Ready, Set, Take Your Travel Journal and Go!

There have been a lot of comings and goings in my family lately. I was out in Colorado, my husband traveled to Arizona, and most exciting of all, our daughter returned from a semester abroad in Costa Rica. We all brought back gifts and mementos from our journeys, but I am most anxious to see Olivia's travel journals. She has several notebooks full of pictures, papers, maps, drawings, and ephemera from her trip. Little touchstones from which her stories will flow.

folded travel journal
Turn a map into a travel journal
with minimal supplies.
Journal by Dea Fischer.

Olivia has plans to organize her travel journal writings and ephemera in an artistic, cohesive way. However, for short trips, book and journal artist Dea Fischer has an easy way to make a handmade journal using the materials you collect on your journey.

Concertina Pocket Journal

1. Cut or tear your paper to about 30" x 10".  

2. Lengthwise, turn up ½" or so at the bottom edge. Crease it firmly and glue it down if you have a glue stick. 

3. Turn up the bottom edge again, approximately 2", with the previous turned-up section on the inside. Do not glue.

4. To create the concertina, fold the paper in half across the width, and then fold the top layer back towards the fold. Turn the paper over and repeat the previous step on the other side.

5. Fold the leading edge back toward the center fold again. Turn the paper over and repeat to create an 8-fold concertina.

6. Crease firmly on all folds, and then completely unfold it and refold it into a concertina. Use the completed pockets to hold ephemera or special objects.

Creating a travel journal out of papers you find on your trip also solves one of the classic art journaling problems: where to start. The graphics on your found papers give you an automatic background onto which you can apply art journaling techniques.

It's also easy to carry your art and travel journal techniques inspiration with you, when you select one of our digital products.

P.S. What's your favorite travel journal tip or technique? Please share!

Categories

Art Journaling and Lettering, Blog, Mixed-Media Techniques

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