Wednesday 19 July 2017

Journal Inspiration



Journaling is such a great personal tool. I've been keeping a creative journal for about two and a half years. It's tiny, from MUJI, with dotted pages. My mum got it for me when she was in Taiwan, so I wanted to find a special use for it, and I think I did. Using a journal is great because it can be whatever I want it to be. It's an ideal place to stick memories like tickets and photos in, when you don't know where else to keep them. I like to write down my thoughts in a poetic way too. Sometimes I'll find something I've jotted down in the margin of a school book and transfer it to my journal to immortalise it. I stick in pieces of art I've made- I let the journal speak of me.

Something that I did not necessarily expect going in was how it would display to me the differences in my interests as I got older. The early pages have song lyrics and happy thoughts about music artists I used to love, and names of friends I used to be closer to. In this way it can map out a journey, an emotional and physical one as plane and train tickets line the pages in between.

The cover has a kind of zip lock mechanism, where I've put a decorative piece of paper, but I also like to hide pages that I haven't yet included in the notebook, but would one day like to. Sticking lots of things into such a notebook does take up a lot of room, so you can either go for the chunky look, or use the other pages for shopping lists and the like. I'm happy to rip out pages when I'm not happy with how they look- I really want this paper space to reflect my innermost thoughts, as well as to be aesthetically pleasing.


As you can see above, I also stick in pretty things that others have made. Les Parapluies by Renoir is one of my favourite paintings ever, so I wanted to include it. It's fun to coordinate pages side by side, even when the themes don't always have much to do with each other. In a way, what this is is a cross between journaling and scrapbooking. Either way, it's lots of fun, and I'm happy with how it's coming along.

1. the cover // 2. the opening pages (though not everything in the journal is happy!) // 3. a taylor swift lyric & a dog i found in a magazine // 4. a poem i wrote & a madeiran cable car ticket // 5. a croissant i painted // 6. les parapluies by renoir & more poetry

Do you journal or scrapbook?

Anna x

22 comments

  1. I love it, I always want to journal but I am too much of a perfectionist. Yours is lovely!

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  2. Lovely work! <3
    I'd always been a journal maker until I graduated this summer. Seeing yours bring my motivation to write and draw again.
    Btw, nice to meet you! x

    Love,
    Novreica
    http://www.novreica.blog

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  3. Thank you Novreica, it's definitely a fun activity. Nice to meet you too :) x

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  4. This journal is the cutest thing. For me I have never been able to keep one and blogging just works better but maybe one day I will have the encouragement to keep it up!

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  5. You have such a gorgeous journal! It's super inspiring, thank you for sharing.
    Amy xx

    A Habit Of Solitude

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  6. Your bullet journal looks super cute! It looks like a great way to customize your notebook in a neat fashion. I am totally loving the art! Croissant looks delish XD.

    https://exquisitely.me

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  7. Thanks Vanessa! They're worth the effort :)

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  8. Thank you for your sweet comment, Amy :)

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  9. I love these spreads! I've been also journalling since I was 9/10 I think, and I think it's really important as we can be able to look back at certain part of our lives and reminiscing what kind of specific feeling we had during that time. X

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  10. Thank you Nancy! Unfortunately the croissant was stale by the time I was finished drawing it for art lol

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  11. Thank you! It's so cool that you've been using a journal for so long. I agree on that totally :)

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  12. I LOVE SEEING PEOPLE'S JOURNALS. Okay, that sounds a little weird but journals are so fun and creative and artsy! I love the mix of poetry and artworks. :)

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  13. Thank you Jo! I totally agree about seeing other people's work! :)

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  14. I agree with Jo's comment; I love seeing other people's journals :P
    Right now I keep a journal using the Midori Traveler's Notebook, but sometimes I do wish that the pages were a big larger because there are a lot of things that won't fit on the narrow page!

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  15. I have the exact same notebook from Muji!! The pocket size as well! Haha. It's so handy because of the pocket up in front. Love seeing other's journals and so so love the dog hahaha

    xo, Lou | Caffeine Rush

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  16. I love the croissant you painted! Looks really good and personally, I love croissants. I think about them on a weekly basis, no lie, haha. Thanks for sharing your journal!

    Kim
    Simply Lovebirds

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  17. Oh cool! High-five :) The pocket is sooo handy. Thank you for your comment!

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  18. Thank you so much! I love them too- had another at lunchtime today :)

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  19. Oooh that notebook sounds gorgeous. Sometimes one just needs a big amount of space to allow all the creativity to flow!

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  20. Your journal looks lovely. I like how personal and cute it is. I myself don't have something like this but I love the idea of it. Maybe one day I'll start one :)

    -Leta | The Nerdy Me

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  21. Thank you Leta! Do start, it's very fun :)

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Thank you for your words x

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