The Complete Decorated Journal: A Compendium of Journaling Techniques Paperback – April 3, 2012

This is my "desert island" journaling book! I have collected a lot of art, craft, and writing books, including about at least a dozen journaling books. This book contains more helpful and interesting material than any other book I've read. The price is a steal as it is cheaper than many of the 120 page books out there (for some reason craft books are rarely longer than 120 pages) and contains 2 books (previously published separately) plus bonus materials.I love that Diehn has a less-is-more attitude about art supplies and unlike other books doesn't use hers as a platform to advertise products. (Many books and most craft magazines waste a lot of pages trying to convince readers that they need specific brands of art supplies to even start making art.) She even teaches you how to make your own supplies from natural materials!The knowledge presented here is encyclopedic, but also a joy to read and very inspiring. Diehn's examples are beautiful and the contributions from other artists are thorough and inspiring.This is not just a book filled with "recipes" for creating duplicates of an author's work, as so many other books are, though there are fun projects to follow along with especially in the book-binding sections towards the end. Everything is meant to be customized to one own aesthetic and needs. She gives you technical information, history, and techniques that provide a solid learning experience that will help you make visual journals that are your own creations. You will learn the diverse ways that artists and crafters and writers and even scientists use visual journals as tools, as works of art in-and-of themselves and/or as a combination of both.The layout of the book, the photos and reproductions of journal pages are gorgeous (though I think they made a mistake with the cover, which is not as nice as the inside - don't judge it by that! ;>)! The writing is very thorough but a joy to read.There is a lot of interest in journaling these days and there are a lot of books out right now on the subject, many of which are beautiful and inspiring, but if I had to choose only one to have on my bookshelf, this would be the one! If I were going to teach a class on visual journaling (or even on bookbinding) this would be a great textbook. At 2/3 the price of many other art and craft books is an incredible value!

Gwen Diehn's first book, The Decorated Page', improved my journaling techniques and her follow up book, 'The Decorated Journal', enhanced my techniques even more. When 'The Decorated Journal' came out, I was so doubtful it could add much to 'The Decorated Page' I nearly didn't purchase it. I couldn't have been more mistaken! It was much more than a rewrite. It added a whole new set of techniques to use in journaling! Because of this, I decided to take the risk again and purchased 'The Complete Decorated Journal', knowing it might have been a simple consolidation of the two earlier books. It isn't.'The Complete Decorated Journal' is awesome! It's far, far more than a rewrite and consolidation of Gwen Diehn's earlier journaling books. It provides journaling techniques not found in the first two books. In the same vibrant voice found in her earlier books, she keeps your attention with technique after technique and idea after idea to be used to create your own one-of-a-kind art journal! It adds more and clearer information on the journaling techniques incorporated in her earlier works as well as adding new techniques and information.A multitude of new ideas are generated on nearly every page and, because of this, my journals are improving by leaps and bounds as are my artistic abilities! Gwen Diehn really knows how to journal AND how to teach others to journal! So, whether you're keeping an art journal or just an old fashion diary-style journal, 'The Complete Decorated Journal' is the one book you will want in your library. It will improve your journaling ability exponentially!I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough! It's the one book I would choose if I could only choose one such book!

Absolutely the best book on journaling and mixed media technique that I own and I have several. Diehn discusses a thorough list of materials, including substrates and their properties such as archival qualities. She also describes various glues, pastes and various binders with information on their effect on paper curling, etc. She goes on to write about paint, inks, and homemade adhesives, paints and papers. And those are just the technical items. From that point on we get to the fun stuff and the book is full of fun stuff including wonderful photographs of journal pages, examples of paint testing, and illustration. The author gives examples in clear, concise step form and each step includes an accompanying photo. The book includes profiles of other journal artists and their work and a brief history of how they got into journaling or how their journaling has evolved. Again, with each sample journal page there are steps on how that page was created. I can't imagine what Diehn can possibly write next, but I will purchase it!

This book is more comprehensive than a college class. It includes useful descriptions of different types of paper, adhesives, paints, pens, pencils, inks, etc. Many diverse techniques (wet processes, dry processes) are explained in detail, with instructive lists as to what you will need for each type of project. Novel layouts for the journal page, transparencies, layered or collage pages are explained, and the book is just loaded with full-color illustrations. Nature journals, illuminated manuscripts, journaling with children or in collaborative groups, and capturing "a sense of place" are included. Over a dozen artist profiles give the reader a wide array of perspectives and inspiration. The journaling process is also linked to the mental process ("from pattern to metaphor") and includes "the illusion of layers", "brains on paper", "the inner world" and "stepping-stone to the future", as well as spiritual and symbolic influences in journaling. If you want to bind your own journal, this book tells you how to do that too. I see myself referring to and reading this book over and over again.

Should I have only one book on the topic, it would be this one. Great buy for the price. Filled to the brim with explanations of the material required, techniques, examples and even a brief review of a couple of easy "how to" bind our own journal. Love this book.

This book is very informative, taught me things I should’ve learned in my art courses. And very inspiring. I just want to get right into it now.

Very useful and beautiful book!

If I had to choose one book out of all of the journaling books that I own then it would be this one! This is one of those books that you can open at a random page and find something informative and inspirational. I would have like to have seen oter kinds of book making tutorials rather than the usual but the instructions are very easy to follow.This is a true journaling book with proper sketching with basic artistic materials. It has no long, fancy and needless list of materials and it does not promote products. The images are a great size as is the printing. The book is a very decent size and I refer to it often when working.I highly recommend this book

Le livre (en Anglais) mérite son titre, tout y est.- le matériel à choisir : papiers, crayons, peintures, colles...- les techniques à utiliser- de très nombreux exemples- des modèles de reliure ou de présentation personnaliséeUn vrai plaisir à feuilleter qui donne envie de ressortir stylos et pinceaux.