A quick and easy little craft

It's happened to all of us at one time or another. We've been to one too many Pinterest pages and we have that terrible combination of feeling super-inspired to do amazing things, and yet crippled by a bad case of artist's block. My advice in this case is to take a deep breath and start small. If you are busy like I am, you don't always want a big project that will take up half the day and the whole dining room table, am I right?

This little project is a manageable size, you can use bright colors that will fire up the creative spirit, and you'll be so proud to have made something you can use. It is a watercolor paper "purse pad."

All you need is some watercolor paper, a stack of regular all-purpose printer paper, a sturdy rubber band and a very basic set of watercolors.

Instructions:

1. To make the cover, you will use the watercolor paper. To determine the size, first decide the height. I think 4 inches tall is a good size to fit nicely in a purse. Then decide how wide your mini journal will be when it's finished and double that. (Because you'll be folding it in half.) I think a good folded width is about 2.5 to 3 inches, depending on your preference. If the folded width is 3 inches, your cover would be 6 inches wide and 4 inches tall.

2. Cut a stack of the copier paper so it's about a quarter inch smaller all around than the cover. These will be your inside pages. I wouldn't recommend using more than 10 sheets, because when you fold them your journal will have 20 pages. Also, the more pages you have, the harder it becomes to fold neatly.

3. Take your watercolors and just go wild painting a design on the cover. Be free, not stopping to plan what you're doing or think of a pattern. If you are not comfortable making art yet, random polka dots are totally not intimidating and can result in a cheerful, colorful design. The most important thing is that you put down color and shapes that makes you smile. I am a big fan of purple; the yellow and green shown in this photo help to make the purple flowers "pop."


4. Fold the cover in half; fold the inner pages in half. Nest the pages into the cover, and "bind" them with your rubber band. Presto! A nifty purse pad. Every time you use it, you will be reminded of your creative awesomeness.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I got this idea from Aimee Myers Dolich over at her Artsyville blog, several years ago. She's a pretty impressive lady; go check out her work!