TEN HANDMADE ART JOURNALS YOU SHOULD START

I'm inspired by handmade art journals. They provide a great deal of creative freedom and options. Your art journal's dimensions, density, kind of binding, and binding method are all up to you. You can repurpose materials like old books or your own artwork, or you can employ traditional bookbinding techniques.  It is my hope that this essay will encourage you to give several of these methods a try. Let's begin by taking a look at one of my most cherished handwritten journals.

I wrote the book "Waiting" a long time ago while I was waiting for someone who never really fit into my idealized version of myself. (Is it a familiar sound?) I adore this book because it perfectly expresses my longing, misguided hope, and disappointment through the use of magazine cutouts, my own images, unique papers, and a few words. Art diaries and handmade books are wonderful mediums for expressing your emotions.

I used a cardboard shipping box to cut rectangles for the pages' bases. Next, I added handmade papers, several types of tissue paper, and a thin piece of bark "paper" that I had purchased from the art supply store. It smells amazing, which adds another sensory element to the novel. Its texture is both smooth and rough, and I adore how the colors and themes of the pictures and the bark work so beautifully together.

Another unique feature of this book is that I didn't bind it. It's a fantastic metaphor for what took place in the relationship—and what didn't. The lovely ribbon binding the pages together is a nice touch.

Customized Journal Instructions

1. Unbound Handmade Journal: A journal that is not bound, such as the one seen above, is distinctive. It can be kept in a box, a shell, or any other kind of container and tied with a ribbon or string. My Pinterest board, Hand Made Books, features lovely examples of books housed in seashells, buttons, and Altoids tins (yep!).

2. Booklet: Here's a great little infographic on binding a booklet for a basic paper-bound book.

3. Lunch Bag Journal: You can construct handmade diaries with inexpensive (or free) lunch bags and grocery bags as the base. The Art Tutorials website has my lunch bag tutorial at the very bottom.  This 5-minute instruction on creating a diary out of computer paper and paper shopping bags can be found on the creative, entertaining DIY site The House that Lars Built.

You can see the stunning metamorphosis Judy Wise, a brilliant paper artist, achieves by wetting and drying her pages in her paper bag diary. This is something you might accomplish as well! With yours, how would you use it?

4. Coffee Sleeve Journal: Another excellent cardboard item to upcycle is coffee sleeves. Check out this article I made using a single sheet of computer paper and coffee sleeves to create mini-art notebooks.

5. Index Card Journal: Using index cards to create a journal is another enjoyable and simple method. In this lesson, I demonstrate how.

6. Accordion Journals: These are a fairly basic type of handcrafted diary that may be customized to any level of complexity. The options are endless: you can add pockets, drop-down doors, or openings for a tunnel diary! In my class, Fluid Art, I teach how to produce these exquisite small paintings and accordion diaries. For additional information, go here.

7. Bind It All Journal: I always learn from and am inspired by Alisa Burke. She has a great piece about utilizing a device called a "bind-it-all" to create your own handcrafted journals without sewing.

8. Custom, Hand Sewn Book with Signatures: James Darrow's thorough and approachable bookbinding lesson is essential to creating a conventional, hard-bound book.

9. Hand Sewn Free Form Book: You'll adore Liz Constable's masterpieces after seeing this incredibly inspirational movie on the New Zealand book maker. I received a ton of inspiration for new journal-making approaches.

10. Journal Quilt: If you enjoy stitching, fabric, and thread, you should definitely check out The Dyers Hand's "journal quilts." The artwork will move you, but what will really touch you is learning about how these exquisite works assisted her in getting over the loss of her spouse.

11. Junk Journal: Using magazine picture collages, exquisite materials, and fragments of vintage artwork are all excellent uses for "junk journals." I'm really thrilled about this new handmade art diary that I made because it brings together a number of pieces that were never able to find a place. For this one, I pieced together random pieces of collage, paper, vintage drawings, and gorgeous fabric using my sewing machine to create "pages," which I then sewed into my book's rear cover.

I have a slight obsession with exquisite fabric and paper. Are you in agreement? I adore it when they are so excellent that it's difficult to identify which one they are. For instance, I think the wonderful crimson paper on this journal cover almost looks like leather.

I just bought a journal from my favorite store.

Of course, you can purchase a notebook from your neighborhood art and craft store or online if creating the art inspires you more than creating the journals. I adore the tan pages of this journal, which is now my favorite because everything seems instantly richer and more "artsy" on them.

What creative endeavor are you now smitten with?

Which methods do you prefer for binding handmade journals? Have I overlooked any amazing handcrafted art journaling approaches that ought to be highlighted? Make sure to inform me in the comments section.