The Elemental Journal: A Book Review

Do you love creating something useful from stuff most people throw away? The Elemental Journal by Tammy Kushnir is perfect for anyone who enjoys using pieces from nature, cast-off containers and scrapers of paper, plastic, and metal. Tammy Kushnir and several other artists feature their journals, big and small, created from scraps.

These aren’t journals like what  you would expect to find in a store. They are small, intended to hold just a few pages of memoir. This book is chock full of photos and projects. It has 15 projects that are shown step-by-step with photos for recreating your own similar item. They include a supplies list as well. It’s also full of many other trash to treasure journal ideas.

I loved the layout of the book and the color photos. Every page has some sort of photo. Since I love recycled projects, I enjoyed it. Projects have a child-like simplicity without being childish.

One drawback is that these are so rustic and so primitive in their nature, some readers won’t see them as treasures. It definitely is for a niche audience. All of the fabrics and elements used are rough-edged and natural. After seeing some of the projects, I wonder what I would do with it…or where I’d store it or display it.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to break out of the usual and stimulate creativity. Even if you don’t create a project exactly as shown, the ideas will certainly spark something creative in your own mind.

I received this book for review purposes from Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze program in exchange for my fair and honest review.