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How to Make an Art Journal from Scratch - Even Beginners
17K views
Feb 7, 2024
In this video you will learn exactly how to make your own DIY art journal that looks anything but DIY. It is a nice size journal for taking with you and everyone will admire it! Art journaling has never been more creative or relaxing than it is right now. If you want to make your cover larger simply cut your cover 8" or 9" tall. This will give you some extra cover above and below the pages. Fabric Paper Tutorial is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3af416kSOU As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases Supplies you will need: Fabric Paper or card for cover (Make your own fabric paper following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3af416kSOU) Paper for pages - I used watercolour paper - https://amzn.to/467FH9g Twine - https://amzn.to/3rdKjfe Paper Corner Cutter - https://amzn.to/48kyzrZ Hole Punch - https://amzn.to/3Zg51rD Paper Hole Reinforcers - https://amzn.to/48gViFh If you enjoy crafting my blog is full of great ideas and tutorials. Plus if you subscribe you gain access to my free resource library, which includes a home crafts e-book, planners and much more, and get to hear about my latest projects first. Take a look at https://christines-crafts.com/ Enjoy watching and creating your own art journals. Please leave me a 'thumbs up' if you enjoyed this video and subscribe so that you get to see all my videos as they are posted.
View Video Transcript
0:00
Would you like to make one of these cute art journals? They're really simple
0:05
You might think they're difficult but they're really not and I've used no specialist equipment
0:09
As you can see it fastens, it opens really easily and you can put as many pages in as you like in all your little signatures or booklets of pages
0:18
So we're going to make the red and blue one here and let's get started
0:24
You can see. Let's go. So the first thing you're going to need is a cover
0:29
Now I'm using fabric paper and there should be a link in the description and on the screen for you now if you want to make your own fabric paper
0:36
But you could just use some card. So you need yours to be 12 inches wide by 7 inches high
0:44
Whether you're using the fabric paper or the card. And that is going to make a nice cover
0:50
Then you need to think about your pages. Now you can make these out of whatever you like, but they do need to be 9 inches wide by 7 inches high
1:00
Now I've made most of mine out of this watercolour paper because I find it's really practical
1:06
It's strong enough to take paint, to stick things to, to do whatever I want really
1:12
And you just want to make as many as you want. So I've made 8 of these watercolour pages
1:18
And I've also made 2 pages that are scrapbook paper. Now they're a little bit smaller purely because that's the size they were, not because they need to be
1:29
So as you can see in total I've made 10 pages. So that's what fits nicely, but you can make more or you can make fewer
1:38
So once you've got your pages we need to think about what we're going to do with them
1:44
So they're going to be folded in half to make your little booklets, your signatures
1:50
So what we're going to do is mark all the way down the centre. Now we're going to score it
1:55
Now you can have lots of fancy tools and if you have, please use them now
1:59
But you can just use the blade of some scissors and gently score one side
2:04
You're not trying to rip through. You just want to make sure you fold it in the correct place
2:10
And then fold it in half. And that is your first page
2:16
And you're then going to repeat that for all of them. Including any ones that are different sizes or whatever
2:25
What matters is that you fold it up the middle. So get your scoring done and get them folded
2:33
Just repeat for all of them. And then once you've got them all folded and you're happy with them
2:40
we're going to make those little signatures. So if you're following on exactly the same as me
2:47
you're going to put five together. So for me, that's four watercolour pages and one of the scrapbook pages
2:55
You can put them however you like. This is where you get creative
3:00
And then once they're together, they're ready for attaching. So let's get back to our cover
3:08
First thing we're going to do here is consider exactly the same process
3:12
Which way round do we want it? Where do we want our little flap? And then we're going to score this so that it folds nicely
3:19
So from the side where you want your flap, you need to measure two inches and score it
3:25
Now if you're using fabric paper like me, you need to be a little bit careful or you can just rip your paper off
3:30
So just score it gently. It is purely to get that first fold
3:36
We're never going to have a tight fold, so we don't really need to score it
3:40
You could just mark it, but I find a gentle scoring works best
3:44
And then you're going to repeat that process, but five inches from the other end
3:50
And these curves, not curves at all, these bends that you're going to make
3:56
these folds, are going to form the outside of your art journal
4:06
OK, so you might look at them, you might feel the need to go back and redo them
4:11
If you're happy, you've just got those two marks. And then fold along them
4:18
Now as you'll see, it's fabric paper. It doesn't necessarily immediately fold exactly along that line
4:24
Just take a little bit of time and get those folds so that they're there and nice
4:30
And you don't need them crisp. They're never going to be. But you do want to be sure where they are
4:38
And you can see how your journal is going to look. And if you're happy with how it is with those corners
4:52
that's absolutely fine. But you will have noticed that I clipped the corners of mine
4:57
Now I use a little corner clipper like this, and I'll put a link in the description below
5:01
You could just round them with scissors, or you could leave them just as ordinary corners
5:06
But I just think it completes it when you cut the corners. So now you've got everything ready
5:12
to think about how on earth we're going to assemble it. Now the answer is we're going to use pamphlet stitching
5:18
and it's really simple. So get one of your signatures and fasten all your pages together
5:25
You don't want anything moving about. It's really important at this stage
5:31
And then we're going to mark along the fold. So get your ruler
5:38
It's 7 inches tall, so at 3 1⁄2 inches in the centre we're going to make a mark
5:44
And then 1 inch in from either end, or 2 1⁄2 inches from the centre
5:48
whichever one you like to measure. So you should have those 3 little dots on your page
5:56
So now you need to turn those into holes through which you can sew
6:00
Now you can get something called a pokey tool. I think everyone around the world calls it a pokey tool
6:05
and that's a great tool to use. It's also a good idea to go into a block of foam
6:10
I've done neither of those things, but I like to make these crafts accessible
6:14
So if all you've got is an embroidery needle or similar, then that's what you're going to use, like me
6:20
So you push the needle through, and then you wiggle it about
6:24
because you really want the hole to be a little bit bigger. Remember you're going to put a bigger needle through here with some twine on
6:30
so you want a nice big hole. And then once you're happy with it, repeat with the other one
6:37
Then you come to your cover. Now, you've done a fold at 5 inches
6:43
and what you're now going to do is to align a 16th of an inch on either side
6:50
So you'll see I measure a 16th of an inch either side of the fold
6:54
at the top and at the bottom, and then draw those in, draw between them
7:00
so you get a nice straight line. And that line is what you're going to put your holes in
7:08
So they end up an eighth of an inch apart, these lines
7:12
an eighth of an inch apart. So if you're doing three signatures, they want to be an eighth of an inch apart
7:18
So this time you're going to measure the centre, which this time will be at 4 inches
7:23
and then you're going to measure 2.5 inches out from that, or 1.5 inches in from either end
7:29
So be careful, that's not the same as the pages, because the pages are smaller than the journal cover
7:36
So I'm just going to leave that with you to think about for a moment, rewind if that takes a little bit of thinking about
7:41
But these holes have to match up with the signature holes. And then guess what
7:47
We're going to make those holes exactly the same way as we made them in the signature
7:53
And then once we've got all these holes, it's going to be time to assemble the journal
8:01
We're going to get all those pages in. So I'm using some twine, you could use some linen thread
8:08
you just want something nice and strong. Thread it on your needle, you don't need too long a length
8:13
you'll see as we go along that it's just for one signature
8:17
So go in through your signature, and out through the journal cover
8:23
through the central hole, leave a nice long tail, because you're going to use that to tie a knot
8:28
and then come back through either the top or the bottom hole
8:34
on the same straight line. So remember, we're keeping along that same straight line
8:39
and back through the signature. You'll see me wiggling because I haven't got my hole quite big enough
8:46
so it doesn't want to come through. And if you have that problem, just relax, don't worry about it
8:51
Give it a good wiggle, it'll come. And then once it's through, you want to pull it so it lies flat
9:00
You're not pulling it really tight, or you'll just pull it right through. And then back in through the hole at the other end
9:08
through the signature and through the cover. Again, just make sure you're going through the right hole on that cover
9:20
And then you're going to bring your needle back through, from the outside to the inside, through that middle hole again
9:26
Now, try and make sure your needle pops up on the opposite side of that twine to the start
9:34
So you'll get a string on either side of that twine that's there
9:39
You see me pull it across? That's to make sure I get it one on either side
9:44
It just helps, that's all. It's tidier, just makes it a little bit tighter and neater
9:51
So then, we don't need the needle anymore. You can see it's nice and trim and tidy on the outside
9:59
You just want it nice and tight. And then you're just going to knot those two tails together
10:05
And trim them down to whatever size you want. I leave mine quite long. I think they're quite, I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for
10:15
A bit rustic, I suppose. I like it anyway. And there you go. You've got a whole signature in there
10:22
And now, you just need to repeat for the other one. So just do exactly the same as we've just done
10:31
And if you're doing three signatures, do it three times. So I hope you're enjoying this video
10:37
And if you are, please could you give me a thumbs up below so that it spreads to more people
10:42
And please do give us comments below on how you're finding it, what you're thinking of putting in your art journal, whether you take it out and about with you
10:49
We can all learn from each other about art journaling. It's not something I've done a lot of, but I absolutely adore these journals
10:56
So once you've got your signatures, however many, inside your journal, and you've tidied all your twine
11:07
all that's left to do is to be able to fasten it. Because at the moment, you've got a cover, but it is just going to spring open
11:16
But you can really see how it's going to look. So the first thing you need to do is make a hole to attach the twine to
11:25
So we're going to start with the flap, that flap there. And we're going to mark the center of it
11:35
because you don't want it towards the top or towards the bottom. So just get your ruler back and start marking the center of it
11:44
Because you don't want it towards the top or towards the bottom. So just get your ruler back out and at 4 inches, because remember it's 8 inches tall
11:54
you're just going to make a mark. Now I'm just making a small pencil mark and I haven't measured how far in from the edge
11:59
but you'll be able to see and you just want to be sensible so you don't leave it too thin that it rips
12:05
Now we're going to punch a hole, but before we do that, I'm going to put these hole reinforcers on
12:11
I don't know if many people use them anymore, but when I was younger we used to use hundreds of these at school
12:17
But if you can find any anywhere, they're great just for reinforcing any holes you punch
12:22
Now if white's alright for you, that's great. I've decided to make mine red
12:27
Now if you want to color yours, you can use a permanent marker like I'm doing. You could use an ink pad, whatever you want to color them in
12:35
And sometimes it can just make them pop or it can make them blend in, depending on what you're going for
12:40
But what you do want is two of these. We're going to put one on the outside of the cover and one on the inside
12:49
So, once you're happy they're dry, if you've painted them or colored them in
12:55
it's time to fix one on. So you're going to stick one on the outside, exactly on the mark that you made
13:04
And then you need to punch the hole. So I'm just using a little hole punch
13:09
I'll put a link below if you want to see what one's like and where you can buy one. And that's it, a simple little hole
13:16
And then once you've got the hole, obviously you can put your other hole reinforcer on the inside
13:25
And so it's ready for your twine. So all we need to do now is work out how long a length we need
13:33
So hold your journal closed and then we're going to wrap the twine around it to work out the length
13:42
So again, this is really a personal choice, but I like to take my twine and wrap it around four times
13:52
OK, that's three, that's four. And then pull off a long length so that I have got plenty
13:58
What I don't want is to be short of length. I'd rather waste a little bit at the end
14:04
And then once you've got your great big long length and you're thinking this is way too long, trust me it isn't
14:09
fold it in half because you want that loop that you get
14:16
And that is what you're going to put through the hole on the front of your journal
14:22
And then thread all the twine through. And then thread all the twine through that loop
14:34
And that should secure it nicely onto the flap of your journal
14:41
And then again we're going to close the journal and this time we're going to wrap it around twice
14:46
which is how I like mine to go. I think it makes a nice secure fastening. And then we need to fasten the journal closed while we do the next step
14:55
So I'm using these big bulldog clips. You can use whatever you've got, a giant paper clip, it doesn't matter
15:01
It's just to hold it in place and to just hold your twine there so it's not trying to escape
15:06
Now we're going to put some beads on that will allow us to fasten it
15:11
Now I've picked these beads and I'm putting three on each one. Whatever beads you like, whatever beads you've got
15:16
You can put one on, you can put five on, this is entirely up to you. But you can see I'm doing my little design here
15:23
So because one of mine's got a narrow hole, I'm going to have to use a needle, you might be able to just thread yours straight through
15:30
But take one of the ends of your twine and put your beads on
15:36
And then simply do a knot. Now how long you want these is up to you. I tend to make it about the width of the journal
15:45
So that they sit nicely and they're not dangling everywhere. Now do as many knots as you need and this is entirely going to depend on your beads and how big the hole is in there
15:56
So just keep knotting it until you're happy. And once you're happy your beads are properly secure and they're definitely not coming off
16:06
you can trim the twine up. And then it'll look really neat and nice
16:15
And then you're going to repeat that with the other one. You want them ideally to be the same length
16:22
Mine never are quite the same length but I don't think that matters. But a similar length
16:27
And then once you've got them both, the way you fasten your journal is simply to tuck the beads
16:35
under the string or twine that you've got wrapped around tight around your journal
16:40
So once I've got mine knot fastened I'll show you that. So we're going to try and tuck it in
16:52
Now you really need to take your clips off or you'll find it is very very tight. So all you do is tuck your beads in and that's your art journal
17:03
All secure and all ready to take on your travels. So thank you for watching
17:08
Please subscribe if you've enjoyed it and watch some more of my videos and see them as they arrive
17:12
And please leave comments below to let us know how you use your art journal and give us some ideas
17:18
Let's all share. Thank you for watching and have a great day art journaling
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