Art Journal Pages

I've been reading Journaling for Joy by Joyce Chapman. It has some great prompts for journal entries. One of the first prompts is how do you feel about journal writing and what do you expect it to do for you? I wrote this entry:

I love to write in my journal. However lately, I have neglected this activity. Also this neglect has manifested itself as a general disregard for my emotional and physical health. I haven't been taking care of my self and needs...I love to write. I love to read what I wrote. What's new now is that I'm going to reflect on my entries and sum up what I've learned from my writing. I'm also wandering into combining my journaling and art to make visual and as well as emotional statements. I love the beauty of these techniques. I expect to learn many things about myself and my abilities. Thank you Lord for these gifts and the encouragement to explore and use them!


I've been having a lot of fun creating more background pages for my journal last week. I got ideas from The Decorated Page: Journals, Scarpbooks & Albums Made Simply Beautiful by Gwen Diehn. On page 57, she had a page like this:
I created my page by applying white gesso as a base and then layering and mixing acrylic paints on top.

On page 64, she used masking tape to hide some of the page and then applied ink on the exposed areas using a cotton pad. I used painter's tape and cosmetic sponges to apply Whisper Inks. Once I removed the tape, I stamped ivy along the edges (Stampin' Up! stamp).
Here's another page spread using the painter's tape masking method. After inking the squares, I stamped designs in each square and added floral fabric cut outs on some of the pink squares. I used glossy Mod Podge to adhere the fabric.

On pages 63, Gwen used plastic needlepoint canvas to add texture to paint on the page. I didn't have that type of canvas, instead I used a piece of a Vidalia onion bag I had in my pantry. The texture image reminds me of tire tracks. It reminded my friend Kim of corn on the cob. I filled the blank spaces with impressions from a Hero Arts Manuscript Background stamp. Remember creating designs using blobs of paint? I did the same thing here with acrylic paint. I then used a wet brush to extend and blend the colors together.

I tried using a crayon resist method but you can barely see the designs under the paint. I made swirls on the right page and stars on the left using a white crayon before using a brayer to cover the pages with three colors of acrylic paints.
I love full moons so I created this page with twinkling stars.
I used one of my journaling stencils for these designs. I love this color combination.
This is a simple painted heart with several smaller hearts stamped in a contrasting color.
Finally, I found this the wonderfully inspiring artist Suzi Blu who has a ton of videos on YouTube in which she encourages people to express themselves through art. In this video, she prompts us to create a self-portrait. It doesn't have to be a realistic portrait, mind you. This is my attempt.Please leave me your comments.