Lucrecer from Art Slam is here today as my guest sharing a how-to on creating your own Art Journal. Her art is not only beautiful, but food for the creative soul.

There are times I really do not have anything I want to write about on my journal pages. Nor do I believe every single page has to have writing on it. Lately, my pages have been following a familiar theme. They have images of tranquility and peace. For this page, I found an image of a woman drinking tea and I knew it had to go in my journal.

I believe in using what you have instead of buying new materials to make art. Here is a list of the materials used on this page:

• acrylic ink (acrylic paint can be substituted. Just water it down a little)
• decorative paper (scrapbooking papers)
• images from a magazine (use what you have or go to a discount bookstore)
• gesso (economy kind is fine, readily available at any craft store)
• small paintbrush (about 1/2″ wide)
• paper towel (to scrub off some of the ink from the background)
• transparency (optional, and available at any craft store)

The first thing I did was select a prepared page (that means I have already applied gesso to the page) and a couple of acrylic inks to create my background. You will notice the page has writing in the gesso. After applying the gesso, you can scratch words even stamp shapes into the paint before it drys. I used the end of a paintbrush to do that.

Next, I applied the lightest of my acrylic inks to the top portion of the page, then the second color to the page. I did not want the color to be too strong, so I used a damp paper towel to pull some of the ink off the page.

Next, I used three decorative papers to create the frame for my image. After I glued each layer on top of the next, I distressed the edges by ripping and bending the papers. This gives the layers texture and dimension. Last thing I did was add my image.

After framing the image, I set it aside and went back to the background. I thought it looked a little plain, so I stapled a transparency to the right side of the page.

Next, add the framed image to the page and add a word or theme to finish it off.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will let it be the catalyst to starting your own art journal. You can find more tutorials about art journaling at the Art Slam.

Thanks, Lucrecer, for the great tutorial. What a great way to express your feelings and emotions while being creative at the same time.