Frida Kahlo and one thousand Daisies or so

Paper lace doily detail in Junk Journal (Photo Copyright Hanna Andersson)

Art Journaling is one of my many passions, and filling a spread in one of my journals fills me with joy. Today I’m sharing how a page was born and my thoughts behind the choices I make along the way. It’s about enjoying a messy desk and making the best of it…

I hope you enjoy this video of my process:

If you are not reading this blog post in a browser you might not see the embedded video above. Click on the title of the blog post to watch the video on the blog, or click on over to watch it on YouTube where you can also subscribe to Studio iHanna. The video is called Frida Kahlo Junk Journaling. Click the setting wheel in the video to watch it with English subtitles.

If you don’t know who Frida Kahlo is, where have you been and what are you waiting for? Look it up. I think she’s the muse of many female artists, not only because she created “selfies” before they were a thing but because of her dramatic life story, her beautiful blue house that these days is a museum and maybe also, partly, because of her love story with another artist?

Personally I’m a fan of her artist diary, which you can get in print with comments. It’s called The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait.

Frida Kahlo Junk Journal spread and Posca paint pens in different colors (Copyright Hanna Andersson) — The Junk Journal spread with some Posca paint pens in different colors.

I made this junk journal many years ago, and it is still only half filled. I feel like it needs to be finished but I will try not to push myself because then I will end up resenting the process that I want to enjoy.

Frida Kahlo junk journal close up (Photo Copyright Hanna Andersson)

When I get into it I like filling a random page with some “bits from my desk”.

In this spread I used mostly ephemera from Dede with added paper flowers and brads from my mom’s stash. Then I added the journaling card using magic tape of course. The pen I used to journal with was a Pentel EnerGel Pen – a retractable liquid gel pen that I also mention in previous blog post about the Stalogy notebook set up. I love a smooth writing stark black ink pen!

Frida Kahlo and her diary Junk Journal spread (Copyright Hanna Andersson) — Frida Kahlo junk journal spread feat. Frida with one of her cats and her diary.

I set myself the challenge to post one video every week this year, and to post it on Thursdays. It hasn’t worked out all year (especially during the summer when I filmed a lot but didn’t take the time to edit anything at all or even upload), but today I’m back and that feels good. There’s no shame in starting over. And over. And over. And…. ;-)

* Click on if you want to see more of the Start Over Junk Journal

This post is part of NaBloPoMo where I write 30 blog posts in November. Thanks for reading and leaving me a comment, that will help me finish this challenge. To follow along subscribe to blog posts via email or RSS. I also have a sweet Substack Newsletter about art, craft and creativity that you might want to sign up for so that we can keep in tough in the future. I’d love that. On instagram I’m @ihannas and on YouTube Studio iHanna. Take care and stay creative friends.

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