Have you ever taken a journal apart that you wanted to transfer into one signature journals or you weren’t happy with the volume? Yep, that’s me. I love this journal so much and I’ve been working in it for over a year and a half now, I guess. I’m just not happy with how chunky it got and I still want to do lots more journaling in it. My solution was to take the signatures out and make each one individual journals. There are five signatures in all and I can’t wait to create covers for them and show you more. Let me know if you’ve ever done this.
People rework art works all the time. Why not journals, eh?
I’m working on so many projects that I have neglected my blogging a bit. Today I am playing catch up and It was nice to take some time to recharge. Blogging is seriously time consuming but in a good way. Just be sure you are taking care of yourself and learn to pace yourself.
This coming Friday and Saturday, I’m selling more ephemera packs with my paintings and I have a lot of my tags available for purchase over at my Instagram! My mini tags sold out in less than five minutes last Friday! So, be sure to follow me for the chance to snag one or more sets before they sell out.
Today is part four of my mini junk journal series. In this series you will discover ways to use recycled materials to make pretty journals without breaking the bank. It is possible to make pretty journals with junk!
I love taking things you would normally throw out and use them for my crafting projects. It’s a fun, creative, rewarding and a cheap way to craft. Junk Journals are books made through found objects, and recycled materials.
I have an insane amount of scrap paper from various craft projects. I’m constantly trying to use them up until there is nothing left to use instead of throwing them away. Well, I have way too many that are little bits of paper that have been recycled many times over. I collected a pile and say them on my desk to either create one more craft with them, or throw them away. I’ve been wanting to make little dollhouse journals for a very long time and thought the scraps would be perfect for this project! Sure enough, they were and these little journals turned out great!
I can’t not express enough how much these little books were fun and rewarding to make. The biggest challenge, will be to decorate the inside pages. This endeavor is a worthy one and will no doubt, show how creative one can be. I did, however, decorate a page on one of the journals to show you how they can look. Of course, there are thousands of ways to do this.
The trick is to fold the papers in half and join them together as a signature. Once you have done this, then you cut to size and added it to your journal cover. Then take paperclips to hold it together so you may start the binding process. I mostly used staples to bind the spin. Then added trim along the spin to cover the stable. Only two of the spins are bind with thread and are shown om my Instagram.
These little journals would make great gifts and they can be used for various reasons. Part five and the final post of this series will be a journal made out of junk mail, and plastic food wrappers and mail packaging!
Meanwhile, be sure to check out my other blog posts in this series. The direct links are provided below.
Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art gallery here at Layered Pages! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.
(Images are subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie Hopkins.)
“Journal writing, when it becomes a ritual for transformation, is not only life-changing but life-expanding.” – Jen Williamson
I journal quite often but I haven’t made a journal specifically for the weekend in ages!
There are many types of these journals and not only in how you make them but what you do with them. Such as, include photos, day trips, parties, walks in nature, what you are reading, movies, gatherings with friends and family and so forth. In my journal, I recorded a few of my activities I did over the weekend and memories that came to my mind.
While I gathered paper to use as my signature, I came across paper with illustrations of people playing baseball and that took me back to when my family, friends and I use to go to the Braves games all the time down in Atlanta. Wonderful memories to look back on. I wrote that down after I included the pages to my journal.
It is not often I journal about food or drink unless it is a special occasion. Well, I had a reason to make a page about tea that a friend sent me in the mail. She had sent the tea to me a few weeks prior but I wanted to wait for a special moment to drink it. This past weekend was a perfect moment.
I love to explore waterfalls and it has been a while since I’ve been to one. I came across this image of a waterfall and it made me long to visit one this fall. What a great image to add to your journal.
My birthday was in June and my brother gave me a gift certificate to Starbucks. I rarely go buy coffee there anymore so that was a special treat. I took my mother along with me and we ordered special drinks and scones. It was a nice outing with her and I was delighted to have the opportunity to journal about it.
One of the activities I did over the weekend was watch a Youtuber make DIY mini envelopes embellishments to make and bunch together and place in journals. What a great idea! You can even use them as tucks and pockets. I decided to make a page using them so I will remember this technique. I’m thinking about including them in all my journals.
How I made the journal:
I had painted a scrap piece of jute a year or so ago and had put it aside. I had forgotten about it until I came across it on Friday and thought it would make a cool journal cover.
I gathered my paper, thread and needle and crated a floating spin for this journal. The reason for this was because if I had sewn into the jute, it would have eventually unraveled. I sewed the signature onto a strong piece of paper-I usually use fabric-and glued it to the jute. Then I took scrap paper and glued it on the sides of that paper to secure it better.
From there, I decorated my pages and made secret pockets for my writing throughout the weekend. Really simple and fun to make. Not all the pages are shown but it is enough for you to get the idea. I hope you enjoyed this post!
Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art Gallery here at Layered Pages!
My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged. -Stephanie
How to make pretty journals made out of trash and leftover materials around your home.
Welcome to Layered Page and thank you to those who follow my blog. Today is part two of my mini junk journal series where you will discover ways to use recycled materials to make pretty journals without breaking the bank. It is possible to make pretty journals with junk!
My objective when creating junk journals is to use old ephemera AKA recycled materials, packaging, scraps of paper that I would otherwise throw out.
This junk journals cover is covered with old dictionary pages, scraps of scrapbook paper and a baby wipe I used during painting. The scrapbook paper I used has been cut down so many times for other projects, I decided it was time to either use the leftovers or to throw it away.
I hope you enjoyed this second part of my new series and if you have any questions about my process, please do not hesitate to ask below in the comment area.
Part III in this series, I will be using a cracker jack box and scraps of fabric. Stay tuned!
Be sure to take a look at my Mini Junk Journal: Part I. This post will give you more details in my process of constructing a journal. One thing I did change this time was to start on the outside of the spine to bind the signatures.
Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art Gallery here at Layered Pages! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.
Layered Pages 