Finally Started Art Journalling!!

I have been listening to advice from some Yahoo Groups:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Blissfully_Art_Journaling/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/collage_with_claudine/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theartjournal/?yguid=208894800

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecreativelife/

and I have finally started working on an art journal. I still have not decided exactly what journals and diaries I want to have on the go, but I am starting with a wirebound art pad that I just found cheap in an art shop I frequent (Humanity Books and Fine Art Supplies). It is quite large (a bit bigger than A4 for each page), but I think "big is beautiful" and I am going to give it a go.

I have followed the prompt by Ricë Freeman-Zachery http://voodoonotes.blogspot.com/ about journalling over old diary/journal pages and old letters. I hunted out some of my old pen-pal letters from highschool and copied a few of the pages to use as a base for these first journal entries that I do. Below is the result of sticking the first five pages down.

The first page is a page from a vintage book with a story about an Easter Bunny and a letter from a German penpal. The second page is letters from an Egyptian and a French penpal. The third is letters from the Egyptian and German penpals and one from a French penpal written in French. The fourth French and German penpals. The fifth page is a rearranged copy of a "history of the German Democratic Republic" sent by one of my German penpals.

They are just yummy the way they are, so I am a bit nervous about taking the next step and painting over them. But that is the process so I am going to do it. At least I will have these scans to look back on if I want to, and of course I still have the original letters!

I am hoping that tonight I will paint over them so that I can do the next stage tomorrow. Wish me luck!