'Journal Sparks: Fire Up your Creativity with Spontaneous Art, Wild Writing and Inventive Thinking' by Emily K. Neuburger is an ebook about upping your creative game using a journal.

In the 7 chapters of this book you will find lots of projects meant to stimulate creative thinking. From Getting Started where the concept of a journal is deconstructed (or was for me, at least), to the chapters on Invention, Collection, etc. this is an approach at throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, or gets you unstuck. There are lots of examples, guest journal bloggers and some nice paper at the end to help out.

I'm a pretty orderly journal keeper, so this messy unkempt approach had me thinking outside of my box. I like the ideas, even though I don't see incorporating them in to my journaling. Your mileage may vary. I did appreciate the approach and how accessible it was.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Storey Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Cute journal prompt book best suited for teenagers. I'd definitely buy it as gifts for my cousins teenage girls.

What a super book - filled with really interesting ideas to spark the imagination and challenge you to go out and start something, anything creative.

I think it really appeals to the senses - visually it catches your eye and requires you to then look a little further. I think anyone with a young person in their life would find this a great leaping off point to get them writing and drawing- classroom, holidays, just because.

I found myself going back to pages to check in and see what else I could do with the ideas. I definitely will need to get a hard copy for myself and to encourage the young people in my life to take up journal-ling. (mmm not sure that's a word but it works with this book)

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I actually downloaded it once and had to go back and download it again because I didn't write a review at first because I started looking at it, got sidetracked and then absolutely knew I had to come back to it. It honestly is that interesting that it would have been a shame not to go back and work through it properly.

Great for the young at heart. A sure fire way to fire up your creativity

I am really excited about the new "Activism Station" which we are planning for the library. We have had numerous discussions with teachers about all kinds of topics – Global Voices, Health Advocacy, Peer Helping, Advisory projects – and the level of interest is high. Obviously, we will be promoting writing and communication; one type of activity I have been exploring is journaling and wanted to quickly note a couple of new resources. JOURNAL SPARKS by Emily K. Neuburger is very hands-on and geared to students in middle school and older. This colorful book is filled with prompts intended to help readers fulfill its subtitle: "Fire Up Your Creativity with Spontaneous Art, Wild Writing, and Inventive Thinking." How might you increase the impact of those ideas like writing poetry or creating a collage? Whether choosing "It's Your Cause Video Challenge" or something else, we are looking for more advocacy outlets in include. Please share with us.

I don’t see myself as an art journaler, but I know the value of regular focused practice. I requested a review copy of Journal Sparks with the desire to find ways to improve my doodling and my creative thought process. Neuberger has created a beautiful and thorough book with many different ideas and prompts that will inspire; my notes of the title have many more doodles than I expected. I think this would also be fun to work through with another Storey title, Knit the Sky. The creative possibilities are endless and I have many new ideas to help nudge my creativity when I feel stuck.

Journal Sparks is a great starting point for anyone new to Journaling and is stuck on where to start. There are some easy, fun basic exercises and prompts that will suit a journaler of any age. Get some paper, pen, colors and get started on an exciting journey of Journaling.

I really loved this book. This is packed full of information on how to start journaling, what to journal, and how to find inspiration for your journal. This is great for beginners and for not so beginners.

This is a really fun book of journal ideas.
I have been keeping a journal since I was 9 and while a more or less faithful writer until the age of 21, I definitely would not have been opposed to a few extras to throw in. It's a great motivator to go and start something creative. Or for those maybe in a slump that need some inspiration to try something new.

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First things first, this book is absolutely visually appealing. I stared at it for approximately 10 minutes before reading it. It was that beautiful. No I have not lost my mind. Yes, I have a day job.

Emily starts by defining what journaling is and how you can have a journal for a variety of reasons. She encourages the reader to think of other purposes for journaling and adopt it.

She shows you how to encourage creativity in yourself. Chapter 2 (on invention) was my favourite chapter; especially the part about writing a description of what your life will be like in 10 years.

Rating: 4/5

Favourite Quote: “Slow down, pause, sit, and investigate. What do you notice that no one else does? Using your eyes is important, but don’t forget your nose and ears!”

I have been journaling for many years now so when I saw this book I knew I had to have it to add to my collection. It's a fairly short book but chalked full of interesting ideas and prompts for both the seasoned and beginner journaler.

It has a very cool mixed media feel to it. With hand drawn graphics, and different fonts that make it very pleasing to the eye. It starts out with an introduction from the author. Along with some suggestions for different types of journals (notebook, steno pad, sketchbook, art pad.) Then the book is broken up into seven different chapters (OBSERVATION, INVENTION, COLLECTION, COLOR & CONSTRUCTION, WORDSMITH, JOURNAL CHALLENGES, JOURNAL MAKING & HACKING.)

Under each of those chapters, you are given a plethora of different ideas and prompts to help you along with your journaling. Ideas for different things to journal about. (draw all of the parts of a favorite meal, journal what you want to be doing 10 years from now, quotes, stories you've heard from other people.) Suggestions for journaling materials (newspapers, paints, magazine clippings, masking tape, watercolors, pastels, pens, brushes, cotton embroidery floss, stamps and stamp pads, vintage scraps etc.) Tips and Ideas on how to get those creative juices flowing (find a time of day that works best, group journal with friends.)
Project ideas (paint the sky, zoom in on something, color your mood, wonder walk.) Journal Hacks ideas (make a store-bought journal more personal, turn a plain spiral notebook into a woven beauty with yarn, make a paper bag journal.)

Along with the above here are a few more project ideas and challenges you will find in the book..,

-- An example of how to make you own stamps.
-- Merge pieces of photographs and pictures with your own drawings to create a unique hybrid creation.
-- Make your own comic strips.
-- Journal about things you collect and even add them to your journal (leaves, flowers, feathers, seashells, bark.)
-- Use the alphabet to compile a list of interesting things.
-- Use your journal to keep an ongoing collection of words
-- Make your own colors by mixing and matching.
--Paper Quilting (Make tiny paper quilts for your journal pages.)
-- Experiment with colorful tape.
-- Create a small pocket that can be fixed onto a journal page or on the inside of the back or front cover.
-- Create visual poetry (freestyle your way to happiness. Jagged or smooth, loopy or straight, bubbly or narrow.)
-- Create your own Mandalas
-- Experiment with fonts
-- Challenge yourself to journal about a different topic every day (meals, squares, buildings, lines, horizon etc.)
-- Challenge yourself to draw the same thing differently every day for a week.

As a seasoned journaler, this one gets a two thumbs up from me and a must have for anyone thinking of getting into journaling.

What a fantastic resource for lovers of journalling and all things creative. I reviewed this on behalf of the publisher in return for an independent honest review. I was so pleased to review it. The layout is fantastic and activities are easy to follow and it has such a lovely vibe to it that it gets the creative juices flowing straight away. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants something that is more unique and interesting to the norm. Cannot wait to play!!

I am now a full-time Bullet Journal-er, so when I saw this I wanted it. I'm always looking for cheats, tips, and tricks to make my journal look great, and this book it full of them! The layout of has a journal feel to it, making it even more enjoyable to read. This book has “60 interactive writing prompts and art how-tos help you to expand your imagination and stimulate your creativity.” I got this from NetGalley and would love to have a physical copy! Therefore, if you are new or long time journal-er this is a wonderful book for teens or adults!
-NetGalley Review-

This is such an exciting inspirational way for children to approach art journalling and journal keeping. I loved some of the ideas and will try to incorporate some of them into my scrapbooking this year. It encourages you to experiment with colour, shape and design in capturing some new projects. I would love to own a hard copy of this book and will look out for it.