​
Guys, do you know that plants have been here since before we were? I mean duh. Of course you KNEW that but had you really thought about it before? I hadn’t really, and now I need to take a moment to return from mind blown-ness. 

Cool, I’m back. So, I am a true crazy plant lady and nothing and I mean NOTHING, makes me want to touch dirt more than making a new plant babys' home. I have a few fairy gardens, a few terrariums and by golly, I can’t quit.

The only thing that helps me calm down a little with the plant baby buying is the idea that someday we might pack up and move this family of ours all the way across the pond and the mean terrible plant hating custom officers won’t let me bring my plants. Do you know how many tears I will shed over leaving my plants behind? MANY. So every time I think about bringing a new plant baby home I think to myself, will this plant baby be worth the limited time we may or may not have with each other? More often than not, the answer is yes but sometimes, in the rare case that Plant VS Cost VS Happiness equation just doesn’t equal out, I make plans (and usually a pinterest board) of how I will have said failed equation in a future home one day.

That really took you deep into the mind of a crazy plant lady, you’re welcome. #NOREGRETS

I DIGRESS. Now, my friends, you can have a pretty little terrarium around your neck all the time and no one, not even the customs people can take that away from you. Mostly because its a) human made moss, and b) a crystal, not a plant. 

Happy DIY Day friends, if you are a maker/painter/crafter/hoarder etc. you know that there is only so much room in ones home to store all of the things you make/paint/craft/hoard before things start to get dicey and someone tries to Marie Kondo the joy out of your life. Yeah husband, I’m talking to you. In a perfect world, I would have an influx of time and would be able to market and sell all my artwork but sometimes life takes over and its just not realistic for me right now. BUT, creating is a genuine life source for me and I am truly unable to go more than a few days without painting something.

So thats where the necessity of an art journal came from. From the need to create,  but for the lack of space to keep allofthethings. Back in my old university days, I always loved throwing myself into sketchbooks.  Making the sketchbooks was by far, my most favourite part of creating the final work. 

The main difference between my uni sketchbooks and an art journal is that there is no “final” piece that needs to be made from it, I suppose inspiration will be taken from the art journal, but that is not the art journals purpose. Its a spread by spread piece that’s finished a soon as you say it is. YOU ARE THAT JOURNALS BOSS.  

To get this show on the road, you will need:

• a hard cover book - (The one I chose is one I’ve had for ages and is starting to fall apart a bit but I feel like this adds to it’s charm, and is there anything modge podge and washi tape can't fix?)
• Gesso - for some pages I like to use white, others I use clear, depending if I want to writing on the page to be super visible or not. Gesso gets the page ready for the paint by making the page slightly textured and grainy. I find it absorbs paint and stops unwanted paint bleeding - especially with watercolour.
• Binder Clips - You will need these to hold the book open while you get your art ON and for drying/keeping the pages flat.
• Modge Podge (matte or glossy, doesn’t really matter here) You could use a plain white glue too for this purpose. AKA Modgey Podgey, The Podge etc.
• Sponge, Foam or Paint Brush
• Scissors or a Craft Knife
• Decorative Fabric - You could use any type of paper too.
• Washi tape & other decorative accents
• Optional: Glue Gun & Glue Sticks, if your embellishments wont stay on with the Podge.

The How To's:
​1.  Lay out your fabric or decorative paper, fancy side down, and place your book on top.  Centre the spine of your book in the desired location and trace along the edges. Feel free to leave a little space between the book and your traced line, to leave a little wiggle room that you can trim off later. If there are any details on your book that you want to show off, cut around accordingly. I knew that I wanted the cute little embossed cat that was on the original cover so I cut my fabric a couple inches shorter. 

2. Paint on a thin layer of your Modge Podge on the book cover and place your paper or fabric on top. If you have impulse issues like me, now is the time to walk away. Go make a tea. Go make a sandwich. Go watch your neighbours through the blinds for a bit. Whatever you need to do to let that puppy dry for a bit.

3.​ Once that pretty cover is dry, feel free to add on any other embellishments. I’ve gone for some washi tape, paper flowers and sparkly things. I decided to do a light layer of the ye good olde Modgey Podgey as I wanted everything to stay put.  

4. ​Once all of that is nice and dry, it’s time to prep your first page! YAS YAS YAS *que elaborate fireworks show * Flip through to the first page, you want to use and grab those binder clips. You will need these to hold the book open and the pages back while you paint and then drying too. Get your chosen Gesso and brush and apply a thin coat on both pages. You can by all means go ahead and do a few quotes, here I just did one coat as I will likely cover most of the words with paint and other things. Also, I moved my clips around slightly to make sure i was able to gesso the whole page. 

5. Once that is dry, use your fingers to judge how well of a job you did. Go over the pages to make sure you didn’t miss any spots and it all feels grainy and textured. If, you missed a spot, go ahead and fill those in.
​
Now my friends, you have a unique book that can be filled with art work, personal in nature, and aesthetically pleasing. The world is your oyster, Spread your wings and fly, Just Do It and all the other motivational things you can possibly think of. Just grab your paint, stencils, markers, WHATEVER and have some fun.  

There you are, minding your business, looking FINE as HEEELL in your favourite top. You know the top, the one thats casual but also trendy and that hugs you in all the right places, yeah that one. Then all of a sudden, while you are peacefully daydreaming, some a-hole comes by and spills his chicken tikka masala on you. HA! Just kidding, you and I both know you is a hot mess and spilt your own spicy food on yourself. Usually at this point I don’t even care about the embarrassing part of this whole ordeal, but I usually care way more about how badly this will stain my beautiful shirt. If you aren’t at home a) yes, you will look ridic, but b) you also won’t be able to whip said shirt off and put some stain remover on it/let it soak/cry naked in front of the washing machine (I just accidentally wrote washine- so thats now probably a new word)

I know I’m not alone. It’s ok. Things aren’t so gloomy as they seem and you can fix this! There are probably a thousand ways, but one that I think is HELLA cute is doing some DIY embroidery flowers. A few purty thangs to really camouflage that mess.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• A hoop - depending on the size of your mouth missing spillage, range from 2”-20”. I used a 4” for my teeny lady like stains (BAHAHA thats only because i’m not sharing the massive one I have to fix up later - but thats for another day) You can find them in your local craft stores like Michaels and i'm sure amazon got yo back.
• Embroidery Needle - again vary in sizes and lengths but I used one like below that was long.
• Embroidery Thread - Found at craft stores but I get very excited in the dollar store’s craft section and sometimes they have the CUTEST thread that MAMA JUST GOTS TO HAVE.
• Chalk or those fancy washable marker pen things.

• Continue with this super fun times until you have outlined your leaves
• Once that is all finished, you can do a “fill” which is basically just starting at the top, and filling it in side to side, tying a knot on the inside when you are finished BLAH BLAH BLAH but I left mine just as is.​​

On that note, you have saved your shirt from a landfill, and should expect so many "LIKE DAAYYUM GURL HOW CUTE IS YOUR TOP!" 's coming your way now...