Australian Journal Swap

Have you ever done a journal swap?
Have you ever wanted to?

I have a couple out there at the moment and I have really enjoyed working in other peoples journals- for one thing you get to see and touch other artists work and that is so much better than seeing it online.

All of the works above are in my Nature Study journal, it was a nice little swap with just 3 artists.

We set up our own little blog  The Sisterhood of the Travelling Art Journals 
and we all had fun and stretched ourselves working on others journals.
It is a bit scary stepping out and taking that step but it will develop you as an artist
 and it will develop your confidence.

One journal I have out travelling the world is my Totem Animals Journal 

This swap has had plenty of challenges but we have a core group of wonderful artists and we also have a blog called 15 Artists, 15 Journals, 15 Months  this swap has been going for much longer than 15 months but it is winding up now with a few journals home already.If you pop over to that blog you will see lots of different styles and interpretations. I cant wait to get mine back :)

In 2010 I sent out my first much loved journal

The Sacred Feminine

You can follow the link above to have a look into my journal,
I was so excited and made individual ATCs for all of my fellow artists and you can see some other the beautiful pages done here  Sadly this journal is lost somewhere in England I think, so if you happen to see it please send it home.

It is a big risk putting your beautiful hand made creation out there into the world, and putting your art work out there as well, but I have developed personally and seen other artists really bloom doing this. Most of the artists who sign up are a bit unsure if their work is good enough- but everyone is really supportive and appreciative and you will out do your self, maybe not on every page but as long as you are creating for that other artist who sent that little journal out into the world with intention and care I am sure your work will be beautiful and so very appreciated.

To try and limit journals going missing and also to save the large expense of overseas postage I am limiting this art journal swap  for Australian Artists only.
I will set up a blog and ask you all to join and contribute as you do your work
 and I will set up a facebook page for ease of communication.
It makes connecting so much easier.

Before you sign up you need to be certain you can dedicate some time every month or so to do your page and to get it posted. If we keep the communication channels open and the journals flowing we will all have a lot of fun. Of course life happens and sometimes things get too much , but timely and honest communication will smooth things out considerably and keep us all motivated and on track. In the 15 15 15 swap we have accommodated a new baby, over seas travel, people moving and many other things- if we are all in the look people are very understanding and sometimes it might mean missing someone for a few months but then sending back to that artist when they are back on board again. There is never any reason to disappear and stop contact to this end I will need everyone's home and mobile numbers and email addresses.

To sign up either leave a comment here
or go and join Milliandes Art Journal  Facebook Group and join up here 

As we are all out of our usual routines I will leave the sign up open until mid Feb and then we will see how many fellow artists we have and form into groups. I think 10 - 12 people will be the maximum and if we have over 12 I will split the groups into 2.

So if you want to start making your journal maybe create 12 double page openings no bigger than A4 so it will fit in a standard sized envelope, and start thinking about your theme. A light weight cover is a good idea and you can do your title page and maybe a welcome and an artist sign in space.  I have some links on my blog for book making tutorials and inspiration You don't need to make a journal if you would rather not, you can send a bundle and bind later or you can buy a journal to use. I like to use stonehenge printmaking paper as it takes anything I do to it but many people like watercolour papers or mixed media papers, what ever you use try to use something that will stand up to anything- I have pages that are sewn have spack filler texture, have so very many layers  and have holes cut into them - these will be used creatively by various artists who do all different types of work

I encourage you to join in - be brave - be committed and have fun.