Cereal Box Journal

I have learned so much from other people, too many to remember to list them here. I do want to mention Jane LaFazio, who introduced me to cereal box journals, and Jane Davies, who taught me about lifting paint. I have learned a great deal more than that from Jane and Jane. They are both brilliant artists and excellent teachers, and their classes are fun and filled with new ideas. Check out their workshops and online classes on their websites!

Okay, my cereal box journal. I save cereal and cracker boxes and cut off the sides and ends to make pages. I punch holes in them so that I can hold them together with rings.

As you can see, we eat lots of cereal
and crackers around my house.

I am working on collage and paint pieces (not in the journal, on printmaking paper), and sometimes I want to remove paint that I have applied. I grab a cereal box page or a piece of drawing paper and blot to lift the paint. I love the interesting effect of this. The cereal box by-product is just a bonus! When I have blotted enough that the CB page is covered, I make marks on it and sometimes I add more paint.

These finished pages are fun to play with. I have no stake in how they look. They do not have to be perfect! If I end up with something I hate (it happened once) I can either paint or gesso over it or throw it in the trash.

Sometimes I use cheap drawing paper to lift paint. I learned about this paper from Jane Davies. It is on her Favorite Materials web page.

I love to write on these pages. I overlap the writing so no one can read it (really, I say things I would never want anyone to read!), and I love the blocky squiggly effect.

Rather than punch holes in this paper, which I think would soon be destroyed by flipping through the heavy cardboard, I stick it on the CB pages with acrylic medium. I am sure PVA glue would be just fine, I just haven't had a bottle near me when I have been doing this. In this photo I have folded the drawing paper in half and wrapped it around the cardboard page.

I'll add some paint and some writing certainly, and maybe more. Whatever I do, I will enjoy doing it, and maybe learn some things that will help me be a better artist.

Cereal box journal

I have been saving cereal and cracker boxes to make a journal. I love the idea of the rough look of it, and I can smugly pat myself on the back for repurposing something that would otherwise be wasted.

These pages are calling to me that I can do any old messy thing I like and not give a hoot about what it looks like. In other words, it is truly an expressive art journal. I need something like this to work on a few minutes a day, maybe right after I write my Morning Pages.

Repurposing cereal boxes -- I am so green. 

I intend for the "binding" to be a couple of metal rings, as you can see in the image. I started making holes in the cardboard pieces as I cut up the boxes, but soon grew weary of that because it was boring and made my hand hurt. I will add holes as I finish each page.

This is as far as I have made it with this thing. The next step is to apply gesso, and I have no doubt that the non-printed pages will be fine, but I am concerned about getting gesso to stick to the shiny, printed side. I will probably be spending some time with a sanding block. I don't like sanding, but it is for art so I will sacrifice myself. Or I will just make art on one side. It's my journal and I can do whatever I like. So there.

I'll post my progress with this project. Maybe. It might contain many expletives.

Have you ever made a cardboard art journal? I'd love to read about your experiences!