Violette - Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric

Journal Bliss

Creative
Prompts
to Unleash
Your Inner
Eccentric

Violette

www.mycraftivity.com

Journal Bliss Copyright 2009 by Violette. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. The patterns and drawings in the book are for personal use of reader. By permission of the author and publisher, they may be either hand-traced or photocopied to make single copies, but under no circumstances may they be resold or republished. It is permissible for the purchaser to make the projects contained herein and sell them at fairs, bazaars and craft shows. No other part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote a brief passage in review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. (800) 289-0963. First edition.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Violette.

Journal bliss : creative prompts to unleash your inner eccentric / Violette.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-60061-189-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Handicraft. 2. Diaries. 3. Artists books. I. Title.

TT149.V56 2009

745.5--dc22

2008042499

Editor
Jessica Strawser

Designer
Geoff Raker

Photographer
Adam Hand

Production Coordinator
Greg Nock

www.fwmedia.com

Contents

Introduction

When you follow your bliss doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldnt be a door for anyone else.

Joseph Campbell

I invite you to join medon a pair of magical boots and come along on an exhilarating adventure to find Journal Bliss. It doesnt matter if your magical boots are real or imaginary; all we have to do is let go and listen to our intuition, and they will guide our steps on an amazing creative journey. These magical boots are resplendent in color, sprinkled with glitter, words of encouragement and love. Donning them gives us permission to be ourselves and to express ourselves fully and fearlessly through our own creativity.

The transformative abilities of art making are undeniable. If you have any doubt, just watch children working on finger paintings and proudly showing off their exuberant creations. The light and joy in their eyes demonstrate the unrestrained self-expression that brought them to a place of pure bliss. In my own personal journey, I have found that art has taken me places where nothing else could. But it was not until seven years ago that I discovered the magical elixir: combining visual art with words.

Apart from my art making, I had been journaling traditionally, with words, but would often find myself stuck in one place, like a scratch on a record. I felt powerless to move forward. During one such stuck moment on a particularly sad day, I grabbed a clean journal page, drew my face, painted it blue and added some words to describe how I was feeling. I began drawing and creating a collage of more pictures, and before I knew it I was moving rapidly through the place of stuckness to one of bliss and joy. Eureka!

I was so excited by my discovery that I wanted to share it with as many people as I could. Since that time I have taught hundreds of women and children to create a visual journal for self-expression and understanding. When you journal in a visual way, you bypass the conscious mind and travel straight to your subconscious, mining it for its treasures.

In these pages I will teach you how to do all this and more: to create juicy backgrounds, doodle to your hearts content (even if you thought you never could), and craft your own lettering to fashion personal, artistic pages full of meaning. Youll learn that almost anything can become an idea for a journal page. Youll learn to silence your inner critic and create freely. And youll get plenty of inspiration for conjuring up dazzling journal pages when your creative well runs dry.

So tie on your magical boots and get ready to follow your bliss on this amazing journey into your own heart and soul. Youll leave a trail of glitter in your wake for others to follow!

Silencing Your Inner Critic

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see clearly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Antoine de Saint-Exupry, The Little Prince

Do you have that little critical inner voice that tells you youre not good enough or not talented enough, or that warns you not to take risks? I always think of my inner critic in the fitting term coined by noted counselor and personal and executive coach Richard Carson: the gremlin (in fact, he wrote a book called Taming Your Gremlin and is founder of the Gremlin Taming Institute). Regardless of what you call this voice, everyone has one.

Art journaling is a good way to silence your inner critic. Rather than ignoring him when you begin your art journal (which can be easier said than done!), try starting by giving him a voice on a journal page. It can be a visual voice, a literal voice or both. If you can have a dialogue with this critic and actually imagine him outside of yourself, then you can separate that voice from your own. You become able to see that what the critic says to you is no longer relevant.

What does your inner voice look like? Is it male or female? What color is it? If it had a name what would it be? Draw your inner critic and include a dialogue with him on the page. Then, when he has had his say, turn to a clean page and get ready to begin!