Journal Craft Inspirations

The Journal Craft Story

Hi I’m Gill

I have been keeping notebooks with ideas on and off for many years, but they had never been particularly ‘creative’. I had been quite good at drawing at school, but it was not something I had pursued as an adult.

Then recently, I read a few books that re-ignited my creativity…

• “Everyday Matters” by Danny Gregory
• “How To Make A Journal Of Your Life” by Dan Price, and
• “Art Escapes” by Dory Kanter

Together these books had a huge impact on me -

I realised that keeping a journal is
not about creating great art - it’s about creating memories

I also discovered a whole community of people who share their illustrated journals on the photo sharing website Flickr. Many of these are inspired by Danny Gregory’s book - to draw something ordinary everyday. It is amazing how many memories and emotions these little sketches evoke when you look back at them. Looking through these journals I was struck by how creative people can be - even with no journalistic or artistic experience. And also how touching and personal a journal can be.

I decided not only to start writing and illustrating my own journals, but to make the materials you need available on a website, together with inspiration to get you started. Hence the birth of Journal Craft.

I hope you you will be inspired and find what you want on the site. When you gain experience and confidence I hope you will consider sharing the results of your journaling with others on this site.

Meanwhile, my own journey continues, I hope yours will too…