Materials

Have you been to an art and craft shop lately? 

It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the products that are available these days. 

Some art journaling goodies!

Before you spend all your money on art supplies I want to give you some ideas of the things I use.
  

The first thing you will need is a journal or  paper . I am not going to tell you which journal to buy and if you want to get yourself a journal make sure the paper is at least 120gsm. You want a paper that can withstand some water and paint. There are other options too. Loose paper or cardboard box. Breakfast cereal boxes are great to practice on and you can bind the pages into a journal too! Moleskine's are wonderful to work in and very special but they are pricey. Maybe if you ask Santa nicely? :) Once you have a Moleskine in your hands you will know what I mean by a special journal. I am a passionate lover of Moleskine Journals.  

I often bind my own books by using Watercolour Pads. The great advantage of binding your own journals is that you can be sure the paper are suited for your needs. If you buy a journal but you find out that the paper can not take all the water then simply prepare your pages before you start painting with  a layer of gesso. Gesso is a must have and a wonderful medium to use in your journals.  It seals, protects and give the paper a smooth chalky feel.
Dala Art  has a product called Acrylic Gesso which is available at all the Art and Craft Stores as well as CNA and PNA. 

Pens and Markers:

Pens I can not go without are my white Uni-ball Signo angelic gel pen, Artline Calligraphy Pen 2.0 in black, (all the Artline Markers are lovely to use) Mitsubishi uni-ball (eye) fine in black, Faber Castell Pitt artist pens in different shades, Copic Markers in different shades and then I have several different permanent markers in black for writing. I also love to use Artline 440 XF Paint Marker in white with a 1.2 tip.

You will need paint and I suggest that you opt for the cheapest best quality  paint you can get. Is there such a thing? Yes!  Jabtex Craft Acrylic paints are extremely affordable and the colours are amazing!    

They come in different sizes too and the quality of the paint is unbelievable!  Another great thing I love about using Jabtex Craft Acrylic is that any pen will write over it without any problem whatsoever.  

It is a South African Product and the factory is in Somerset West, Western Cape. Craft Acrylic paints are available at some of the crafts shops,  PNA's and  The Crafters Inn in Somerset West stock these paints as well.

I also use Jabtex Podge Medium for collage work and Dala Drawing Inks are great for stencils and splatters.  I have a small box with Watercolour paints as well as Watersoluble pencils. 

You don't really need to buy stamps. Same goes for stencils. 

(I accumulated some over the years though ;)

 Tip: 
Start looking at everyday objects to use as stamps and stencils or make your own. It is so much cheaper. 

Things you can use: Bubble wrap, inside of toilet paper roll, plastic wrap, corks from wine bottles, inside of finished cellotape etc.
 There are so many things you could use. 

Start collecting magazine clippings, old newspapers, old catalogues, old receipts, used envelopes, postage stamps, all your little scribbles and doodles, telephone directories, breakfast cereal boxes, anything you buy in a box can be used.

  

The picture below shows my table with my supplies. As you can see you don't need a big space or a separate room to keep an art journal.   

You will also need:

• Scissors
• Glue Stick 
• Masking tape
• Scotch magic tape (it's a clear cellotape you can write on, available at PNA, CNA and Craft Shops) 
• Ruler
• Eraser
• Brushes 
• Old credit card or brayer 
• Old Magazines/ Decorative Papers/ Pictures / Photos/ (Any of these)

Still too overwhelming! Here is a list of the basic supplies you will need. You can always add more supplies on a monthly basis and don't have to rush to the shops to buy everything immediately. 

Basics: 

• A Journal/Sketchbook or paper
• Anything to colour with (I recommend a craft acrylic for backgrounds)
• Pen to write with
• Paint brush or two
• Scissors
• Pencil and eraser
• Glue Stick 
• Old Magazines/Newspapers/Receipts/

If you have all of these supplies you can start! As you can see from the picture and list above you don't need a lot of art materials at all. In the picture you can see my small watercolour set but if you are not working on watercolour paper I strongly advise that you use any craft or acrylic paint to do backgrounds with. If you are a scrapbooker you can also use chalks to bring colour to white pages. 

Please remember!!!! 

There are no rules, only your rules. I am only giving suggestions to what you can do. It's up to you to change anything or to substitute  to something else you feel more comfortable with.  

You don't need any artistic talents whatsoever believe me. Gather these materials, make yourself a cup of coffee and let me show you an easy and meaningful way to keep your very own art journal! 

Are you ready?  LETS GO!