Creative Journaling by Renee Day divides into four main sections: dot grid pages, junk journals, mixed-media projects, and travel records. I gave this book a complete read-through in a few days. Each project includes step-by-step photos of the process, plus a completed example photo. I loved this format! It makes it so much easier for me when I can see something in-process, not just the finished project. Now, about each part:

Dot grid journaling stands as the first and largest section of Creative Journaling. I have seen beautiful dot grid pages on social media, but they always seemed too difficult to create myself. However, the author’s clear and easy to follow instructions made the projects feel doable. Planners and scheduling projects dominate this section, but other projects such a reusable meal plan layout and a gratitude log add a little variety.

Junk journaling (aka an altered book project) is new-to-me. This section looked fun, but seemed more complicated to do and I haven’t tried any of the projects yet.

My favorite section of Creative Journaling was the mixed-media journaling. This section is mostly about creating page layouts and there are so many projects in this section that I want to try: the tissue paper layout, the hot glue layout, etc! They look so pretty!

The traveling section contained gorgeous projects with precise and clear instructions. However, I don’t travel so it was not applicable to me.

The last section, DIY accessories and papers, offers some very cute and fun projects. My daughters and I tried out the Shaving Cream Paper project and we had a blast! It was messy, but so much fun. The papers turned out beautifully. (See photos) This section is, in my opinion, more kid friendly. Most of the prior sections are teen or adult level, but things like yarn tassel paper clips and stained paper towel paper are projects they can do and enjoy!

In conclusion, I am very pleased with Creative Journaling: A Guide to over 100 Techniques and Ideas for Amazing Dot Grid, Junk, Mixed-Media, and Travel Pages by Renee Day! The girls and I are looking forward to doing more projects from this book! Five stars!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product via the Amazon Vine program. All opinions in this review are my own. ( )

Creative Journaling by Renee Day

What a delightful book filled with ideas this turned out being. I just sent the information to my artistic sister who does altered book round-robins with friends knowing there are tips and tricks she will love to see and use in future projects. This book has so so much information that I enjoyed glimpsing through and when I finished reading I thought, “I would LOVE to have this book to refer to in the future. The trick is going to be finding a hard copy to have and open up on my art table so I can enjoy trying one or more of the ideas while working on my own projects in the future.

What I liked:
* The illustrations – easy to follow with great ideas to implement those ideas
* New ideas I have not tried or even seen before
* Easy to follow examples
* Use of easily found objects to make extraordinary pages in a journal
* New ideas for journals that I have not thought of.

What I didn’t like:
* Knowing I won’t be able to find this book locally and will have to special order it to have it on my art shelf

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Rockpoint Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )