I wrote that I felt like I had to write it all down and get it all out. So, I put it off because it was hard to do. While researching journaling techniques to share with my students I discovered art journal writing and have since fallen in love with it. Though I am no artist, I do enjoy being creative and working with my hands. I have found that through art I am able to just create something that expresses what I am feeling or something that inspires me or an experience I have had. Although I still do write a little on some of my pages, for the most part they are pretty vague. I now COMPLETELY understand the saying "A picture says a thousand words." For me, one of those pages holds an eternity of thoughts and feelings that might even be impossible to completely describe through words. To me, they may mean a lot, but for the most part I leave them open to interpretation without much explanation because it allows me to feel safe in expressing myself, without worrying about someone else reading it. Sometimes, in the past while trying to express myself through writing, I have become frustrated at not being able to find the right words or at having contradicted myself in my writing, or rambled on trying to get my point across. With art journal writing I have found it so much easier to do and so much more relaxing. It's something that I can do while watching tv or outside at a park or on my lunch break. Also with writing, I always felt like if I didn't finish my thoughts in that moment they would be lost, and sometimes they were, with art journaling I am able to get the majority of it out, but come back later to finish it if I need to. It gives me more freedom. I have been able to complete several entries in one day at times. I would really recommend it for people who need an outlet. Don't shy away from it because you feel like you aren't creative or you can't draw or you can't write. It's all for you, and if you've ever written a letter, or a poem, or been inspired by a quote or song lyrics, than you can write a journal, and if you've ever doodled in class or colored a picture you can create an art journal. It doesn't have to look a certain way. For me, I usually take what is on my mind that day and use that as inspiration for an entry, or I look up art journal prompts, or quotes, song lyrics, or poems to inspire an entry. Sometimes I just look for magazine clippings that inspire me, or simply color or doodle until a page is filled and discover its own meaning later on. It's the sort of thing you can't fully understand until you try. Trust yourself and let your ideas, art, and words come out with as little planning as possible.These are a few of the pages I've felt comfortable sharing from one of my own journals.