BOOK REVIEW: ‘NO EXCUSES ART JOURNALING – making time for creativity’
BY GINA rossi ARMFIELD

If you have ever started an art journal (or any kind of journal for that matter), you know it takes commitment!  Every time I pick up a beautiful new journal full of empty white pages I just know that THIS TIME I am going to stick with it. After all, the book is so beautiful and I have so much to say…

After a few days or weeks of diligently working in it – pouring my heart and soul into it, covering pages with gorgeous colors and textures, and making art JUST FOR ME, I get excited about another project and leave my book behind. I don’t mean to abandon it…. it just happens.

This time has been different! With Gina Rossi Armfield’s No Excuses Art Journaling – Making Time for Creativity I have been working in my new journal EVERY DAY since October 1st. I look forward to getting home from work and playing in it for a few minutes each evening! On the weekends I watercolor the pages and work on the weekly and monthly prompts. It doesn’t take long, and it is truly a labor of love. It has been such as rewarding experience, and I love to look back on my brightly colored pages and see what I have accomplished.

The NO EXCUSES website describes the process like this: Using a day planner as your art journal, you’ll find daily, weekly and monthly prompts that you can adapt to fit your real-life, busy schedule. Along the way, you’ll learn fun and convenient techniques to add sketching, watercolor painting, collage and more into your journal, all while setting goals, creating art and chronicling your unique life.

Of course, there are lots of ways to make the journal unique to you! I started out in a small watercolor journal just to see if I would keep up with it. I really loved the paper in it, so for my 2015 journal I chose a larger watercolor journal instead of a planner and I draw the boxes and dates in each week. This gives me the freedom to spread glorious watercolor all over each page!

If you have ever been interested in starting an art journal I would highly recommend this book and Gina’s process. From getting your book ready for use to inspiration each month, she really does take away the “I don’t have time”  and the “I don’t know what to write” excuses! Gina’s website also has a gallery of artist’s pages for you to find even more inspiration!

ps…. this process offers lots of practice drawing, writing and painting, and it’s a great project to use your rubber stamps and stickers again!