DIY Sunday: Happy thoughts journal

Happy Sunday!

I loooove journaling lately – and this is my special way of journaling!
It’s a happy thoughts journal where you can store your happy memories….

What you'll need:

A journal

I chose a mini album with a “window” at the front side

and blank white pages inside!
But you choose your kind of journal.
You will also need some cute fabric and decoration material (like ribbons etc), things that make you happy (photos….)!

First, lay your journal on the fabric and trace the outlines.

I decided to only use fabric to cover the front side of my journal.

The tricky thing about my journal was the “window” – I traced the outlines of it too and then cut an X from one side to the other.

I used glue to fix the fabric to the inside of the front page.

See?

Now that the fabric is fixed to the inside of the “window”, use glue again to fix the overlaying fabric to the inside.

You need to fold the right side of the fabric so the spiral binding can still be used.

Start decorating the outside of your pretty journal <3

I used a cute leather-flower-decoration ribbon

and Alphabet stickers.

It says HAPPY

I thought, some decoration on the window would be pretty.

So I printed out a pretty picture and glued it to the window

Then, I glued the first page of the journal to it.

Isn’t that pretty?!

Now, onto the pages….Start making this journal your own and add some pretty decoation and pictures and colourful paper!

Have fun crafting this cue cute CUTE journal! Make it your own, get creative <3

Love yous,

Katja

Warning, this post might make you hungry!

I love food. I mean I really love food. The bad thing about having a love affair with food is that it is hard to say no to calories. For me, it is really hard to put down the doughnut or walk away from the Pepsi. Eating an occasional candy bar or ice cream isn't a bad thing. I enjoy what I eat and eat what I enjoy.

Sometimes my love of food gets a little out of control (like a daily chocolate bar or I get into the habit of a dessert after every meal) and I have to slow down and take a break from the junk. I find myself with a mini-addiction to things that are really fattening or I notice that my clothes aren't fitting quite right and I need to evaluate my portions.

Last weekend in KC, I was eating a giant burger at Mary's and scarfing down onion rings....and I realized that I needed to take a break from fried food and fattening snacks. (Especially after seeing a picture of my face that looked gross and fat--I am sure you can all relate to those types of pictures!) Disgusted, I made a plan. Monday I started getting up early to workout and I also started a food journal.

A food journal is my way of making myself accountable for what I put into my body. I force myself to write down everything I eat or drink for at least a month so that eating healthy things becomes more of a habit and eating a treat now and then becomes truly a treat. By keeping a record of everything that I am putting in my body, I am more accountable to myself. By putting it in writing I am able to glance over a week's worth of data and see how much water I drank vs. how many Pepsi-cola's. I can see how many times I ate veggies vs. how many times I had dessert.

I also went shopping and bought some oatmeal (I am slowly making myself a fan of this once-despised food!), fruit, veggies, low fat cheeses and soy milk. I've been eating oatmeal or Greek yogurt every day for breakfast....using lowfat vanilla soy milk as a high-protein snack after school, eating low-calorie lunch meat or salad for lunch...and trying to incorporate healthier veggies into my dinners instead of loaded potatoes. I am feeling good (a little hungry) but my cravings for greasy foods have diminished after a week of abstinence. I allowed myself to eat grilled burgers and hot dogs this weekend and have a giant Pepsi on Saturday, but as long as I am not over-indulging every day, I guess I am getting better!

I've used little notebooks for food journals before but I decided to make this one. I folded some paper over and used a nice sheet of kraft for the cover. I put two staples in the spine and covered it with washi and masking tape.

 I painted a hot pink rectangle on the cover and drew in some lettering. I also drew some little campers....a fun little summer cover!!

 I have a page for every day and I list everything from mustard to water....and sometimes I make grocery lists at the bottom!

What do you do to make yourself accountable for what you put in your body? Do you keep a journal or use an online site for keeping track of what you eat? I am sure there is an app for that...but I like this low tech option, it works for me!

Inspiration.

Creating. 'Art is not created in a vacuum.' For me, without some sort of prompt or challenge, I could continue on daily without an inkling of a reason to make anything. If a prompt exists in can be in the form of an external set of criteria from a class or a commission...or it can simply be on my to-do list.

With the exception of photography, I rarely create something special unless I find myself challenged to apply my creativity, talents and vision. Frequently whenever I find myself required to create something, I will search for inspiration. Creating a huge folder of images on my computer is usually very helpful in establishing a visual reference for my ideas.

As a blogger, I find myself taking a photo of something that I have made and writing a short little snipit about how I made it...and then I just walk away from it....But as an artist, I think it is important to analyze a little deeper and a little further in order to truly understand why I do what I do and in order to grow beyond just doing something because it is fun. I mean, it is almost always fun...but is that the only justification in doing something? I don't think so...I think I make things because the process itself is important to me.

The True and the Questions by Sabrina Ward Harrison is a gorgeous book full of journaling prompts. It is almost too beautiful to write in. My good friend Angela brought this book over last week while we were working on some prompts for an art journaling class. As I flipped through the pages, I was immediately struck with how free the writing and the art felt....

 Without breaking any copyright laws, I am sure that there is very little from the inside of the book that I can truly show you, but I took a few pictures for myself, as a reference...as inspiration...and I intend to order a copy of her book (and maybe a couple of others) as motivation to create beautiful things in my art journals.

(Page (c) Sabrina Ward Harrison)

I love how her writing and drawing and experimenting are all mixed together on every page. Perhaps my own style is too clean, too rigid for such a combination, but nevertheless it so very beautiful. You should truly see the book for yourself in order to truly appreciate it.  Prompts like 'trust the mess' and 'the sweet RAW...here it is' and 'my heart carries' and 'you whispered' and 'I want to fill a home with'....wow...power in the prompts.

A few days after flipping through my friend's copy of the book, I decided to challenge myself to be more free. I was in art class with a group of 2nd graders. We had just finished a project so I gave them a chance to work in their sketchbooks, decorating the cover, coloring previous drawings, creating new drawings and I noticed a boy who was coloring all over the front of his book with all different colors.

At first, I thought--what a waste--why doesn't he draw something and then color it?? but then I realized...he was trying out all the crayola colors like razzledazzle, inch worm, and macaroni and cheese!! Brilliant. He was putting them all over his page in a random assortment...it was actually quite lovely...free, not rigid...reminded me of Sabrina Ward Harrison's book...

So I decided to give it a try...

Eh....um....er....something about it still isn't as free and playful as my student's creation....perhaps I am too rigid...unable to allow myself the freedom to scribble and play, even in an art journal....but I am going to keep challenging myself to be more free.

How about you? What is your own style like? Are you able to try out other styles with much success? What inspires you?