This is a great book bursting with inspiration and great ideas for spicing up your journal. It is full of wonderful pictures and will have you reaching for your supplies so you can get going. There are a lot of instructions for designing your page layout, and for different types of lettering and borders. It is definitely one to keep on your shelf and to keep referring back to.

This books is amazing! I have read other journaling how to books and so far this is the best! Its clear, gives a lot of examples, break down the basics, but then how to make journals!
If you want to or are into journals you really should get this book!
The pictures are also clear and the directions seem easy to follow.
I really liked the meal planing one!

What a great little book, so inspiring. The book starts with chapters on materials and techniques, then goes through four different styles of journaling - Dot grid; junk; mixed-media and travel. Throughout the book there are tips and suggestions. There are ideas for layouts, cover pages, styles and constructions. It doesn't go into in-depth detail but does act as a starting point for your own ideas.
A fun book that makes you want to reach for your art supplies and get started.

This book is filled with so many wonderful resources for lettering! I love how the author goes down to the basics and starts with simple vocabulary. Her projects shown go step by step and are easy to follow. This is a great resource for anyone looking to get into bullet journaling!

As someone who loves bullet journaling and making altered books, I really enjoyed this book of creative journaling ideas. The first half are all bullet journal ideas, with some wonderfully creative spreads that are fairly simple with a nice impact. For each one, Day goes into step by step directions on how to do them yourself. Most require only simple tools, though she does use quite a few stencils (you can also freehand those, but they won't be as precise). You can easily replicate most of her bullet journal designs with a ruler, stencils, a pencil and some colorful pens, washi tape and a brief amount of time. I would have liked even more of these, as my favorite part of any bullet journal book is seeing as many examples of creative spreads as possible. I tend to do all of my drawing freehand and would have loved some examples of simple freehand spreads to try, too. That said, stencils do make it easy to do great spreads with any artistic level.

The second half of the book is what she calls junk journaling but she also calls altered books. I've been doing altered books for about 14 years and her version is far more fiddly than mine. She has you remove all the pages and just use the hardcover spine as a sort of holder, and then glue in inserted pages that you've bound. I have always just used unloved/ruined old hardcover books as the materials themselves and done designs right over the pages (usually removing some of the pages since the added things glued in and such add a lot of thickness to the book). I like doing it this way as it reminds me of my favorite Native American art style, ledger art, where people on the reservations would use old pages from ledgers that they bartered for as canvas since they had no access to paper or any other type of canvas. The ledger pages underneath become part of the finished work, just as with altered books you can use the text, photos or other elements of the original page to create the finished page.

In any case, her junk journal ideas were mostly very complicated with a lot of supplies and time needed. Some were quite nice, but I prefer doing a simpler, cheaper, faster kind of art for altered books. I didn't end up caring much for that half of the book.

Despite that, I still highly recommend the book for those who love creative journaling. If you like making your journals artistic, this will give you some great inspiration.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

While I’m not into mixed media in my bullet journal there were some really great ideas for dot journaling included in the book, a few of which I plan to copy into my own journal.

This is a really brightly colored, fun introduction to the more artistic side of bullet/art journaling. This is the kind of bullet journaling I want to do, but don't have the time for, so looking at the pictures was entertaining. I would definately recommend it for beginners and people who want tips on how to achieve drool-worthy layouts.

I got this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE this!! Can't wait to get it for my library. So many ideas! Especially for my teen group to make journals for themselves. Fantastic instructions for all the projects.

This book is incredible. I love looking at bullet journals and always think I'm not artistic enough to make them myself. This book has changed that for me! Every page is filled with the most beautiful images and ideas to create your own journals. Renee gives create tips about materials, how to create beautiful effects and unleash your creativity on the page. I am so inspired after reviewing this book to get started. This book would be ideal for those new to or that already love journalling to give new inspiration and techniques. It is also so aesthetically pleasing that even if you never journalled, flicking through the pages of gorgeous colours would brighten anyone's day.

I've read several books about journaling and I know what I like and don't like in a good book on the subject. This book had plenty of good in it.

1) It was well-organized. I loved how the book is organized in categories for bullet journals (dot grid), found object journals (junk journaling), mixed media, and travel.

2) Each section gave a brief description of the type of journal before diving into tips and tricks and different ideas for the pages and embellishments of that journal.

3) Pictures. The book has a ton of good, step by step photography on each idea that makes it good for advanced beginners and intermediate journalers.

This is absolutely going on my Amazon wishlist and I will be recommending it to people.

A well presented craft book on the popular journaling craft. It includes layout ideas and ways to make your own journals and include items. Useful for multimedia artists. I may purchase this book as craft books are better in physical form for reference and to view while crafting

I enjoyed this book because the information is practical, innovative, and easy-to-follow. I've read my fair share of books about crafts and DIY and sometimes walk away uninspired. This book gave me a lot of ideas that I can't wait to implement. I also enjoyed that the photos are beautiful and instructive.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

I was sent an ARC this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

I have been journalling for over a year now and find it one of the most stress relieving and relaxing hobbies I've found beside reading of course!
This book is jam packed with amazing creative journalling ideas for everyone and shows step by step instructions on how to achieve that look/page/idea.
This has given me some amazing ideas to add to my journal and covers different journal types too such as junk journalling and travel journalling.
This is such an amazing book for any journalling fan, newby or pro.

Bright, colourful, lots a quick and easy things to try out. Lots of examples and pictures showing ‘how to’. If you keep a daily journal then this is the book for you. It will be a joy to do something creative everyday.

Creative Journaling is the perfect book for people starting to journal or those who do it all the time and want to learn new techniques and get new ideas! I really enjoyed reading this book and trying out the different techniques and ideas. I highly recommend this book and look forward to its publishing date!

What a great book to help you start a journal and make it something you are proud to go back to time and time again. The author gives examples that go from easy (10 minutes) to difficult (30 minutes or more). She uses items you have around the house, or specialty items found in the store or online. This is a book I would recommend for teens to adults to use as inspiration.

Creative Journaling is a lovely resource whether you are new to journaling or an old-hand looking for fresh ideas. The opening section follows a Bullet Journal-style method and the suggested layouts there are fairly standard if you are already journaling in this manner. However, the segment does offer good tips for newbies. I found the latter sections of greater interest personally. I had never heard of Junk Journaling before, and the ideas in the Mixed Media and Travel Journal sections were inspiring. This is a good book for journaling enthusiasts both new and experienced.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of ‘Creative Journaling’ by Renee Day in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve always been a fan of doodling and making things pretty so the title and cover caught my attention. I love how there are step by step written instructions with visuals for projects, techniques, and ideas. I typically shy away from mixed media projects because I lack vision and creativity. That said, the mixed media section is my favourite and I look forward to trying some of the projects and using them as a jumping off point for more creativity.

If, like me, you used to hate to write in your journals, because they were so beautiful, then this is the book for you.
The main theme is that there are no rules or regulations as to how you use your journal - each one is as different as you are. Instead, you are encourage to be free to use the journal as a form of self-expression.

"Art journalling (a form of art therapy) is a powerful form of expression when words just won't do."

This book covers everything from:
* Dot Grid Journals, where you can draw boxes and shapes using the dot grid lines and have great fun with washi tape. One great tip is to keep the last pages free so that you can test if a new pen or paint or stencil bleeds through the paper onto the other side of the page. If you are worried about messing up your lovely book, experiment with layouts and design using pencil and then go over your design with a fine-tip pen.
* Junk Journals. Collate and curate your old pieces of junk instead of throwing them away to create a collage of your life at this moment in time. For example. Old concert tickets, birthday cards and buttons.
* Travel Journals. Capture your emotions, experiences and collections of images in one place.
* DIY Accessories and Papers. There are some stunning art papers and paint accessories available for anyone to use to decorate their journals, even if you have no artistic talent or experience.

Recommended for anyone interested in creating a unique personal journal.

This was such a great book! A little more than an overview but less than an in-depth how to. This book has everything from making your own washi tape to making your own planner from scratch. I think the book did a great job with explaining how to do each project in an easy to follow way. I think this book would work for those just starting out as well as those seasoned in creating journaling. I even found some stuff that I didn't know about and I have been journaling for ages.