hello sweet creative!

I've just been creating my gratitude page for 2022! I do one every December and they always end up being some of my favorite pages, which I love to come back to again and again. And happy news! These past five years I have filmed the whole process, and I've just gathered 1, 2, 3, 4… 5 art journaling sessions into a lovely, brand-new online workshop!

Now, for this year's page, I decided to go all in with the spirit of the season! I had just received a Xmas home decor catalogue in the mail, and it became my starting point. I cut out a selection of images, just like when I was little and would cut out images from the toy store catalogues my grandma always put aside for me. What a sweet way to welcome the holidays!

I started with a simple background of neutral paint over book pages, then journaled some gratitude thoughts over it with a white paint marker. You've probably heard me say it before: I love love love to write in white, in my art journal and in pretty much all of my art! I love it when a simple technique or art supply makes the creative process that much more meaningful: writing in white always gives me the feeling that I'm writing with light, which instantly takes the creative experience to a whole other, magical level. It feels soothing, healing, uplifting... Even if this layer eventually gets covered up, like it mostly did here, all these good vibes become embedded into the art and radiate from the finished page or painting. Magic, I'm telling you!

And then I started arranging my images on the page. It felt like I was decorating our home all over again, with candles, fairy lights, sparkling trees and a wreath hanging from the ceiling. I glued everything in place, together with more collage papers, then started blending some of the images in with a bit of paint and some watersoluble crayons.

I kept building up the layers with collage, gesso, crayons and paints in neutral tones. Most of the first layers of journaling had disappeared, and it was time to add more words, more gratitude and more magic to the page! I selected some words I had printed out, and journaled in white once again.

Then it was time for finishing touches! I added more shadows and white to increase the contrast and make everything pop, plus touches of joyful color!

I love how magical the page feels. It truly embodies the way I want to feel at this very special time of the year. Grateful, cozy, creative, lit from within, full of childlike wonder and open to the magic of life, surrounded by love, beauty and fairy lights.

I hope this will inspire you to create your own gratitude page for 2022! And for plenty of extra guidance & inspiration + a sweet gratitude ritual, I would LOVE for you to join me in New Beginnings! This new workshop is a well of inspiration for your art journaling practice, and the 5 pages I demonstrate are super varied in terms of styles, themes, techniques and wellbeing processes.

Registration is only open for a few weeks, just for the holidays, but once you're in you'll have lifetime access, so you can revisit the lessons, try new ideas and create new pages every year!

How about some quiet, nurturing art journaling time for the Holidays? Let's express GRATITUDE, celebrate DREAMS & WISHES and start exploring a WORD OF THE YEAR for 2023!

Leave a comment for me!