We will be exploring a wide range of techniques for both paper and fabric that students can use to embellish the pages of their journals. This is a dynamic workshop and as students create their journals they are encouraged to ask about different techniques and processes that are not on the lesson outline. We will not be limited to just what’s on the workshop syllabus! It is expected that students will ask “what if” or “how can I” as we work our way through the workshop and that will lead to further topics for discussion and exploration. The instructor is open to adding additional lessons and instructions as the workshop progresses. There is no requirement for students to try each and every technique; they are free to pick and choose the ones that they are interested in.

My goal for this workshop is not to teach you how to journal. That’s a rather personal and individual thing and there are a ton of books out in the market that can tell you how to keep a journal. My goal is to give you a library of techniques that you can use as you fill the inside pages of your journal. I want to show you how to create colorful backgrounds for your pages with both paper and fabric, how to combine fabric onto your pages, ways to add images and text that you may not have thought of, and how to incorporate and use unusual items like paper clay, transparencies and found objects into your journal to add interest, texture and unexpected touches to your pages.

This online workshop is designed to be very interactive and the instructor will encourage regular updates from all the students and will be available via the student forums and direct email 7 days a week. The forums and access to the lessons will remain open for at least 8 weeks after the class has ended.

There is a very large supply list for this class, however you are not required to purchase every single item on it. Pick and choose the techniques and supplies that are of interest to you and let that guide your purchasing decisions. Always buy your supplies in the colors that you like and enjoy working with.

Lesson Outline:  
Weeks 1 & 2: We’ll talk about choosing a theme for your first journal and you’ll work on gathering supplies and materials. We’ll discuss any special tools or supplies that you’ll need and we’ll talk about how you might want to organize your journal.    We’re going to make our journal shell using a ring binding system so that it will be easy for you add and remove pages as we go through the workshop.  I'm also going to show you some easy marbling techniques that you can use on paper and fabric.

Weeks 3 & 4:  This week we’re going to start to explore some techniques that you can use as you create your journal. We’ll begin by looking at several ways to create colorful backgrounds for your pages. We’ll be using a variety of wet media paints this week such as inks, acrylics and watercolors on paper.   You'll create a wonderful stash of colorful paper to use in your journal over these two weeks.

Weeks 5 & 6:  Last week we worked with wet media to create colorful backgrounds, this week we’re working with fabric and textiles.  We'll create some beautiful hand dyed and painted fabrics and we'll talk about  ways to add fabric and stitching to the pages of your journals.

Weeks 7 & 8:  Tissue paper can be used to create texture and interest to a page. Layers of it bonded together becomes a beautiful surface for using as a background and I’ll show you how to turn it into a surface that feels and looks like plastic.  We'll be creating a beautiful textured surface journal this week with sewn-in signatures and we'll make some paper clay embellishments.

Weeks 9 & 10:  We’re working with stencils and stamps, both purchased and hand made. We’ll be using them on fabric and paper using a variety of coloring agents including textile paints and stamp pads.

Weeks 11 & 12:  It's time to put it all together!  This is our last couple of weeks together  and we'll be looking at ways to incorporate and combine the techniques we've worked with on our pages. We'll also work with transparencies both commercially purchased and home made and we’ll use several techniques for transferring images to paper and cloth.

Lessons for this class are delivered every 2 weeks because of the large amount of information and techniques covered in each one.