It’s been a little while since I posted anything art journal related, what with one thing and another. One thing being completing the Creative Chemistry 103 course – definitely worth the investment. Another being design and installation of a new sand filter for the studio so that I don’t have to empty a stinking waster container prompted only by the stink as it overflows. It’s a simple enough idea – grey water goes into a tank of sand and gravel, filters out the large particulates and then drains out to my irrigation sump ready for watering the garden. No more overflows!

Another another was the creation of a water feature which is just outside the studio. I’d gone to look at the self-contained fountains/water features at our local garden centre, and somewhat astounded by the price tags was asked ‘surely you can do something yourself?’. So with a bit of thought, a quick shopping trip on Amazon, a tube of mastic, and some terracotta pots, a plan came together. Throw in a watering can previously belonging to my grandfather and a personal, upcycled, repurposed water feature now trickles away in counterpoint to the gushing waterfall that has just been installed in a neighbour’s garden.

But, back to the point! It was raining today, so I got to work in my art journal with the intention of putting together the next art journal session samples ready for September. The theme is ‘pockets, flips and flaps’…

Using backgrounds that have been sitting waiting for inspiration to be laid on top of them, the first page features a pocket – containing a journal card with the source of that inspiration tucked inside.

It’s not my normal style to add die cut ephemera to my pages, but, as I think I might have mentioned, I have to start using things up to make room for new things. Under the ‘happy’ die cut is a window shutter style flap hiding a symbol of happiness. Curious as to what it might be? That’s sort of the point 😉

Now then – I started with good intentions, defining a flip as a folding flap within the page space, and a flap attached to the edge of the page that opens outside of the page space. So there’s been the pocket, a flip, and you’d have thought this last example would have been a flap. It would have been… except that I got distracted and this layout happened instead.

Given the amount of time that has passed since I created the background, I was quite pleased with the match that I managed to get with a Gelli Art plate and stencils to decorate the dividers. And if you hadn’t guessed, the white spaces are where you’ll respond to the journal prompts as the mood takes you, safe in the knowledge your journaling will be tucked away.

If you’ve got this far down the post, you may be interested enough to attend my art journaling sessions on the first Monday evening of the month. They’re proving popular, so if you do, be sure to book early by emailing me.