Art journal: Rewriting stories

Hi!
A few years back I faced a crafting dilemma: I loved to color stamped images and to build collages and sceneries, but I had used those elements and techniques only for cards. Creating cards was of course a lot of fun, but my stash of ready-made cards kept growing. It was obvious that I did not need a constant flow of new cards and I had to find another way to keep my creative mojo flowing.

In the past, I had made a few art journal pages in my Moleskine book, but I never really got started with art journaling. My inner critic voice kept telling me that art journals are creative playgrounds for 'true artists' i.e. for people who fill the book pages with pretty drawings, gorgeous paintings or clever texts. I wasn't sure if I would meet those requirements.

It took me a while to realized that my art journal pages are really MY art journal pages. They are made by me, for me. The pages' main purpose is to bring me joy, and therefore I needed to use only those techniques and themes that made me happy.

I started to create pages that gave me true pleasure throughtout the creative process: I colored stamped images and created layered backgrounds with and without mixed media elements. I build colorful collages and included both fuzzy-cut and die-cut images on my pages. I stamped, stencilled, inked, colored, and doodled, and loved every page I made. So much for strict rules in art and art journaling!

This art journal spread with Vera Lane digital images is one of the very last pages in my first complete Moleskine art journal book. I loved these images from 'Little Red Riding Hood'. And the quote says it all: Rewrite your own story. Just go for it! :)

Thanks for stopping by ❤!