Idea journals are simple, easy-to-make notebooks. I take a bunch of my printed papers, tear them down to different sizes, stack them together, fold on one end and sew a zigzag stitch right down the center of the fold. These make great art journals, sketchbooks or a place to store your ideas. The covers can be made of painted fabric, free-motion stitched art quilts, a collage of monoprints or a simple painted manila folder. Use maps, ephemera collected from travels, atlas pages, blueprints, graph paper and music sheets as pages. Staple, tape or stitch art journal cards or inspirational photos inside. Include paint chip cards for color inspiration. Wrap the center of the journal with twine, hemp or crochet yarn and embellish with flowers. Anything goes!
Idea notebooks made of stitched collage covers and fabric. Fold a manila envelope in half and stitch up one side to create a pocket.
Monoprint of hot glue and heart stencil on construction paper, taped to painted manila folder.
Altered photo stapled to a printed manila folder.
Fold some pages shorter than others. Use construction paper, newsprint and manila folders for journal pages.
Use a free-motion texture plate to add designs over the page. Stitch photocopies of your artwork into journals.
Create prints with rubber bands, hot glue flowers and paint with a dauber. Use duct tape or masking tape to secure pages inside the idea journal.
Recycle bingo paper, graph paper for pages. Print with silk flowers, plastic gutters, needlepoint canvas and doodle dimensional paint monoprints.