Create Beautiful Journal Cards Tutorial

In this blog post I am sharing a step-by-step tutorial for creating some beautiful journal cards. I love using these in my journal as tip-in cards, with writing and photos added on the reverse side. They would also be lovely to send to friends in some happy mail.

I will share each step down below and you can click on the images to enlarge them.

Step 1: Gather some of your favourite mixed media supplies, so that you have them easily to hand. I find it useful to decide on a colour palette at this stage and I will be using blues and pinks, with a little black and white for contrast. You will need some good quality thick paper to create the cards. I am using Clairefontaine Mixed Media paper.

Step 2: Add some dots of acrylic paint in various colours onto your piece of paper. I'm using Amsterdam Standard series acrylic paint in Persian Rose, King's Blue and Quinacridone Rose.

Step 3: Spread this paint around until you have covered the paper. I used a brayer, but you could use a paintbrush instead. Try to keep some separation between the colours, rather than blending them all together.

Step 4: Once the paint layer is dry, start adding some interesting marks to your paper. I have added dots using Daler Rowney FW acrylic ink and Ecoline liquid watercolour. You could use regular watercolour instead if you prefer, but it might not be as pigmented.

Step 5: Tilt your page in different directions to encourage the liquids to run and move about.

Step 6: Use some kitchen towel to pick up some of the ink and watercolour and then dab it gently to transfer to other areas of your paper.

Step 7: Once this layer is dry, start adding some stencilling in random places across your paper. I applied Black Oxide acrylic paint through a Tim Holtz Alphabet stencil using a makeup sponge.

Step 8: Now add some extra marks to your journal cards. I am using Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons dipped in water to create blue crosses and pink circles.

Step 9: Finish off this stage with some white splashes. I'm using Amsterdam Titanium White acrylic ink, but you could use watered down gouache or acrylic paint instead.

Step 10: Now is the time to cut your paper up into eight equal-sized journal cards. I absolutely love seeing what appears on each of them.

Step 11: For extra decoration, I have added lots of doodles using a white Uni-ball Signo gel pen. I love how well this pen shows up on top of a busy acrylic paint background.

Step 12: I finished off by adding some extra details using a black Tombow Fudeonsuke brush pen and I printed off some sentiments using my Brother P-Touch printer. You could handletter some quotes or use stickers if you prefer.

*Some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. This means that I earn a small commission if you choose to make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial for creating some beautiful journal cards. If you decide to have a go, then I would love to see your photos shared in the comments down below. I usually put some lined or patterned paper on the reverse side, to cover up all the paint splodges. Please do let me know how you get on, Helen x