Using creativity to express feelings and thoughts is such a great way to release stress, especially during this pandemic, where we should document our observations, feelings and thoughts to paper for the next generation. Personally, I have never been much of a person to write in a journal. However, I partially changed my mind on it after viewing some classes on Creativebug. Creativebug is a great creative resource the library currently offers. It has a variety of art-related courses, ranging from sewing to painting and more.
One class that really struck me was a Meditative Art Journal class. The class goes through how to create a mini journal out of paper, thread and a needle. It then goes into showing you ways to incorporate artistic elements into everyday journaling. The class as a whole is less than twenty minutes, and it’s reproducible in whatever creative materials you may have at home.
After viewing the whole class, I was interested in putting together a mini journal out of paper like they did in the video. I didn’t have a needle and thread to put the pages together, but I did have a mostly blank journal that I hardly used. (I tried to use this journal to collect recipes, but that didn’t turn out as well as I hoped.) So I tested out some watercolor paint on the paper to see how it would hold with this type of paint. It wasn’t the best, but it would do!
As you may have realized from my previous posts, I love inspirational mantras. I come across them every day on Instagram, and I figured this project was a great way of collecting them and adding a personal creative touch to each of the mantras.
I went through my photos and started writing down some of the mantras I wanted to highlight in my journal. I also grabbed the art utensils I wanted to use for this project, such as my calligraphy pens, gel pens and watercolor paint. Then I got started!
As you may notice from the pictures below, I started with the writing first, using my calligraphy pens, then I moved on to adding watercolor paint. This is such an expressive way of writing that I didn’t really pay attention to how it looked. I focused more on what it felt like to write these mantras down on paper, especially how inspired I was to keep moving forward during the pandemic.
I really enjoyed this class on Creativebug, and there is a lot to choose from at your fingertips. I hope this has inspired you to put together your own mediative journal and keep it as a token of the times we are experiencing.
