For this week’s post, I am sharing tips and tricks regarding a project I started, namely, Creative Journaling in isolation. In order to cope with everything going on, I decided to grab an empty traveler’s notebook and start playing with my supplies. I have published a video showing my process for 3 of the layouts that you can check out here.
Creative Journaling Supplies
For supplies, I really wanted to focus on using what I have. As such, I relied on traveler’s notebook inserts from Studio Calico – either purchased or from a kit. Pulling out every stamp set I have, I determined which I would be using most – my Amy Tangerine Alphabet set and my Studio L2E Simple Letters stamp set. My Mega Date Stamp from Studio Calico was a no brainer as its giant and so much fun to use! Another trick to maintaining some cohesion between layouts was narrowing down my washi tape selection to 6 rolls. I then used them interchangeably throughout the various pages.
Everything else was fair game!
- Ali Edwards journaling cards and ephemera from previous kits
- Feed Your Craft “Pattern Play” and “Pieced Together” stamp sets
- Studio Calico’s “Real Life” stamp set
- HP Sprocket photo printer
- Some random stickers from Wish I’d ordered months ago
- PeriPage thermal printer
- Some hand drawn doodles and drawings.
All together, these supplies and techniques helped to create a haven from my stress and anxiety. I wasn’t spending money, and I had more than enough to do this project. It was the perfect situation for me that didn’t involve shopping or eating – my usual stress management tools.
Creative Journaling Tips and Tricks
As already mentioned above, I had a core group of stamps and washi that I used to maintain cohesion between the layouts. Not that that’s particularly important for a project like this. I just want to be open and share with you why may layouts work separately and together.
I am not big into journaling and writing. It is more the creative process that helps me. I did want to include some journaling to provide context, so I just used little bits of journaling here and there. For many of my layouts, it was more about the central image. The colours and the embellishments were more important to me as that is where I get the most relief.
For you, it may be more about the journaling and that’s fine too. Figure out what works for you, experiment a bit, and then proceed with WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!
One more tip I want to share is to stay as open minded as possible. With the Studio Calico notebooks, the pages are pre-printed and sometimes contain sayings that don’t fit with what I want to journal. You can deal with this in 2 ways: 1.) take the notebook apart and rearrange the pages, or 2.) embrace it and change it to fit what you want.
This project was spur of the moment so I used option 2. You will notice on my “There’s Magic in the Air” page, I ended up stamping “But I’m not feeling it”, or with the daily gratitude layout, I stamped “maybe just not right now”. I find being as honest as possible is what makes this project so wonderful for me. I am not hiding my true feelings to fit what a piece of paper says. You can also just glue that pages together. Although, depending on which company’s product you’re using, you may be gluing a lot…
Gallery
My final thoughts for this post is to emphasize that creative journaling in isolation is something I did for me, that I am choosing to share with you. This is what worked for me and I am hoping it inspires you to either, find something that works for you, or read my entries and realize that you are not alone! I think this is the most honest I have been in a while and it’s definitely been refreshing.
What are some projects you are working on? How are you getting through this? If I am not sitting at my desk stamping my heart out, I am lying on the couch playing Animal Crossing and listening to audiobooks. It’s about balance right?!
Talk soon!
