Travel Journal Flip Through With Tips: How to Enjoy Your Journey AND Keep Up With Your Pages
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- The first, biggest challenge in keeping an illustrated or travel journal is how to enjoy and be fully present in your experiences while trying to get them down on the page. Here are some tried and true ideas that help me keep from getting overwhelmed. And remember, these work whether you are on a trip or if your sketchbook journal is of your everyday life.
To see my online course of how to make and keep your own illustrated journal, go to my site here:
bookandpaperar...
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I am on Instagram @book.and.paper.arts Keep in touch, and everybody have a creative week! Kelly
My online course: How to Make and Keep Your Own Illustrated Journal is here:
bookandpaperarts.com/the-book-of-you-how-to-keep-and-make-an-illustrated-journal/
I love your assertion that we should live the moments, get down a reminder or bring home a souvenir and enjoy filling in the details later.
Thank you, Lisa. It is something I preach over and over and mindfulness is at the heart of both our journeys - travel or everyday - and journal art. The trick, of course, is how to manage all of that and getting it down on the page while your ice cream is melting.😮🙄I hope you are having a creative week! Kelly
@BookandPaperArts I really want to get better at this. I gather things and take photos but I'm not great at following through. That should change when I leave my full time job next month.
@@lisamorice4701 Well, Lisa, I wouldn't be human if I didn't say that I have an online class on how to make and keep a visual diary. 😺
kelly-s-school-b1d1.thinkific.com/courses/the-book-of-you-making-and-keeping-a-visual-diary
But if it is not your style or not in your budget (leaving full time jobs will do that) then be sure and check out my Playlist here on TH-cam called Illustrated Journal and you will find tons of how-tos and flip throughs.
Keep me posted. You got this - getting started is the hardest part. Well, keeping it going may be the hardest part but they are kind of related. 🌷🌻🌼Kelly
I enjoyed this so much!!! I love your ideas..
Mangetout Mangetout Rodney... Mangetout 🇫🇷☕️💕
Hi Fifi. I don't know what Mangetout Rodney means but I like it! Also, for some reason TH-cam won't let me reply to your comment on my brocante video so thank you for that. I am not Catholic as your nan must have been but I treasure the beautiful old printing on the holy cards and the beauty of the old rosaries - I wear them as jewelry that makes me think of things.
My TH-cam doesn't let me read all comments too. Mangetout is from 'only fools and horses' it's how he pretends to be French..
I got carried away..😂
I've just started looking at TH-cam. I'm too old for Facebook and instagram. My phone is old too.. so I'm just getting the hang of it.. I love your things so much.. it warms my heart. I'm half French half Italian but live in the uk.. born here. My man used to have saints in glass domes and also a madonna filled with holy water. It would glow in the dark and scare me to death.. I don't think it was meant to buy it looked like it was floating in mid air!! Wish I kept it all 💕
Book and Paper Arts I can't even read back my own message 😂bring back pen and paper👍
Book and Paper Arts I've probably replied to myself 😂
Book and Paper Arts hope you got all my replies 💕
Fantastic ! Thank you for sharing 🌸
Thank you for touching base and this vote of confidence, Florence. It really does make me happy. 🌼🌼🌷🌷🌻🌻
Superbe !! J aime beaucoup😉😄 I m glad to see I m not the only "mad girl" to collect many papers, maps, food packings and every kind of ephemeria!! I also collect wine bottles etiquette when I enjoy good wines during holidays and I paint grapes and bottle with the wine it self! Coffee is also a nice médium 🙂 I sticked a tourist map in the last page of my sketch book to spot with nice lettering the places where I sketched last summer holidays. Merci for sharing your tips and ideas. No doubt they will inspire me for my next Carnet de voyage !
Bonsoir, Mme Nathalie. J'adore les papiers anciennes et je suis beacoup chineuse. (Et vous ?) SVP regardez dimanche apres-midi. Je vais "flip through" de mon carnet de voyage, tous les pages. Hier j'ai fait d'encre de thé ! And you just can't add too many maps, non ? Kelly
@@BookandPaperArts Hi Kelly !!Merci de cette gentille réponse en Français 🙏I will look on sunday👍 .I m not an artist as you are, so I only collect paper and ephemera to illustrate my sketchbook during trips and holidays, when I have time! For maps, It was the 1st time I used one this summer. It was a map for a cycling tour I did every Day during holidays, I went riding and stop for a rest and a sketch, so I thought it was a good idea ! I love the way you illustrate your trips in France and what take your interest. It s Nice to see how foreign people capture your country. I also have found your Instagram 😉 Glad to learn about your art! thank you!
I was inspired when you said something like “I don’t draw well but I do it anyway”. Needing to do something well always stops me beginning in the first place. I am going to dig out a book now and journal my day. Thank you x
Hi Merylee. My apologies for the late reply but I have been on the road since Thursday on my way to France and another travel journal to begin. 🥐Thank you so much for telling me all this! It really makes me happy as I truly believe that as we have the sheer nerve to give our days the vision they deserve, even in the most ordinary things, starting where we are now in our ability and with what we have now art supply-wise, we make the world a less bad place, so I preach this a LOT. Sometimes I feel as though I am throwing out digital pep-talk messages in virtual bottles, so thank you again for letting me know that you found and opened one. 🌻🌷🌼 Kelly
@@BookandPaperArts thanks Kelly, have a fantastic trip x
I agree with Merylee about your comment. Not being “good enough” has stopped me too many times. Just do it! It is m
For myself not for posterity!
Thank you. I can paint and draw and do make travel journals. Travel can be busy and fun, so I get behind, so try to finish up when I get home. Thank you for the tips for quickly capturing memories.
Hi Judy. Thanks for touching base. I carry my portable art kit everywhere so I can use bits an pieces of time to add details or writing. Heaven only knows if you fly or take the train you have a LOT of time waiting that you can use and working in a journal makes that waiting a lot less stressful. And you?
@@BookandPaperArts my recent breaks through for me was to write less and draw faster. I used to draw light penciled lines as lettering guides, using the tacky gridded dry wall tape, which was also time consuming. I will still put a bit of that tape in my journal, just in case, I decide to use it now and then.
@@judyhammond3181 Yes! Drawing faster is scary for me as I deliberate for ages on how straight things are. On this last trip I really gave myself over to scribbling (it is only paper, after all, and it is MY book) and I can't believe how much my drawing improved.
@@BookandPaperArts like wise!
Thanks for making keeping a travel journal simple enough that even I can do it!! You are an inspiration!
Hi Susan. Thanks for this and listen, when I look at my early illustrated journals (and I wasn't a kid, I was in my 40s!) I have to smile as they are so so primitive. And you know what, they are still doing their job of making those times come back to me, memories: meals, outfits, days, walks. All done in a naive, stick-figure style. So get going and get making those pages. No judgement, and no excuses! Have fun and keep me posted.😺😺Kelly
I love this video, everything you say, and the beautiful vintage vibe of your journal. Grande!
Hello and thank you, Chandni. Making journal pages makes me so happy and I am glad you liked them, too! Kelly
All the pockets I've tossed away with the cutlery bags 😱 - now I know to take them home with me!😊
Hiya, Melanie. While I enjoy high-quality, store-bought art supplies, I am ALL about being resourceful and making use of the free stuff all around us. It's all about using your imagination. I made a supercool collage out of emptied sugar packets. Just teach yourself to see it differently. If it's paper, glue it somewhere. 😎😎
So how does one keep up with their pages while traveling……???? OH WHAT A RELIEF when you showed only a few pages and highlighted what was important! YES YES YES! I loved your thoughts, sketches, and details of your travels! Beautiful! ❤️🇫🇷
Thank you, Michelle. As I said in the video, I have boxes of these so believe me when I tell you that you can grab the highlights, do what you can, scribble little notes to yourself, and still come up with meaningful pages. Happy making, my dear!
It's lovely to see a journal that is given life!
Thank you so, Silvia! It is a compulsion. I do love illustrated journal making.
Glad you had a good time on your trip. It makes me sad that we cannot go to Europe at this time. Good suggestions
Yippee!! She's baaack! I'm just now starting this vid Kelly, but I'm so happy to hear your voice, and to see this lovely book up on my screen!...Thanks for all your French updates over the past few weeks, and I hope you brought back tons of cool memories as well as lots of stories, and goodies!
Hi Lynn, it is good to be back. It is has been a whirlwind week and today will be the first day I have to unpack my thoughts, to say nothing of the lovely pieces I came back with. I am ready to try to put them into art journals and altered books. My favourite things! Hope you are having a great weekend.
@@BookandPaperArts Yes, Ms. K, I really enjoyed your pockets with a second little slit pocket on them. Cool idea!
Great video, love the loose style Kelly. I love postcards too.
Thanks bunches, Nicola. I really believe in doing what you got to do to keep the pages coming. No excuses, such as I Can't Do Perspective. Draw the darn building anyway!
Love love the floor rubbing beautiful 😍
How lovely! I feel as though I've had a quick holiday via your journal.
Thank you, Nola!
Love this Kelly!
I do enjoy you! You have a zest for life and an appreciation for everything around you! I am inspired to really journal more with drawing and watercolor. I express myself with poetry but now want to up my game!
Margaret, it has been a journey. When I started I couldn't draw a stick-figure cat, but I carried on and now it is my day job. I could really see how poetry would work in an illustrated journal format, kind of like an illustrated manuscript.
This was super, showing your gathered materials from the trip and then how you decide what to spend time on while experiencing the moments sounds like what I've been trying to do. This is an instruction on never giving up the experience by trying to make perfect reflections but things that "conjure" the memories to return. Thank you
Wonderful video! I loved seeing your travel journal and hearing how you fill it in! Your art and calligraphy is fabulous! I really like how you tore the paper bags for your pockets! This is very helpful and inspiring!
Hi Susan. I love finding free art supplies in the form of wrappers and bags and whatnot. Nobody else has them and they really are part of the memories! PS - I taught myself lettering. Maybe I will do a video about it.
Lovely journal will be using a few photos in my journal for the letter T for travel when went to Torquay in Devon for example
Kelly, I know this is an older tute, but seeing as we are soon heading out for a long get away. It's only been 2+ years since we've been anywhere, so I'm boning up on your travel, journal ideas. I am soooo excited to dive back into my old journals that have been bored silly themselves, just sitting on my shelves, waiting for this big day! Thank you so very much for these awe inspiring ideas!! Your the best!
Bonjour Kelly, je découvre votre chaîne et j'adore comme vous les livres et les papiers. C'est très sympa de voir votre carnet de voyages sur Paris. Je suis française, du Sud, près d'Avignon mais connais un peu Paris et le quartier du Marais... Merci pour toutes ces idées !
Bonsoir, Josy. Merci pour votres paroles gentilles ! J'adore faire les carnets de voyages - j'ai beacoup dans les boites dans mon atelier. (Pardon svp. Je n'ai pas des accents son mon ordinateur anglais.😁) Est-ce que vous habitez a Avignon maitenant ? Je vais a bourgogne encore en mai mais je voudrais voire Avignon. Je suis allée a Montpellier et Sete aussi mais pas d'Avignon. Plus des idées arrivient bientot !
Bonsoir Kelly, oui j'habite Avignon, j'y suis née mais j'ai vécu d'abord à Marseille puis sur la Côte d'Azur. Je suis revenue sur Avignon, ou plus exactement à Tavel, depuis 1 an et demi. Tavel est un village de l'autre côté du Rhône, dans le département du Gard, où il y a beaucoup de vignes et qui est très réputé pour son vin rosé. Si vous venez sur Avignon, dites-le moi peut-être je pourrais vous faire découvrir ma ville. J'attends vos idées avec impatience.
I love it! That's so inspiring! I don't travel much but I would like to put more visual stuff on my journal. And now, I think that I going to start drawing on my journal. It was very nice of you sharing your ideas and process with us. Thank you!
Hi Paty, thanks bunches for touching base. Not everyone is able to - or wants to - travel. That's why I try to remind people that the illustrated journal is also very much for the day to day life. Not even kidding- I have awkward drawings of my futon from 17 years ago that I drew because I was doing all of my furniture and I found it recently and burst into tears, it brought back so many memories.
Yes it is good to draw in your journal been doing that myself but adding not a lot or detail so the viewer can use their imagination
I enjoyed this flip through very much. My husband and I love France and really miss not being able to go there from the US in the last couple of years. I have done some travel journaling in the past, but now that I have started watercolor painting it's going to be even more fun. Thanks for the inspiration. P.S. We love Picard, too.
Hi Bonnie. When are we going to have Picard in the UK and the states? WHEN??? Have you looked at the books by Gwen Diehn? She inspired me to start painting in my journals way back in the day. Hope to hear more about your pages.
Wow if only I could learn how to so beautifully scribe my pages…love your handwriting …I am new to your channel and just home from a short trip…and with daily distractions have been trying to enter some details in a personal journal and finally made a decision for the “next time” …number one, make a separate journal and number two, make a few daily prompts in my iPhone of the events of the day. Thankfully I did pickup some maps etc. Love these ideas so much!!😊
Hello and welcome, Cynthia. It is a learning curve to build in the doing of the illustrated journal while living it but it is a kind of habit. I am working on an online course that will address this and I also have other youtube videos on journal keeping (there is a separate playlist if you want to find them). As for lettering, I am doing a TH-cam video on this soon as it is far easier than most people think and I do get asked about it a lot, so stay tuned! And you are so right about noting your daily prompts - you can work from those backwards and it is a strategy. Happy making!
I have been to Paris also and love the architecture there stunning 😍
Charming
Kisses.
Thank you, Kelly, for sharing your process for completing a travel journal without it becoming too much while on the road. I love how you sketch and make notes that can be completed upon arriving home, and will definitely use that strategy when next I travel. You’ve also given me some ideas about adding more drawings/paintings even with my meager skills! LOL! I’ve found great inspiration in your videos, and thank you for creating such great content. Cheers from NE Florida!
Hi Brenda, thanks for this feedback! I am not kidding when I say I couldn't draw AT ALL when I started but I doodled and messed around on the page anyway and over the years got less bad. Even now I have meager drawing and painting abilities but those can always be helped along with some tricks and strategies. Keep on making pages! 😺😺
Wonderful, Kelly! How do you remember where you’ve been on a daily basis? Do you make an effort to write a separate travelogue including the special highlights? Keep a pictorial record on your camera? Or-do you just carry the journal everywhere and write, sketch, paint when inspiration hits?
Your journaling style mirrors all that makes me happy. When traveling, I go out of my way to gather paper tidbits that speak to my favorite esthetics-colorful, unique souvenirs that can transport me back to the exact moment and place. My suitcase comes back stuffed with paper mementos. Your artistic suggestions are all great ideas of how to incorporate them, and create beauty.
Thanks for sharing your French adventures on Instagram. It was great fun to follow your “pilgrimage”!
Love this! You've given me so many great ideas. I think I especially like the pockets for the postcards! (but there are so many cool things.) 💙
Thanks for this. My illustrated journals chunk up fast. The name of the game is keep all those brochures and ticket stubs and menus and post cards from falling out, over and over. As they will. 😁
Hello Kelly! Thank you for sharing your travel journal. I was wondering if you carry the art bag you videoed for us a few weeks ago along with all its supplies with you every where so you can do your journaling or if you pare down to just your journal and watercolor supplies, or whatever. Really glad you’re back!
Hi Valerie. Thanks bunches! I did take the art bag with me but...I may switch back to the cheap nylon I used to use. It is not as romantic looking but it worked really well and is not nearly so heavy. Sigh. Finally can afford the fancy one and the cheap one did me better. There is surely a life lesson here. But yes I do take watercolours, brushes, pens, and even a small palette for mixing my colours.
Squirrels! Swirls! Squirely swirls?! 😂😂😂
Ha. It took me years to learn to say "squirrel" in British English. It's pronounced "squiddle". Now go give THAT a try. 🐿🐿
"Stuffed quails, people!" I am laughing. Thank you for this great video. I got a lot of good ideas from it. I am curious: how do you find flea markets overseas? Many thanks!
Hi there. Pretty much look them up online before I leave home. In France there is a dedicated website to showing what flea markets are coming up in what areas and I am currently seeing about nine for this weekend. In other countries, such as when I visited Lisbon, I looked online and could see that there is a HUGE weekly flea market and scheduled my stuff accordingly. Here's hoping you have a creative weekend! Kelly
@@BookandPaperArts thank you, Kelly! I wish you the same.
Hi Kelly, I subscribed to your channel and get so many great ideas and inspiration from your videos.
I too, occasionally like to put photos in my journals and wondered if you have a good photo printer you can recommend or do you just order your photos from a photo printing business?
Thanks, Lana
Hi Lana and welcome. Once upon a time I had one of those tiny thermal printers you can carry in your art bag but it was getting heavy for as little as I used it. Now I just wait until I get home and print them on my regular ink jet printer at home although occasionally I have gone to the printer kiosk thing at the supermarket and it's bluetooth and can see my photos and you can just print them then and there and it is pretty satisfying. How does that sound?
This tutorial was very helpful. I've just started travel journaling and I tried keeping up on the trip but that was hard. However, I also don't want to forget things. Did you take a separate notebook to jot down some notes and dates to jog your memory? Also, it doesn't look as if you prep your journal too much beforehand. One journaler I follow allots a certain number of pages per day. Thanks for all the great tips! I love your travel journal.
Hi Betty. Thanks for this. When I get behind I usually just jot notes in pencil on a blank page or the back of the book as a kind of prompt for later or when I return. Then they can be erased or not. Sometimes they become part of the page. The only real prep I do is to tea drizzle pages so that they are not that bright, intimidating white. And I rotate between store-bought sketchbooks and making my own. Here is a video where I made my own with a guestimated number of pages for one trip. Let me know what you think! Thanks for touching base. Kelly
th-cam.com/video/m7vLa_9bJ0M/w-d-xo.html
@@BookandPaperArts Hi Kelly, Thank you! More great ideas and inspiration.
Kelly, I am loving your journaling style. I have been searching for a black and white print book of Victorian photographs of various people…I have been thrifting and have not been successful. I have also been searching on eBay and Etsy for coffee table books but they do not really show the insides of the books…Do you possibly have recommendations? I would greatly appreciate it.. thank you for sharing all of your wonderful creative techniques. I am relatively new to making journals and I am addicted to your channel. Have a great day and please keep creating.
Hello and welcome, Stacey. thank you so so much much for your kind words. You have made my day. Okay, here we go.
One - you can keep looking on ebay and Etsy. You might try adding the word "engravings" or "illustrated" to your keywords when you search.
2. I use The Girl's Own Paper a lot. It was a magazine in the 1880s and '90s with tons of illustrations. I have a saved search on ebay and when one comes up in my price range, I grab it. It may be more rare in the states but if you can get one in your budget, they give a lot of drawings to work with.
3. I sell paper bundles with lots of this. If you are interested I can tailor one for illustrations.
bookandpaperarts.com/french-ephemera-boxes-are-back/
4. If you prefer, check out the free scans that I offer on my website and you can get started with these while you look for the original stuff.
bookandpaperarts.com/free-scans/
Feel free to email me for more ideas. Happy creating! Kelly
kelly@bookandpaperarts.com
Love this idea and tips! Out of curiosity did you major in art and/or have a degree?
Hello there. I have a degree in journalism and believe it or not, a masters in business. When I was a writer I interviewed artists for a monthly magazine and one day I was sent to Gwen Diehn, who has written several books on illustrated journal keeping. I knew then and there that I wanted to do that and even though I couldn't draw a stick-figure cat, I bought a cheap notebook and got started. That was 20 years ago. 😺😎🎨😁
@@BookandPaperArts that is ahhhmazing and so inspiring! TYFS ❣️✨
Can you tell me what kind of glue you are you using? And is it portable?
Hi Diane. In my studio-collage-etc., work I use acrylic gel medium. In my travel art kit I use UHU glue sticks. They have more "slip" than other glue sticks and a really strong seal. Check craft or art supply stores or buy online. I get mine on Ebay. 🎨 Kelly
Thanks I will look for those
Where do you store all your collected papers from your travels?
Hi Rosemary. As a rule they are jammed in the back of the journal. Sometimes I have a book with a back pocket. I also carry a plastic folder with me and toss stuff in there as I go. If I can't get to it while on the road I can get at it while waiting (and waiting!) at the airport or bus station or I pull them out and incorporate them when I get home. Which is actually what I am doing today! Kelly
Oh thank you for the quick response and happy safe travels to you!
Your studio? Does that mean your house? I'm confused. How can you be productive if you live in one country but work in another that are parted by such geography?
Also, could you please explain to me what one is supposed to do with those travel journals? If they are already full of stuff then what is the owner supposed to put in it? With all the pages painted on, glued on etc can one even write in them? Or is creating the book and looking at it the art itself? Could be they are certainly interesting to look at, but if they are your memories then why would anyone else buy them? I'm so confused yet memorized by it at the same time.
That means my studio. It is in Swansea and is where I sell, make, and give workshops.
The travel journals are not for sale. They are for my memories. Perhaps one day I will have grandchildren who will cherish them.