Personal journals are like diaries. You use them to tell your own life story, and sometimes to sort through issues and challenges. Your diary may be handwritten or typed. You can illustrate it with sketches, photos, or mementos... or allow your words to tell the entire story.

"Art journaling" is illustrating your personal journal or diary. You can use sketches, photos, paintings, or collage. You can glue in receipts, newspaper headlines or clippings, entries from the TV Guide for that day, or... anything visual, really.

I've always kept a diary and illustrated it. As an adult, I still do. And, I've found that people--especially women--find new meaning and insights when they keep illustrated journals. In these pages--and more, on the way--I hope to share ideas and inspiration to help you find your own "voice" in art journaling, too.

FREE EBOOKS

• Journaling Your Past - a free 26-page ebook. It's like taking one of my workshops.
• Family History Shrines - Create your own family history display or shrine using my free 14-page ebook, .

TRADITIONAL JOURNALING

• Historical Journals & Diaries Online - links to a wide range of diaries and letters, scanned and transcribed.

COLLAGE

• How to collage in your art/journal
• Notes to Erin about creating an art/journal
• A short animation: Steps in an art/journal collage

TRAVEL JOURNALING

• Basic supplies for watercolor journaling
• Choosing your subject and composition

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT JOURNALING SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES

• Acrylic paint on bristol paper?
• Tea staining your art journal pages
• Gesso - What it is and how to use it
• Wax paper and art journals - keep wet pages apart

• My art journals - scans of pages and complete journals
• An August day in York, Maine - single page from a 2000 swap
• RenFaire Journal - cover only