HI Kevana: I am so happy I could help! You might also love my free class, Creative Self-Care.
XO

Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Jeanine, I’m so happy you found some inspiration!

Amy

Karin, I really needed to hear all this today…& I will try all you suggest, as well as the additional that Amy does as well… so thank you to both/all the ladies here.

HI Kathryn:

OH, I’m SO glad that you have found something valuable here. I too love making use of what is already working. Why reinvent the wheel, right?

Cheers,
Amy

Thank you, Amy. I love the idea of creating a journal with pieces of what I’ve already done. That idea is liberating as opposed to ruminating over what kind of notebook or system to use to organize creative artifacts! I REALLY like the corrugated cardboard unbound journal you shared. ~Kathryn

HI Kathryn:

This is a great, great question, thank you so much for asking it! My first response is that you should do whatever makes you feel comfortable with your art. I’m into “no rules,” because I think it keeps us feeling more free and creative.

However, if you want to find a way to include them in your journal, I have 2 ideas:
1. Much like with using your writing as a background on a page, you might cut and paste bits of old journals onto a page and play with them like collage bits. You can incorporate paint, text, and tissue paper if you like, or just stick with the collage.

2. Create a “junk journal” like the one featured in this post on making your own art journal. The way I made the one shown is to sew different bits of old art pieces with fun papers in order to create an artist book or junk journal. It’s one of my new favorites. You could also do this by hand.

Please let me know how it turns out and if I can provide any other information!
Create happy,

Amy

HI Kathryn – Thank you so much for taking the time to read, watch, and comment here! So much of what we do does not come out “presentable” and I agree, it’s such an important part of the process. I’m so glad to share my process here with you. Your comment is so valuable because it reminds me to share them again soon, which I will do!

Cheers,
Amy

One more thing. It’s not related to this thread but I find that I have difficulty doing my writing (e.g., morning pages) in art journals. I have several art journals I’ve started and mostly they’re blank or I use them for notes or whatever. Then when I’m “doing my art” it’s not in a journal. I like using separate papers, ATC cards, index cards, etc. I’ve used my morning pages as fodder for layers in separate art “pages.” The bottom line is that I have all these pieces of art and would like to find a way to store display them all in one place and haven’t seemed to work that out yet. It likely doesn’t really matter that I’m not working within the constraints of a journal? Anyway, thanks again for sharing your compassionate approach to creativity in its many forms! ~Kathryn