Christmas Idea #2 – Quick and Easy Journal

This is one of the quickest art journals I’ve ever made. I could see this made with Christmas colors with pictures of the recipient. It could be given without painting – just blank – for an art journal friend to play in. It could be painted or papered in a theme as a mini-scrapbook to give or keep. The uses of this cute book are endless.

I painted mine for me – just playing with paint, stencils and stamps.

The finished size of the pages depends on the size of paper you start with. The smaller the original paper, the smaller the journal. I’m using 12 x18 inches 90 lb watercolor paper. My finished size is 4.5 x 6 inches – a great size to fit into a purse or pocket. A regular size paper, 8.5 x 11, will yield a 2.75 x 4.25.

I’ve made one of these a while back and didn’t like it because it was so small. With this larger paper, it turns out to be a really nice size.

So let’s get started. First I painted one side of the paper. I started with spreading paint with a gift card. I wasn’t trying to cover the whole piece. I just wanted to add some color.

Then I added stenciling and stamping. I’m not done, but can add more once it’s folded.

Now the paper is folded in half widthwise. I used my bone folder to make a good crease.

Then we open it up and fold it in half the other way. You can see that my finger is near the first fold.

Now once these are folded good, open up the paper and turn over so the back side of the paper is facing up. Fold into the first fold. You are folding on the shorter side.

Then fold the other side down to that original fold.

Now open up, and you will see that you have eight panels. These will be your eight pages.

Now fold on the original fold. With your scissor cut on the fold for one panel length. You are cutting two since the paper is doubled.

Then open the paper back up and stand it up like a tent. Where you have cut will open up.

Now holding each end push the cut closed. That will make the book. You’ll have eight pages including the front and back cover. This is a good time to get out that bone folder again to make sure you’ve made good creases. You might need to work with it getting it to fold right, but you shouldn’t have much trouble.

Once you make your journal, you can add more paint, stamping, images or whatever you want for this little book. Here is my completed book.

Since my project is pretty busy, I could add some photos or blocks of journaling to break up the design.

These little books are so quick and easy to make. If you’ve tried making them with smaller paper likeI did, try with a larger piece. More of these little books in my future. Thanks for dropping by.