Making a Junk Journal
I first heard about Junk Journals from Cheri at Fabric and Memories but she was writing from myLot where I write also.
I was fascinated about using up my mountains of junk papers in an artistic way, by way of making something functional.
She uses papers from everywhere and I have linked to her page (above) where she blogged about her first Junk Journal
I looked on YouTube and watched a dozen videos about people showing their junk journals then yesterday I found one that showed me how to make one. It was painfully slow though! She digresses, doesn't finish sentences, pets the cat, has a hard time getting the glue going. In short it was like sitting with her in person while she showed me everything. The the video was an hour long!
But I learned the steps about taking all kinds of junk papers and turning them into subscriptions, which are small groups and how to glue them into a book cover. It looked easy peasy.
Well, yes and no.
 |
| Just a wee shadow here! |
I love how mine turned out! I used an antique book but didn't make adjustments
for deteriorating spine fabric and I tore it while binding. I had to use Duck Tape
to repair it. But oh well! It's Junk!
I forgot to clip my pages together when cutting and so they are not as even
as they could be. I also don't have a heavy duty paper cutter anymore so I had
to eyeball it and use scissors. Not good!
I used envelopes, printed materials that were mistakenly printed too big to use in pocket letters, some leftover pages from book I have cut up and lots of Washi tape.
In the picture below, on the left is an envelope that is part of the subscription (the other half is further into the book) and on the right is an envelope I later added along with some bling to decorate it.
I have barely scratched the surface on filling and decorating this book. I'll color Alice and fill the empty spaces with things I like or just jot down things I want to remember.
The envelopes are to keep items in that I don't want to glue into a book.
The next picture
I had a piece of watercolor paper I had done a background on but didn't use it. It will be
a great background for something I might find later.
Then I used an envelope that came from China. Again,because I didn't clip the pages it
is in crooked. But you know what? I don't care! I learned something!
After I put the book together I had many pages with just writing. I added note cards and made them into pockets that I can stuff with ephemera. Note on the left the other part of the envelope you saw earlier. The top center looks messy because of my inexperience but I will hopefully learn from these mistakes.
In the next picture
I made a double pocket on the right and put a note pad in it and a small painting I was experimenting with, in the bottom half.
On the left is a pocket and I may not cover that Chinese writing with anything. I love it.
You use all sizes of paper and some that were torn, I left it torn, just because I love how it looks
Note the white spaces are great for penning in quotes I like.
The backs of these boot pictures are blank, so I can journal there or paste something in.
it's crazy and crooked but the more time I've spent in this junk journal the more I love it.
There are dozens more pages but I will stop here and do another post in a few months after I have added a lot more to the book. It is going to be fun to add bits and pieces of my life to this little junk journal that will be mine alone. I send out pocket letters and love them and love to share my art but this little book is mine to keep.
I have a video on YouTube of this journal and several others I've made. My YouTube Channel is:
How easy is that? Come visit and Subscribe!
Thanks Cheri for writing about yours, I have more fun with junk and this is a great way to put it into some order.
Sharing with
Comments