Last year I saw a wonderful reveal video from artist Ann Sullivan Barnes; she slowly flipped through a gorgeous journal that she had just received in the mail after its year-long journey.
Naturally after seeing Ann's post, I wanted in on journal trading too, so when Tina Walker organized a trade for 2025-26, I jumped at the chance. So many people joined that there were three groups of 12. Not 36 people though...six adventurous and ambitious artists joined two and three groups, so if my math is right, there were 30 participants.
Not only did my handmade journal get filled with artwork from 11 other artists, I also created work in the journals of 11 other people that they got to keep.
The waiting was hard. I really wanted to share some of the art I made on social media, but I somehow managed to keep my fingers off the "publish" and "share" buttons for a whole year. Now that everyone has received their original journals back, everyone can finally reveal their art treasures.
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| Outside cover of my handmade 6" x 9" art journal. |
Above is the journal I made. The cover was machine and hand stitched from trims and sari scraps found on the beautiful website of Gwen Lafluer. Its interior pages were made from 9"x12" cold-press watercolor paper folded in half and hand-stitched.
Sooooo...grab a cup of coffee or tea, settle into a comfy seat, and take a looksie at all the wonderful art!
First, here's all the work created by the 11 other artists that are now part of my journal. Each page of the journal opens to 9" tall x 12" wide:
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Art by Michelle Schenker
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| Art by Edye Beans |
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| Art by Joanna Rangel Jerome |
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| Art by Ranelle Fortier |
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| Art by Tina Walker |
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| Art by Tracy Krueger |
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| Art by Ann Barnes |
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| Art by Dori Patrick |
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| Art by Ali Flukes |
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| Art by Kristi Nazzaro |
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| Art by DeeDee Catron |
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| Tags created by each artist, tucked into small pockets inside my journal |
Take a look at the pages I created that now live in the journals of 11 other artists across the country. Each artist had a different size journal...some were handmade, some purchased, and others created from vintage books:
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| Doll-themed collage art sent to DeeDee Catron |
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| Collage with fabric, stamping, and embossing sent to Kristi Nazzaro |
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| Collage art sent to Ali Flukes |
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| Collage art with Japanese themed elements sent to Dori Patrick |
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| Paper doll-themed collage art sent to Ann Barnes |
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| Collage art and folding paper doll in a pocket sent to Tina Walker |
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| Collage art made in the house-shaped and house-themed journal of Ranelle Fortier |
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| Collage art sent to Edye Bean |
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| My abstract floral paintings in the journal of Michelle Schenker |
Whew! That's a LOT of art. Probably the hardest part was keeping it all secret until today!
If you are interested in participating in the next journal trade, check Tina Walker's Facebook page for information.
