You artsy-crafty people know what I mean – from the minute you see a project that you MUST make, you don’t have a choice and can’t stop thinking about it until you DO it. My art journal was a project like that. The moment I discovered them online (I believe it was Flickr – LOTS of art journal eye candy there!), I had to run out and buy the perfect book to use as a journal. I chose an Ecojot- the cover is heavy, the pages are relatively thick (I knew this would be very important for the mixed media pages), and it is spiral bound, with a good, sturdy spiral. Since then, I’ve also discovered Strathmore has a “mixed media” journal, with pages that are even thicker. <3 So, I found some funky paper in my stash, a batiked handmade paper, batiked with what looks like silver glitter crayon, and then the background is a pretty splash of colours. I made a title, but honestly I hate it, it’s just not artsy enough, and was rushed. I’ll make another to cover it sometime. I’ve also tied some ribbon bits to the outside of the spirals. All in all, I think it’s a great first art journal! 
Here’s the very first page in my art journal. I made the background using the melted crayon technique. First, you use an iron to smear crayon wax all over the paper, then you place some plain paper over top of it and iron it. This pulls up the wax, but leaves the color stained onto the page. I’ve made some gorgeous papers using this technique. After making the background, I used coloured pencils, gold paint pen, and a couple of little mixed media elements to create the page. I used white pencil crayon for the lettering on the lower half of the page, because it was the best thing I had at the time, but since then I’ve gotten my hands on some white gel pens, which work marvellously.
Next up is one of my favourite pages to date. I did the background in a watercolour gradient. Over that I used acrylic paint to make the border and put in the text of one of my favourite poems. Then I used a silver paint pen to outline the words and add some doodles. The metallic paint pen adds some sparkle and depth. Love this page – it looks way better in person too.
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