Creating A Journal Plan
I so admire some journal creators and while I don’t journal in the traditional sense of a writing journal I do love creating journals for relatives, friends and myself.
As with any paper craft I just would like to get better at it and recognize my own limitations as to why I don’t get the results I so admire in other crafter’s creations and I think it comes down to a few reasons.
One is finding my own style. That means just because I think something is beautiful doesn’t mean I would like it for myself and it is better to create from your own heart.
As a commercial artist, graphic designer, logo creator etc. I rarely consider personal aesthetic aside from in general. I don’t want my clients logos to have my style, it has to reflect their business so I rarely consider my personal preference beyond my professional expertise nor would I let it to the point of being recognizable as ‘designer brand logo style‘. Maybe this interferes with my personal paper creations too much and while I am careful not to copy and just be inspired by it can be a bit like finding my sea legs and developing my own style.
Two, just because I have a ton of paper, ephemera or supplies doesn’t mean I can just throw them at the wall and hope the final product is something I cherish. This took some examination as to why I admired other creators and one of the things I most admired was attention to detail. In my mind this means craftsmanship and careful planning. It also means what is the purpose of this journal or form follows function.
Just as when I design papers I know that one sheet of good ideas does not a collection make and the idea has to be expanded upon and cohesive throughout the entire collection. Paper crafting is kind of like being in school where I am too excited by possibility with all of the inspiration that is out there and I don’t know where to begin and if I don’t know where to begin, go forward and I don’t know where to end.
Lastly I admire the gathering that some creatives embark upon and recognize the importance of finding those elements that seem like they were made for the finished piece, some in their collections for years just waiting for their final home. I am sure this takes a bit of time to put the ideas aside and let them stew a while before a piece is really finished.
This is part of what inspired me to take journal creation to the art form I know it can be and why I realized that just as with prior sketching or color charts to create a painting or the sometimes months of planning involved in commercial work, attention to detail and careful planning can make all of the difference as to how happy I am with the final product and why I realized it might really help me to have a little system in place to do that.
I realized I do this with everything else from home design to landscape design so why not create a journal to help me create a finished piece. I hope it inspires you to take your paper creations to the next level too.
Remember the freebie Oddities collage collection is on the home page.
