Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Day 5: How to be able to art journal every day: Time management tips!

Hello friends,
Today I want to share with you a couple tips that will help you be successful in art journaling every day.  First of all, working in your art journal every day doesn't mean you complete a page every day unless you want it to mean that.  Remember it's YOUR art journal...and there is no time table!  This is supposed to be fun and meaningful, not something else to add to your already-busy to-do list!

That being said, I have a couple of tips to help you do SOMETHING every day for your art journal.  First of all, you absolutely have to SCHEDULE TIME for it.  If you don't have a specific time set aside you will most likely NOT do it every day.  If you don't have an hour, make it a half hour (or whatever you know you can commit to).  If you have 15 minutes here and 15 minutes 3 hours from now, do that!  But SCHEDULE TIME for it.

On that note, make sure you allow yourself  days off when you need to.  Remember, you won't do it if you dread it!

I know some people need to work on one page at a time.  They start the background, add the layers, get the art done, then move onto the journaling.  I do not work this way MOST days (although sometimes I do).  I like to work in batches.  So I'll create the basic backgrounds (sometimes with modeling paste, sometimes that will come later).  Here is a photo of my book right now:
 
See the pages I have backgrounds on?  I  did the 3 page layout backgrounds in one sitting because I was on a roll!

Another way I like to spend my Art Journaling time is stamping and cutting out images to use in upcoming journal pages.  I don't know exactly what I'll use until I get to that page, but I store them in a little box on my table to dig through when I'm ready for this part of my art journaling (lots of new stamp sets coming out next week I've already begun stamping and cutting out to use!!):
 
Another part, that I do while watching TV with the family in the living room at nights usually, is coloring.  These new HYMN themed stamps take coloring (like I did on the skin already on this character) and sponging with Distress Inks REALLY WELL:
 
So have I been working in my Art Journal today, Day 5...YOU BETCHA!  And the work I did today will make it possible for me to get to the journaling on a few pages tomorrow!  But I don't feel pressure to have a page completed every day (and it may look like I'm knocking one page out a day because of my posting them one each day!) but I don't.

So if you have one page's background done, go ahead and commit to knocking out a few more before you stop.  Then tomorrow work on your stamping or journaling.  There is NOTHING like completing your entire book!  And mine will be full by the time we are done with our 31 Days of March: Art Journaling Your Bible Study.  And I hope you are encouraged that even if you are starting TODAY, yours can be too!

Have a blessed night and I'll be back tomorrow with a photo tutorial on my next completed page!
Blessings and thanks for your emails and feedback here!
Antoinette
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1 comment:

  1. Antoinette, This post was soooo helpful. I like the idea of doing several backgrounds at one sitting when I'm able to do it. I also like the idea of stamping several items at a time and then cutting them all out. Great ideas. Thanks. I'm going to give that a try, and we'll see how it goes......Linda E.

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