Art Journaling! How to document an event

 What with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and assorted birthdays, it seems like the events just keep on coming! Make the most out of the holidays by making beautiful art journals of memories. 

We’re going to make an art journal today and learn tons of fun techniques. Grab a sketchbook or notebook and all of the holiday ephemera and let’s get gluing! 

In my previous art journaling posts, we’ve seen a lot of watercolor designs. But with memory art journals, I really love to collage. We’ll still incorporate a bit of water media, but collages make your book nice and thick and make turning the pages a joy. 

We have a lot of ephemera. . . 

But if you’re still wondering what to include in your memory art journal, here are a few ideas. 

Pics 

Quotes

Flowers

Streamers

Deflated balloons 

Signs 

Banners. 

So, you have your piles of ephemera. You have a notebook. You have some rockin’ Christian music in the background. Let’s do this thing! 

I’m making a birthday multi media journal, but all of these tricks can apply to whatever event you’re celebrating. 

First, the cover. I chose a quote I liked and trimmed it. 

Watch the quote-trimming tutorial below! 

Trim all your quotes so that they fit perfectly in your book. 

No good party is complete without streamers. Tie them to the coil binding of your notebook, or glue them to the cover. 

What about the rest of the cover? I love love LOVE paint sticks. They don’t require a paintbrush or water, and they dry within minutes. Feel free to use regular paint too. 

Continue the process until the entire cover is, well, covered. 

Another cover idea is to fill the page with quotes, or one large quote, and do a stamp design in the corner. 

Ok, now it is time for the interior! 

Divide up a few pages into different organized blocks for thoughts and notes. In other words, create a vignette, or closed off shape. Trace around an index card to create your vignette. 

Make some vignettes and paint the rest of the page black, using paint or matte opaque gesso (a very handy substance). Once the page is dry, doodle with a gel pen on the gesso or paint. 

Cool, right? 

Try tracing special bits and bobs from your party. This works very well with items you can’t put in the journal. This page has a tracing of a birthday headband. 

Every party has special napkins. Try collaging them! 

Make a map and put it in the front of your book! 

Write lists in your journal. They could be of people, outfits, treats, or gifts. 

Take any deflated balloon and collage it! 

Incorporate tricks from my other art journal lessons into your memory journal. 

To finish your book, end with an inspiring quote. Paint the back cover with that marvelous gesso, and doodle all over it. Then collage a poem over your artwork. 

Thanks for reading everybody! I hope you have a wonderful journal that do your memories justice! 

God loves y’all!