Welcome to May 2025, and a new Art Journaling Challenge! This month, we invite you to explore the theme of "Fortitude" in your art journal. Fortitude is the inner strength that carries us through life's challenges, the resilience to keep going even when things feel difficult. This challenge is an opportunity to reflect on the ways you have shown fortitude in your life and to express that strength creatively in your journal.
How can you explore "Fortitude" in your art journal?
Tips for your creative process:
Here are 10 inspiring quotes about Fortitude:
Words to Inspire Your Creativity:
Depending on how you interpret fortitude, here are some words to help guide your journaling:
Strength & Resilience:
Symbols of Fortitude:
Emotional & Mental Fortitude:
Take this theme as an opportunity to honor your own strength, acknowledge your perseverance, and express the power of fortitude in your journal. We can’t wait to see how you bring "Fortitude" to life!
Here's a mood board to get your juices flowing!!
I have been going through a big change in my parenting life, and I realized that it takes a lot of courage and fortitude to weather the changes that come - especially when they are young adults. Our daughter is 22 and she is navigating life as a young adult, and Mommy is having a hard time letting go and handling the changes that are coming fast and furious.
Here is my page:
Credits in the gallery.
You can choose to do a single page, double page, tag, TN each week, or use a divided template—one part for each week. If you don’t have the Divided Template and would like to have it, you can get it here at Dropbox. Thank you to Ona @wombat146 for providing the template choices for us! If you use the template, we would love it if you post incrementally: post one done in the first week, post an image of the two together on the second, and so on until the finished page in the fourth week.
Again—the template is NEVER a requirement, just something fun and different if you want to use it.
Challenge Rules:
Adding a linked layout from the Gallery to a thread:
Everyone who participates in any of this month's challenges will be entered into a drawing for a $5 gift certificate to Oscraps. You can receive up to four entries into this month's drawing.
We look forward to seeing your art journaling pages!
How can you explore "Fortitude" in your art journal?
- Reflect on a moment when you demonstrated resilience. What kept you moving forward?
- Depict symbols of strength and endurance—mountains, trees, armor, or anything that represents perseverance to you.
- Use words, textures, and colors that evoke a sense of power, determination, and inner resolve.
- Explore the balance between vulnerability and strength—sometimes, true fortitude comes from allowing ourselves to bend without breaking.
Tips for your creative process:
- Embrace imperfections—strength is often found in the cracks and rough edges.
- Try layering different materials like fabric, textured paper, or pastels to represent depth and endurance.
- Incorporate affirmations or quotes that inspire courage and resilience.
Here are 10 inspiring quotes about Fortitude:
- "Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'" – Mary Anne Radmacher
- "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." – Mahatma Gandhi
- "She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails." – Elizabeth Edwards
- "Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient." – Steve Maraboli
- "Do not pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one." – Bruce Lee
- "The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived." – Robert Jordan
- "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other." – Walter Elliot
- "Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." – J.K. Rowling
- "Scars are just another kind of memory." – M.L. Stedman
- "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Words to Inspire Your Creativity:
Depending on how you interpret fortitude, here are some words to help guide your journaling:
Strength & Resilience:
- Endurance
- Grit
- Perseverance
- Tenacity
- Willpower
Symbols of Fortitude:
- Anchor
- Lighthouse
- Armor
- Roots
- Phoenix
Emotional & Mental Fortitude:
- Courage
- Patience
- Determination
- Steadfastness
- Adaptability
Take this theme as an opportunity to honor your own strength, acknowledge your perseverance, and express the power of fortitude in your journal. We can’t wait to see how you bring "Fortitude" to life!
Here's a mood board to get your juices flowing!!
I have been going through a big change in my parenting life, and I realized that it takes a lot of courage and fortitude to weather the changes that come - especially when they are young adults. Our daughter is 22 and she is navigating life as a young adult, and Mommy is having a hard time letting go and handling the changes that are coming fast and furious.
Here is my page:
Credits in the gallery.
You can choose to do a single page, double page, tag, TN each week, or use a divided template—one part for each week. If you don’t have the Divided Template and would like to have it, you can get it here at Dropbox. Thank you to Ona @wombat146 for providing the template choices for us! If you use the template, we would love it if you post incrementally: post one done in the first week, post an image of the two together on the second, and so on until the finished page in the fourth week.
Again—the template is NEVER a requirement, just something fun and different if you want to use it.
Challenge Rules:
- You have until 11:59 p.m. CST on May 31 to complete your pages for this challenge.
- To qualify for the drawing, you need to use 80% Oscraps products that are currently in the store (non-Oscraps products or retired O designer products can be used whether the designer is selling elsewhere or not).
- You need to credit all the products used on your page.
- You cannot use a page you create for this challenge for another Oscraps challenge.
- Upload your page to the Art Journal Gallery and then add your layout to the challenge thread. (Below you will find instructions on adding your page to this thread.)
Adding a linked layout from the Gallery to a thread:
- Upload your layout to the gallery first. In your forum post, click the Gallery Embed icon (little camera).
- This will open your gallery; simply click on the layout you require, then scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click the Continue button.
- Your linked layout is now in your post; the image will appear once you have clicked the Post Reply button.
Everyone who participates in any of this month's challenges will be entered into a drawing for a $5 gift certificate to Oscraps. You can receive up to four entries into this month's drawing.
We look forward to seeing your art journaling pages!
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