Hoping this post finds you all well and keeping out of mischief. In between working over the weekend, I have started on my Junk Journal series which I am going to create as a Step By Step in Parts for you.
I will be showing you how to make the cover, pages and how to bind it together, plus decorate and embellish it to the theme of what you want to use your journal for.
You can play along with me or do your own thing and make yours into whatever theme you would like it to be. This one, will be my December Daily Xmas Journal, for me to record some of our past and present family memories in. I am following along with Barbara over @ 49 Dragonflies on YouTube. I will be having a go at her prompts and doing a bit of my own thing also!
This shows you what sorts of items you can use for a cover. I am using a Cornflakes box, as you don’t have to worry about making spine for it, and it has a large spine. You can use an old book, a file/manila folder, cardboard, large envelopes, exercise book covers, paper bags, envelopes, whatever takes your fancy. I want this journal to have a soft cover, but that is the fun of junk journaling. There are no rules and no right or wrong way to make your journals 🙂
BASIC SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THE COVER–
– Cereal box, cardboard or a book, – some chipboard for spine, – paper cutter/craft knife and ruler or scissors, – double sided tape, – wet glue like white pva, and some – book or duct tape.
So grab your supplies and join me for the start of your journal. If you sign up to my blog you will be notified each time I post so you won’t missany steps and I also have my blog linked to my Facebook page.
Have fun finding your items to use and I’ll see yousoon to show you how to make your cover!
I am having a bit slower week and I have managed to call my Altered Book Project finally finished!! Last year I did a journal class with Johanna clough for photos of unknown people. I had some leftovers from this class, so I decided to make a smaller version of this journal.
As you can see above, I have had some fun embellishing my book with Tim Holtz Photo Booth photos, (unknown to me) trims, lace, stamps, inks, gesso, tags, tuck spots, tabs, envelopes, journaling, tea/coffee dyed paper and all sort of other papers from my stash.
I hope you may be inspired to make one of your own!
I am back with a spurt of mojo that I found last night….. I started altering a book. I haven’t done one in awhile, just some journals where I remove the pages completely and use the covers. The last one I did was a garden one with photos of all my roses in it. I haven’t quite decided on a theme yet but it might be a Memory book for our pets!!! I found a couple of books in an Op shop before Covid 19, hit us here in Australia and I haven’t had much time to do something with them.
When you chose a book you need to make sure it is in pretty good condition with a good spine and covers. This book measures approx 6×9″. I didn’t want it to be to big as it takes time to alter it….There are 450 pages to reduce to approx. 1/2 or it will be too big and bulky when finished.
The first thing I do is tear out and glue some pages together. I like to use a metal ruler to tear out pages. It is a nice sharp edge and I don’t have to muck around with my craft knife!!
I like to go through the book and do a bit of a plan as to what pages I want to remove, any images that are good to keep and where/if I want to create any pockets. As this book was glued and not sewn I didn’t tear right at the page edge. This is because I needed a bit of it there to stop it from falling out.
I then add white glue or what ever your preferred glue is to one side then I close the book and press down on it too get a good stick! I find that closing the book lets the pages naturally fall straight, and you get less warping.
As you can see, you remove pages, but you make new pages also. This is why you have to do a bit of work altering your book before the play begins!
I just randomly added some side pockets by gluing around the three edges and leaving the opening unstuck on the side of the book.
These were quick to make by just folding down a corner and gluing to the page underneath. These give you extra space for journaling, photos, tags, embellishments etc.
My book has the pages out of it, some glued and some torn out. I have created some side and corner pockets for extra space and it is half the size it originally was!!
There are lots of ideas for using your Altered Books….. Memory books, Art Journals, just to play in. Collage, Glue Book, Technique Book, Personal Journal, About Me, Art, Butterflies, Astronomy, Gardening, Mixed Media, Art Journaling, or anything you can think of, or want to use it for……………..
I did a bit of research on You Tube to refresh my memory on how to create one as its been awhile. I used this video from Karla @ Caged Fish here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhuYxymrbc8 There are lots of great ideas on You Tube and Pinterest. You just need to find what suits your style and the purpose of your book. Now once it’s all dry, I can start decorating the pages and cover for my theme.
Stay Tuned as I am going to start the Embellishment process next and you will want to see how the book gets transformed!!
I hope you are having a lovely week and keeping well. I have had a busy one and looking forward to the weekend and seeing my son. We all hang out together for the day and have some catch up time. With us all doing shift work, time together these days is very precious to me.
This journal came about as I went to our local second hand trader looking for a cupboard and came home with free books to make journals with. Sometimes, journals I make end up not being what I want, but I use them for other things. This happened with the one I made for my Dyalog inserts from “THIS POST”
If you don’t know, I love re-using old books and bringing them back to life!! As you can see this book was cancelled from a library. I don’t destroy precious books, I only use discarded, unloved ones that probably don’t have any real value, but to a person like me that loves making journals.I cut the page block away from the spine carefully and then I adhered a piece of chipboard to it for more strength.
I pulled some papers out of an arty collection I have and cut them to the size of the covers. I was going to use the fabric down the spine but I changed my mind!!!
As I will be creating in this journal quite a lot I wanted it to be strong so I added blue book tape to the edges. I buy this at Bunnings and it is great tape for making journals and binding pages. I have used it quite a lot and is the only one I use now.
The paper has all the hard work done for me with some cute arty prints. I just sorted out what I wanted on the in and outside and cut them to size. I rarely measure anything with a ruler. Who has time for that!!!!! I then decided to cut put some elements on one of the papers and used the hearts and some sketchy flowers on the front. I couldn’t resist the kitty on the bottom. I added some stitching on the hearts for some texture. I have my sewing machine set up ready to go and I love using it in my papercraft!!
To finish off the front I just added a bit of text to it, that I thought was good for me at the moment. I am an original and no one else is like me. I need to remember that and to just be me. I am trying to find balance in my life where I am not over worked and I have time for my family and some me time. We all need balance in our busy lives, even more so with what is going on in our world at the moment……..
As you can see, this book fits my Dyalog journal inserts very well and it is a lot sturdier for constant use. I can take one out the one I want to work in. or just open it up in the book as it will lay flat.
I was going to punch holes and put eyelets in the spine but, as I had some elastics and I decided they were funky and to use them instead to bind the inserts in.
Thanks for stopping by and having a peek into my arty journal. I hope you may be inspired to make one yourself! I am wanting to do some more craft of some sort over the weekend and share it with you also.
I hope you have a lovely end to your week and lovely weekend.
I hope you are all going well and keeping safe! I have been busy at work and not much time for craft this week. I was going to join in an online event yesterday but didn’t make it. I decided today I was going to have a play with my new Gorgeous Posies Card Kit!
Also, I had to move my craft stuff out to have our new blinds installed so I decided to move my desk over to the lovely bright window, that I can look out and see the garden. It was great to do some creating today……………………
The kit above comes in the gorgeous box. The stamp set I added for more options to decorate and for the Greetings. It made 16 standard size cards with a few things let over to use on other cards. You also get great instructions for the beginner to get creating straight away with minimal supplies. I mainly used my Tombow glue, the foam dots, scissors, a stamp block, few ink colours and the stamp set.
You can see above the lovely card fronts included to add to the bases, plus the great instructions booklet is easy to follow.
There are lots of pop out die cuts and some sentiment strips all ready to use. It also comes with some gorgeous ribbon and twine. I layered these with our Dimensional foam dots so they sit higher on the cards. and give a layered effect.
As you can see you can make them as simple or intricate as you like. It is a great kit for all skill levels. I really enjoyed putting these cards together and now I have 16 finished cards to use for friends and family ready to go. I hope you have enjoyed seeing this kit from Stampin’ Up! If you would like any information about the Gorgeous Posies Kit or you would like to purchase one, please feel free to contact me @ kerrismith455@gmail.com or leave me a comment and I can reply to you.
Stay Tuned as I hope to have some more crafty projects on the go during this next week.
I hope you are all having a lovely start to a new week. I had a pretty mixed up week off, last week. We all had to be tested for Covid-19, because of a work contact, but we are all fine. I am waiting to have Wisdom teeth out and feeling a bit off colour. Finally sort of feeling up to a bit of a new project. Anyway…………………I decided to make a Journal Cover.
I have purchased a few of Dyan Reaverly’s Art Journal Dyalog inserts. There are a few different ones and while I wait for them to arrive, I thought I would make a cover for them. If you aren’t sure what they are hop on over to her Channel “HERE” and have a peek.
It will be an art/junk/planner/journal. It’s a whatever I want to use it for……………………It is a smaller version of my large one, that is also more portable. It’s good to have options, as sometimes you don’t have the time or energy to create on a large scale………………
I gathered a few supplies and started the cover. I used a cereal box and cut it down to roughly 9 x 6″ which should fit the inserts, as the box had a large spine. Then I used Gesso on it for stability and so I could add wet mediums over the top of it. I had some really pretty napkins that I hadn’t used, so they were just right. I removed both layers of the underlying tissue away from them, to remove the bulk. I then, used a wet paint brush to paint on water to make it easier to pull apart the sections I wanted t use.
I loved the text part of another napkin so I used that over the spine of the box and added the other lovely floral parts of the napkins to cover the front and the back. I used my home made Mod Podge/glue sealer under and over the top of the napkin.
After it was dry and I trimmed off any excess napkin, I rounded the corners and inked around it with black ink. I decided I wanted a more squishy cover for this one. To give it a whimsy feel and a bit of texture, I machine stitched around the edge .You can see the form of the spine that was already there from the cereal box. This makes it easier to make a journal and not have to worry about separate pieces and making a spine……………….You could also strengthen the journal with extra cardboard if you wanted too.
I didn’t want to much embellishment on the front cover, as the napkin is busy. I cut a piece of cardboard, stamped a title, then machine stitched around it for a bit of interest. I just layered it on a bit of scrap cardboard, painted with a bit of gesso and sprayed with some ink, plus some muslin for texture.
I sprayed the inside of the cover with some ink, but I may cover it with some paper or do a bit of mixed media on it. For the binding, I decided to use elastic and then I can take one of the inserts out when I want to work in it. I decided on three holes and I just threaded the elastic through. You need about 4x the length of the spine for a good fit.
I don’t really measure anything, I just eyeballed about the centre and then one hole each side. I punched them using my Crop-O-dile hole punch then I set some eyelets so the holes in the cardboard wouldn’t break.
I also put some elastic through the middle of the spine to create a closure for it to keep them snug inside. I just threaded a few beads and a metal quote embellishment on to it before threading it through the hole. On the off chance that my inserts don’t fit in it, I can just make it into a junk journal to collage in.
I hope you have enjoyed my little how to on this journal cover I made. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. This was a fun project and I am looking forward to playing in my new journal soon.
I am working on another project, so stay tuned for another post during the week.
It is the 1/9/20 and the first day of SPRING here in Australia. Hopefully the days will get a little warmer and our Corvid Restrictions might ease a little! I miss seeing my friends and family, but we are slowly getting there I think!
This week is pretty busy work wise for me but in-between, I am changing how I store a few of my craft supplies in my ‘new space’. I thought you might like to see what I am doing. These ideas might even work for you and your craft area!
First up is my marker storage, which really bugged me! I decided to invest in some decent storage from Deflecto. They clip together so nothing falls out of them and I can stack them on top of one another! I have all my SU Alcohol Ink and Watercolour Markers, plus my other Alcohol Ink Markers and Distress Crayons, stored all together, easy to find and access.
I like to use different types of storage, that may not be used for it’s intended purpose. A couple of months ago, I ordered these Tupperware Spice containers, but I decided to use them for my craft embellishments instead. The caps come off to fill them up and there is two separate openings to use for getting them out!
I used my Dymo Label Maker to create their labels and they stack nicely on top of one another. They are semi clear so I can also see their contents.
These fit nicely on top of my maker storage and also on my storage unit on my desk which you probably saw on my previous post “HERE”
Another few problem areas I find hard to sort are dies, stamps that come in plastic and die cuts. I think I have finally found a solution that will work for me.
Today I finished sorting my dies into themes. I only keep my SU dies and stamp sets together, at my desk in the white unit. My other dies are sorted into, Leaves, Journal, Grunge, Frames, Flora, Doilies, Winged and Misc. You of course could sort to what you have.
I have some Universal Craft Storage Boxes. Each one Includes one big storage case – 21 x18.5 x 14 cm and six internal 17×12 x3cm storage boxes. They are perfect for storing all sorts of supplies, including small punches, photos, ribbon, washi tape etc…….
Above are all my dies sorted in two boxes. I decided to leave my Sizzix/Tim Holtz dies in the plastic packets and they are in a box also together.
Die cuts are one embellishment that I probably have too much of, but they are so useful for lots of projects. Sometimes I am lazy and I cant be bothered stamping and colouring to make my own! These are great for my die cuts that I seem to be searching for all the time!
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I sorted these into themes as well and they are well organised now.
I collated them into the most used themes I have and use.
I labelled the outside of the boxes and the smaller cases with some stamped labels made from cardstock.
I am going to use these for most of my smaller storage. I can label each one in the case then the outside of the main case to tell me what is stored inside. I think my ‘other stamps’ will be what I attack next and probably collate the same sort of way. They will be all stored on one of my bookcases across from my desk 🙂
I hope you have enjoyed my ideas I have shared with you and you might find them useful!!
Welcome to June and Winter in Australia. It is the Queens Birthday long Weekend here and it has been lovely having a the weekend off!!
I was checking out Youtube last night and found anew Tutorial from Nik the Booksmith on creating what she called a “Rat Pack Journal” this looked like fun so I thought I would give it a go! Her Video is “HERE” if you would like to pop over and have a look.
I decided to make my journal cover, from some cardboard packaging that I rec a book in. It was sturdy enough that I thought I wouldn’t bother strengthening the covers like I normally would with extra cardboard. I thought a soft, squishy cover, would be nice for a change and I measured it roughly 8.5×8.25″ (17×16.5″) I then mesured out where the spine would be and how wide I wanted it. I just eyeballed it with a pen and ruler as it was too big to place in my trimmer.
I nearly always use book tape which I find at Bunnings, to add a bit of strength to the spine as it takes the load of the signature (lots of papers). and binding. I decided this journal didn’t need it.
I had some of this nice fabric left that I found ages ago and thought it was lovely, so I used a bit more of it on this journal. I just placed the covers on the fabric and cut around it. I then cut a way a bit of the excesses fabric and cut a few notches so it would fold over the edges properly.
I used some thin double sided tape on it just to hold it, while I machines around the edges with a zig zag stitch. I am pretty happy with how the cover came out.
For the inside covers I used some retired SU DSP that I thought was a good match, of course its Blue!!. I just adhered it with tape and some strong clear glue.
This was the ‘RAT PACK” part of this journal, as I had been saving these lined scrapbook pages and my coffee stained note paper. ………………. I just cut them down to a good size and sew a few pagers together. I made 3 signatures. Of course you don’t need to sew them together as they will stay in the book once you do your binding.
I made this one into a pocket just by sewing three sides together and punching a spot at the top so I can get bit and bobs out of it.
To bind the signatures in I just used some seam binding and wrapped it around the spine a few times and tied it off on the front of the spine. This is an easy way for beginners also with no sewing.
This is the Easy Twine Binding Method that I use for most of my journals. I like being able to add and subtract pages if they don’t work or suit my project!
As I used fabric for the cover and seam ribbon for the binding I thought a fabric name plate was in order. I layered it up with some book paper, pattern paper, old curtain and some gauze. I am very happy with it.
This is my finished little journal ready for me to jot down notes and things when I am watching a tutorial or thinking of ideas for my next creation!!!
I hope I may have inspired you to have a go at making your own journal. The are fun to make and use.
Have a great afternoon, I am off to spend some time with my boys!!
It is very fresh here in Western Victoria today and there was ice all over my car when I was ready to go to work!! I hope you are keeping warm and staying at home as much as you can. I am working and busy as usual.
For those of you that are interested the New 2020/21 Stampin’ Up! Catalogue is now available to order from and see over on my demonstrator Website “HERE”
On my website, you are able to place an order, look at all the New Products, Host a Demonstration, Check my Events, or contact me. I am happy to place an order for you or answer any questions you may have…………………… If you would like a hard copy of the Catalogue, just let me know and I can send you one via Head Office. My customers get one FREE of course!
Right now is an EXCELLENT time to join my Team if anyone was thinking about it. You can Join to get 20% of your own craft supplies and/or build a business…………….
For a limited time, new recruits get a FREE stamp/tool bundle when they join before 30 June. The Starter Kit is already a great value at $169 AUD/$189 NZD for $235 AUD/$285 NZD worth of products, but with this additional motivation to join.
I thought you might like a peek at the Catalogue on the Stampin’ Up! YouTube page, “HERE There are also some lovely New Product videos also.
I have just placed an order and when it arrives, I am going to do an unboxing video so you can see the lovely products first hand.
Have a great afternoon and feel free to contact me anytime here or on my Website for any information or questions you may have.
Apologies once again for being a bit absent here. I am an Essential Worker and out and about in it!!!! I am making time for “me” and I was very lucky, as my two wonderful sons bought me, a new Elna Sewing Machine for my birthday. I have done a bit of sewing as I grew up and spent quite a few hours learning from my mum and her best friend Helen. I do miss that very much………………..
I saw my pile of scrap paper and collage bits and pieces and I thought I would make some “Franken Paper”. I made some awhile ago and I used them to make tags for some journals. The Tutorial for the “Franken Tags” is “HERE” if you would like a peek! There are also some great Youtube videos about making them also 🙂
I like this tutorial from Nik The Booksmith “HERE”
I am making another couple of journals and I was deciding what to do with the cover. I have made it out of some chipboard backing from an art pad. I like to use a nice strong backing for them like 12×12 paper pad backings, cardboard from cereal boxes, or sturdy cardstock.
As you can see above, I used some scrap cardboard from a used paper pad and added the torn papers over it with a glue stick. If you wanted to you could ink around the edges of the paper pieces, but I decided not to.
On the one above, I did the same thing and used papers that looked nice together, I then added some faux stitching with stamps, then some with my machine.
I made the Birthday cards I rec from friends, into a journal cover also. I stitched them with my machine and I will glue it over the cover I have made.
I hope this gives you an idea or two to how to use up your scraps of pattern papers. This technique is fun and relaxing to create and not a lot of brain power needed.
I hope you are all going well in this weird time. I’m home from work and now enjoying my weekend!! It is very wet and cold here now so a great day to be indoors and crafting!
Lately, I have had a few projects on the go all at the same time. Nothing like keeping busy!! I got the urge to make another “Faux Travellers Notebook”, to use as an Art Journal.
A Traveler’s Notebook ... In short, it is a refillable notebook, which are used by travellers to plan and document their travels. Also, to keep your important documents, contacts etc in, ………….But really, at its core, it is simply a leather book-like cover that holds multiple notebooks or inserts with elastic bands. This really handy as you can keep the cover and just replace the inserts (notebooks) with new ones.
They have so many more uses now as they have grown in popularity as a journal…………
Below are a few ideas of what you can use them for…………………
As A Travel Journal
Keeping track of Projects
Wedding or Party Guestbooks
Doodling and Art Journaling
Memory Keeping
Collecting Quotes
Habit and Weightloss Tracking
A Daily Journal
Commonplace Journal
For Planning
Of course, you can buy them, already made and in lots of different sizes, but why not make your own for the fraction of the cost to your needs……………………………….
My Version of this is a “Faux” one that I make mainly out of foam, covered with pattern papers or placemats. Yes, the humble placemat is great for making the soft covers. If you can’t find any, you can make to measure pattern papers, then laminating them. I made a few last year and gave them away as presents. You can find them in cheap shops and probably home decor shops too. They usually aren’t too expensive and you could also use plastic mats, or the clear chopping mats would work also.
I really liked this tulip one, I found even though I am not a big red fan. I cut it roughly down to 7.5×10″, but you can make it to suit your needs. I wanted the width so I could make it chunky with the inserts that I made.
I cut the placemat to the size, I wanted with the image placed nicely on the front. I found the middle and made some small holes using a punch to thread the elastic through. This will allow you to move them around and remove to add new inserts as required. The thinner elastic is nice to use as it gives a bit to move the pages.
I made these inserts from mixed media paper, as I want to Art Journal in this one. I cut my papers down to approx 6×9″ and I can comfortably put 6 signatures in this with the slightly bigger cover. I haven’t as yet added any pockets etc to the inside of the overs.
As you can see for the pages, I used 5-6 sheets ad used my stapler to put them together, but you could sew them if you wanted to.
I measured the middle, then left a gap between the other two holes. There is enough room from the bottom of the journal for the paper to fit nicely in. I just used my hole punch and I will go back and add some small eyelets for strength.
I mainly eyeball when making things like this, as I am not a perfectionist and I like things looking rustic and handmade!
The journal looks lovely and as it is a placemat, I can wipe it down with no worries about damaging the cover. I will probably add my name or an art quote to the front to finish it off.
I hope I may have given you some inspiration to try one for yourself!!
It is cold and wet here in Victoria and a great day to #stayathome. I am keeping pretty busy with work and being pretty tired I haven’t done much craft this last week. We have just had one case of COVID-19 detected here so work has ramped up our PPE measure to protect our clients, family and ourselves……………
I am walking the May 50k for MS, but the weather has turned horrible. I will make it up, over the next few days when the weather clears 🙂
I bought a mixed media pad and I am using it, for my art journal pages. I Gessoed over this page first, so it is more stable and would take the wet media. With a couple of Dylusions Inks, I sprayed onto the page and let it run, with the help of some water in a mister.
I then stamped the focal point from part of a large Studio Light stamp, straight on to the paper. I then repeated the process, cut part of it out and coloured it lightly. I gave the image some depth by using dimensional tape and placing it over the top, of the first stamped image. I finished it off with some washi tape, inked edges of the paper and a quote 🙂
I am trying to get a bit of Art Journaling done in my #stayathome journal, and I managed to finally finish this page. I am not sure what I want to do with it. I think I will fold it and put it on my wall for a bit, then add it to my journal!!
I hope you are staying safe, where ever you are and having some craft time 🙂
I hope your Monday isn’t too bad and you are having a nice day…………….
Today is my Monday off, after quite a busy fortnight. I am #stayathome today and crafting, watching a couple of DVD’s and chillax’n…………. I just popped in to share with you a super cute mini album that I made with a lovely lady and her group on FaceBook. It was so much fun to make with her.
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I used all new Stampin Up Products that are available now. There is a bit of a delay on shipping some items, but the Warehouse is doing a great job on this, to keep us informed and able to get products. I followed the instructions for the mini-album and used a Black 8.5 x 11 Cardstock to cut down for the pages.
I used the gorgeous Honey Bee stamp set and the Detailed dies for easy cutting out of the stamps.
This is the Golden Honey Bee Designer Speciality Paper I had to use for the page embellishments, like the tags, pockets etc. The gold tones on the paper are perfect.
The front cover I used some of the gorgeous stamps in the set. I couldn’t go past the honeycomb die on the background and the super cute beehive. The bees were stamped and die cut, and the detail of the bee is beautiful.
If you are interested in any of these products, please feel free to contact me here or you can email me on kerri.smith64@bigpond.com
Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for some more craft fun I am working on!
I hope you have all had a lovely Easter Break. A few shifts for me, but not too bad and spending time with my boys. It was my oldest son Cody’s 28th Birthday on the 13/4/20. It was a bit low key with not being able to go out for lunch and shopping in Geelong. I am sure we will make up for it later on!!! I don’t know where that time has gone!!
During the week I joined a lovely group of girls on FB in an Art Journaling Group. We have all made our selves a Journal to use over this mad time of Isolation and Social distancing. I decided to go a different way with mine and use a binder. Art Journaling (playing) is good for stress and just a creative outlet…………… I am still, an Essential Worker in Disability and we are out there every day. My sons are also Essential workers so I think this is a good thing to have for me to use this creative outlet.
I may use it to collage in, do some mixed media, journal, or scrap. I just want to record this crazy time we are having, so when its all over, we can look back and see how far we have all come and how we overcome these changes!!!! We have to look after our mental health as well as our physical…………
I am using one of my 6×8 scrap binders and I have collaged some tissue paper and then the napkin on the bottom. I just need to finish off the inside and cut the mixed media paper for it to use. It measures approx 7.5 and 8.5 which is s good size for me.
On the inside, I glued down some of the tissue paper backings, then I gave it a coat of the Kaiser paint. I found some of these fairy pictures at a book fair I went to last year. I thought a couple on the inside covers might look ok. I went around the edges and a little on the starkness of the white paper to blend them a little.
For the front cover, I decided to use a heart that I made from some cardboard. First I painted the cardboard with Gesso, then when dry I used some texture paste through a stencil. I added some wood and metal embellishments, then gessoed over the whole thing. Once dry I sprayed it with some mists.
I used few die cuts on the top left with a quote that says “every day may not be good,but there is something good in every day” On the bottom right I layered a few bits and put the title of my journal on with the date.
Now all I need to do is add some mixed media paper and it will be ready to use. The great thing about a binder is that you can take a page out and work on it without getting a mess over your journal. I have really enjoyed making this journal to document what is going on in our lives at the moment and the changes going on…………………
Thanks for stopping by and having a peek at my art journal and now to start creating in it. I hope your week is wonderful and you are #stayingathome as much as possible.
I hope you are all well and enjoying your #stayathome time. I am doing a bit of creating and I had a go at a Scrapbook challenge today in a new Aussiex FB group I am in.
The challenge was to find certain things from your stash and use them to create a layout. Just what I needed a bit of inspiration!! I found some grungy papers, chipboard embellies, die cuts, title and stamp.
I grunged everything up with some ink. I stamped the background with the clock and then the title. I used some pattern paper and roughed the edges up with my scissors and tore it a little. I used a chippy piece, a couple of die cuts and word stickers. I added some twine, plus staples to adhere to things down. A couple of items I had chosen didn’t suit this layout so I changed it up a bit.
This was fun and I am looking forward to getting some more scrapping done tomorrow on my day off!
I hope you are having a lovely weekend. In between being an Essential worker here in Aus, I am staying at home. #stayathome
I was watching Johana Clough “HERE” on her YouTube channel and she made a fun Journal. I thought that would be perfect for a Cookbook for myself to use in the kitchen. It’s not too big and I can have separate recipe categories.
I had eight spare notebooks that I didn’t use awhile ago for a project so I got them out and adhered them all together, one on top of the other. I glued two at a time, then all together with white PVA glue. I then did, as Johanna had and used some fabric to bind them together. I just made sure I had plenty of glue on the spine and under the fabric when I attached it.
I put a couple of heavy books on to of my journal so it would stay together while the glue dried. You can see the covers of the exercise books buckled a bit but that doesn’t worry me as they will be covered up. I also added washi tape to each side of the books to give the spine a bit more strength.
Today I have made some sections using pattern papers from the collections, to divide them up in my journal. I covered each of the joining covers with some pattern paper and that made dividers. This is the first pages inside. I made a pocket on the left with some spare journaling cards and a bit of embellishment, with the first Catagory for Notes.
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As you can see above in the slide show I have made the other dividers the same but with a different mix of the two collections. I used stickers and die cuts to embellish them.
On the backs of a few of the dividers, I adhered a clear 6×8 page protector. These are to hold recipes that I cut from magazines until I get a min to put them in their section. I also have some of mums handwritten ones I want to include.
Above, you can see what you can create from something that looked pretty ordinary into your own personal Journal. You could do this project for anything you want to record. This probably cost me about $10 to make with what I already used from my stash and the few papers etc I used from the kit I bought. It is made to have our family favourite recipes and to the way, I wanted to keep them together for my boys 🙂
This is a look at the tabs I made for it.
I hope you like this project and you hop on over to Johanna’s Channel and have a go at making something for your self.
My next project is a fun journal for me to play and create in with a lovely group on FB called “Isolation Days Journal” Just some fun ladies getting together and creating while they #stayathome I am also playing along with a new Scrapbooking group created by the lovely Fiona Kenward to get some scrapping done!!
I hope you are having a lovely weekend. It is my rostered one-off, but as we have had a couple of girls away I am filling in the mornings!
I hope you are all going well and coping with the changes that are happening atm. My sons and I are still working. As a carer, I need to look after myself, to be able to look after our clients. Jayden has an Easter Break coming up and Cody is still working at the Bakery. All our employers are doing as much as hey can to look after us also.
……….THIS POST IS A LITTLE LONG, SO READ ON IF YOU ARE GAME…….
I have been keeping busy de-cluttering my craft space and upcycling two shelf units. I also found a bargain corner desk that fits my space perfectly!! I have the post about the shelves “HERE” if you would like a peek.
This is one of the shelves that I have set up next to my desk. I have been able to get rid of some old storage containers and declutter some junk!
The first three shelves I have wooden stamps on the top, some mixed media stuff, my stamp blocks and small stamps. The tins hold things like clips, flair, small alpha stamps, buttons, staples etc.
The next shelves hold my Stampin’ Up! Punches and stamps. I have my trusty baby wipes which are handy for cleaning up my mess, a few other punches, plus my large stapler and border tear rulers.
Above is my small guillotine, some stickers, washi tape, watercolour supplies and a basket with organza ribbons which I use a lot on my cards!
Under the desk, there was room for a cube storage unit. In the hat boxes, there are some JJ supplies and trims. I have my 6×8 albums, scrap paper, (to use) 6×8 cardstock, paper and page protectors on the bottom, plus some more JJ bits and pieces.
Here you can see it is in the corner of the lounge, near the front door. I have added some of my scrap layouts and canvases for decoration on the walls. The desk itself is a great size and my custom unit is sitting on it.
Even though I am in the corner, we have a huge front window which gives me great light during the day and I have this great lamp for night time crafting 🙂 I have plenty of space to make a mess!! The long wooden box, made from a couple of old fence pailings, makes nice storage. I have my smaller scissors, pens and some of my Tim Holtz goodies that I love! On the left is my photo printer, and trimmer on the other side.
This final photo shows my retired SU embellishment storage on the top which has small items like brads, buttons, eyelets, clips, sequins, pearls and charms. I have jars of ribbons and trims, as I like to see supplies to use them. I have my Alcohol markers on the end, in a cosmetic case, I think I pinched from my sister!
On the second shelf, I have my small Memento inks, bigger tools like my roller stamp, crop-o-dile and scissors. I love my Rolodex of small stamps, watercolour pencils, photo supplies and my SU stamp positioner.
The last two shelves, hold my most used supplies, tools, inks, 6×6 paper, daubers, other stamps etc.
It has taken me a week do all this and one huge mess, but I am glad I did it. I have one more cupboard to clean out and my craft space should be pretty organised! hahahahahah!!!
I have a lovely cosy space now to inspire me to get some creating done!!!
Stay tuned for a post in the next few days about a Jouranrl that I am making. This not going out is good in one way, We find ways to amuse ourselves………….
Please stay safe and do the right thing by staying home if you don’t need to work or get groceries etc.
I hope you are all staying at home as much as possible, and staying safe from the Corona Virus. I know it is hard when you are still working. In Victoria, Australia, where I live, our social Distancing has become a lot tougher. I am still working as I am a Disability PCA and I am only going where needed. We have stepped up our protocols to keep us and our clients safe 🙂
Anyway………………. In my crafty life, I found two shelf units and they were a little rough around the edges. A bargain for $20 I thought!!! They are 1.6 metres tall, about a metre wide and 15 cm deep shelves. The shelves are on a slight angle so things will not fall off them.
This is the first one I Up-Cycled. I had thought about painting them all Blk but the cost of the paint was a tad high. I have now painted the trimmings with two coats of acrylic and it looks great. I then went through the 12×12 pattern paper that I hadn’t cut up for scrapping and just measured the shelves and cut the paper to size in different vintage hues.
This is the second one I worked on and I used Shabby Vintage colours. I think they look quite pretty. As this stage, this one is not going on a wall. I collaged the back of it after painting a black border around it.
They are now looking quite nice and usable. They have shorter, not as deep shelving and they are going to be great to store my scrapbook supplies and see what I have.
Now to sort out my supplies and get using them and crafting while I have a bit of spare time up my sleeve……………….. I would love to hear about anything you have repurposed for your craft supplies!
I just wanted to show you the album I have completed for my mum’s Best Friend Helen. I am going to visit her on Friday for a few days as I have not seen her since before mum and dad passed away in 2017. I am really looking forward to seeing her.
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Above is a slide show with all the album pages for you……………….
This album took me a week to create in between my shift work and other commitments. It was a labour of love to create it for her. Aunty Helen and her kids, Rod and Wendy have been a big part of our lives growing up. Lots of great memories!!
I created a few single pages layouts and then some pocket pages as I didn’t think I would have time to do all singles. I just added some words and embellishments on the pockets. The covers are a cereal box cut down and embellished. I decided not to use binder rings, instead the seam binding to keep it all together.
The page on the left I created of my mum and stepdad (Les) who were married 9/6/72 in Warrnambool Mum and dad were married 44 years and we lived in Colac. Dad was a hard-working, loving, family man and he was 102 when he passed away.
On the last page, I put a photo of My biological dad (Arnold) and my gorgeous mum (Val) when they were first married in 1960. This has been good for me to scrap some old and new memories for her.
I miss mum and dad every day…….. I am very grateful for the precious time we had with them and for the great life and memories that we all had together………
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are able to be creative today……………. I am sure I will have some new memories to share with you when I come home !!!
I have had the day off and only a settle shift tonite. I am printing out photos for the album that I have created for my mums’ bestie and I thought you might like to see what I use……
I am not getting paid or any other benefit from this post. It is just the best printer I have ever used!!!!!!
I used to print from places like Big W and K Mart but as our closest one is Geelong it was a pain. My boys bought me my first Canon Selphy Printer in 2002. It was a new 900 model then and I printed it to death!!!
For Xmas 2018 my awesome boys bought me the new 1200 model and it is still my favourite way of printing photos. For this printer, your ink and paper come together. I always buy the bulk 100 pack from INK DEPOT here in Australia. It is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. The printer prints once for each colour (pink, yellow and blue) then the fourth time it puts a protective coating over your pic. They are 100 years archival safe. I have never had any pics go yellow or discolour.
As you can see above there are a few different printing options to get the most out of your paper and ink.
Top left – 2- 4x 6″ bordered prints, 2 -3×4 bordered prints, Borderless 4×6 which I cropped.
Bottom Left – 4×6 bordered print and a mixed 4×6 print which is an awesome option to have particularly for me when I scrap in my journal and smaller 6×8 layout size pages. you can also trim them to size for use on your projects.
Above are a few 8.5 x 11 layouts that I have made using the different size photos. This gives you an idea of how versatile the Selphy is. I hope this may have helped you if anyone is looking for a printing alternative and I highly recommend this wonderful printer!!!
I hope your start to March and autumn here in Australia has been nice. I had a team get together at a clients house on Sat which was lovely, then a catch up with a friend which is always great. Work today was busy, I went for a walk and now I am getting a chance, to post about a couple of Ring-bound Albums I am making.
First up I wanted to show you that you can use Stampin’ Up! products not just for cards. I am an avid memory keeper and I have created one of my Memory albums using all SU products. Our biggest Sale-A-Bration of the year is happening now and this gorgeous brand new Peaceful Poppy Dsp (Item # 151324) is available to purchase.
To make my albums, I used cardboard from the backs of some of my old paper pads and cut them 20x23cm. I then covered them with the lovely new designer series paper and inked around all the edges with Soft Suede Classic Ink. (Item # 119982) I then stamped the Large Crackle Paint Background stamp (Item 3 148752), with the same ink. I layered some Dsp on the top, then I tied around it with some of the Linen Thread (Item #104199). I stamped the flowers from the Floral essence stamp set (Item # 149450) and punched them out using the Perennial Flower Punch (Item # 49522) I stamped the sentiment from the Crafting Forever stamp set (Item # 15231) I used our retired Crop-O-dile to punch the holes and set the Jumbo eyelets to finish it off. this has really come up lovely and I hope it has given a bit of a peek into this wonderful company I am a part of 🙂
This shabby/vintage style album above I created using my stash. It is for a very special lady who was my mums best friend for 66 years. Aunty Helen has always been a big part of our lives and we grew up with her son and daughter. She is a beautiful sewer, so I added the tape measure and stitching embellishments to the cover. I will be putting some up to date photos of us all in it for her.
I am hoping now to start some much-needed scrap layout therapy and catch up on some family events etc. I will post them later in the week as I get some done.
Hi Friends, I hope your week is great so far………….Busy here as usual!
I don’t know if any of you are like me, but I like working on a few different projects at the same time. I feel more productive and it gives me variety in my craft. At the moment I am working on my prompt journal which I am really enjoying and trying out a bit of Art Journaling. Just a bit of messy fun!!!
I have decided…….. I want to make a few 6×8 page size scrapbook journals, but using the page protectors. As much as I like using my journals for scrapping, I am very particular about how my work is stored. I want it to be archival and safe to pass down to my children, grandchildren one day. I am not using any more large albums and I want to stick to my journal type size.
So with that in mind, I am using some pocket pages that I already have and I am going to make my own covers from chipboard and use binder rings to keep them together. I have different sized protectors also, that I can add extra photos if needed. I am also cutting down my 12×12 paper and cardstock to sort through what I will actually use and I will donate the rest to my nieces after school care program. I am only using my stash for this project apart from a few extra page protectors I have purchased.
I have gone through my cardstock and pattern paper and I have cut them down to 6×8 ready to use. I have sorted them into my categories of Floral, Journal, Grunge, Patterns, Vintage, and Speciality.
I decided to use the top tier of my Raskog cart to store my cardstock and pattern paper as it easy to get to and holds everything neatly. I added a box of the middle tier to keep my scrap paper in view so I would use it.
As you can see it all sits organised and easy to access. Better than on a shelf where it would most likely fall off. To make the dividers I just recycled some backs off old 6×6 paper pads. I made the tabs using my trusty retired SU Tab Punch. I will have an album for Our Family Year, Sisters, About me, Our pets and probably one each for my two boys.
I have been using my OLW “Inspiration” as I have been creating. This is another way for me to find inspiration and create more this year!! I hope I may have inspired you to try scrapbooking a different size layout or even to try making a journal to use. Pop in later in the week as I hope to start some pages over my weekend off!!
I hope the rest of the week is great for you and thanks for stopping by!
I am feeling a lot better today than I have the last week or so. I started back to work this morning which was nice, as my client said he missed me 🙂 Yesterday, I went for a drive with my son and it was great to get outside.
I have completed a few more prompts on the JJ I am following along with Linda Israels January challenge on Youtube and in her FB group.
PROMPT 7 – Find a Poem that inspires you and create a page with inspiration from the poem you found. Journal about why the poem inspires you.
I used some watercolour paper and painted some ink on to it. I then added water droplets for some texture. I stamped the butterfly, with Stazon ink so it wouldn’t bleed, with my Stamparatas twice and cut one wing out, to use for the journaling. I attached it at the body so it would flip up. I added the poem and a smidge of embellishment.
PROMPT 8 – Write a compliment to yourself abut something you accomplished recently. Centre your journal page around that.
I made a tag and covered it with a napkin. I just added a coffee dyed doily and a quote. I bit trim to finish it off.
This prompt was a little out of my comfort zone………..
I journaled that I do receive a few compliments from my friends usually about my hair or something I am wearing. To me, it feels a little funny and I think I get a bit anxious.
The compliment that I would make to my self would be…………….” that I am a good friend” A couple of friends have been through rough patches and they were there for me when we lost mum and dad, plus my broken arm. It was nice to return the favour and be around for them to talk to if needed. I am pretty easy going and I feel most people can open up to me and feel at ease.
PROMPT 9 – Pick three colours for your journal age and only use them to create your page. Write about your favourite colour or why you picked these colours for your page.
For this prompt, I picked the colours gree/pink/cream. I have been a blue girl all my life and I still love it but thought I would do something different as I made a complete Blue Journal last year.
For this page, I wanted to make a flip out so I used some napkin with sealer over and under it to adhere it to a piece of cardstock. I then added a bit of lace trim when dry.
I then added taped to a small folded section on the left so it would open up to my journaling. I just added some pattern paper in those shabby chic colours that I liked. The paper under the journaling will stick out of the journal but that is just a fun element, like tabs you can use n your journal.
PROMPT 10 – Use an image from a book or magazine. Use it on your journal page and write about something that happened today that made you feel good………………
I found this cute little kitty image in one of my Daphne’s Diary magazines and I thought he would look nice on the front of the little pocket I made for the journal tag. I just layered a few diff papers underneath and stamped the quote on the bottom. I journaled about the lovely day I had out with my son.
I hope you are enjoying the Prompts as much as I am. Hoping to get a few more done this week 🙂
Today, I am a still a bit under the weather, with some sort of buggy thing I have. Been back to the doc Wednesday and I have an infection. I am off work the rest of the week and on Antibiotics and Ventolin. I haven’t been unwell for a long time and there goes my great record of no sickies in our house…………………..
Anyway…………… I thought I would post a couple more of the Prompts for my JJ I am following along with on Linda Israel on YouTube Channel and Facebook Group.
Prompt 4 – To make a pocket and another tag/journal card to write about something you would like to change about yourself.
I had a denim jeans pocket from one of my kids’ jeans and I decided to use that for my pocket. I did a bit of hand stitching and added a few buttons. A doily and a bow in the middle to finish it off. I used the other tag I made, to journal about trying to change my fast-paced life and slow downand “enjoy the moments” I am doing ok with this most of the time………….. to look after ME!!
Prompt 5 – Use a rubber stamp on your journal page, to your satisfaction. then on that page write about someone special in your life…………………. You can see the video “HERE”
For this prompt, I used a notecard from a paper pad and folded it in half. I used a leaf stamp and stamped off the page all around to create a border. I then used the notecard to journal about my sister Alison, who is a very special person in my life……………………
I thought to hold it, I would make a belly band from a piece of pattern paper and slip it underneath to hold it in place. as it is personal I didn’t want it showing on the page. I used a piece of copy dyed paper and some washi tape to embellish it.
Prompt 6 – Paint some Junk mail and use in your journal as a background. Journal about a Goal you want to achieve this year. The video for this one is “HERE”
I don’t as a rule get much junk mail, as I do most things now on line.
I had an older BHG magazine, so I tore the back cover of it and use half for my page background. I used Gesso over the top to cover up the writing and pictures then I sprayed some mist through a stencil. when that dried I add some ink through another stencil to soften the look of it. I used a calendar card I had to journal on and just baked it with a piece of plain cardstock and inked the edges.
The GoalI journaled about, was about getting my mental and physical health back on track, exercising and I have even started running. I finished the page off with a couple of wood embellishments, twine and washi tape.
I hope you are enjoying these prompts if you are playing along with me, as I am.
Hope you are all having lovely Saturday friends. It is nice and cool here in Victoria and it has been a bit of a weird Summer. In between work this weekend I am working on a couple of journals. Today is the third prompt for Linda’s Junk Journal that I am following along with “HERE”
Prompt 3 – Create a journal card or tag and use the back of it to journal about something that brings you joy in your life…………………………………..
For the card, I cut a tag from watercolour paper. I layered some mist, shimmer paste through a stencil, ink and washi with these pretty die cuts.
A lot of things came to mind that I could journal about, but I chose my wonderful two sons, as they are the joy of my life!! I used a poem I found on Pinterest and just altered a few words to include Cody and Jayden. They are the best decision I have ever made in my life and I am very lucky to have them. I am very proud of the two strong, wonderful men that I have raised mostly on my own.
I hope you are having fun playing along if you are.
I have been having a bit of creative fun completing the second JJ prompt.
Prompt 2 – Use something blue and journal about what you want to accomplish in 2020. I misted a background with some ink, through a stencil. I then added a piece of blue pattern paper. I wrote my journaling on a card, then added it behind the tuck spot, I made from the smaller journal card and embellished it.
My journaling was about a couple of arty goals I want to achieve this year and also getting my health back on track.
You will find the second prompt here with Linda’s take on the Prompt “HERE”
Hello, my crafty friends, Just popping in today with a quick post for the Altered composition Notebook JJ Challenge.
Prompt 1 – Using fibres to create a bookmark and to Journal about 3 Holiday/Xmas/New Year memories, that mean the most to me.
Linda shows you on her Youtube video “HERE” how to make the tassel and the tag. You just go about it the way you want to. Everything I am using for this journal is out of my craft stash!!! This is the first tassel I have made, so not too bad! The tag was fun to do with a bit of mixed media collage and layers.
This is the page that I added the journaling to. It was just white cardstock and I added a bit of ink and doodling. I journaled about spending precious time with my boys and them being home with me for Xmas day. We chatted about different things we remembered about Xmas with mum and dad as we miss them very much. Nothing is the same…… I also wrote about the time my sister and I spent together a few days before Xmas. We finished our Xmas shopping had some yummy food, laughs and talked non-stop. I also saw my niece and nephews who are very precious also…… I have never been a journaler as I love telling stories with my photos, but I am finding this challenge very good for me and it gets me a bit out of my comfort zone.
This is a fun challenge and I am really learning from Linda, along the way. Hop on over and join in too, I would love to see your creations!
Prompt 2 will be up within the net day or so, stay tuned!!
I hope you are having a nice start to Feb. I am busy as usual but finding time to walk and do a bit of Craft. I was looking for a bit of “INSPIRATION” for my next JJ project and I came across a lovely channel by Linda Israel who is a wonderful mixed/multi-media artist. I have watched a few of her videos and I found a JJ series she started Jan 2020 called “Altered Composition Notebook Junk Journal” and I had a peek!!! I was hooked straight away to create a JJ and follow her daily prompts. I have also joined her Friendly Junk Journal People group over on FB.
This is Linda’s first video to create the cover “HERE” Linda used, what we call in Aus a students exercise book, but I decided to make mine using a biscuit box 🙂 I cut it open and used the spine as is and then collaged some music and book pages over the front and back. When dry I sprayed some mist over it and then let that layer dry.
I decided to paint the spine black and I added some washi tape to both sides of the spine and also at the top for a bit added strength. The front cover I sprayed a watercolour tag with mist, then collaged the Eiffel Tower image I found in a magazine. I used some die cuts as well.
To finish the cover I added a scrap of lace to the tag at the top.
For the inside pages, I made two signatures. I collated some sheet music, book pages, magazine pages, scrapbook papers, and a few botanical pages. These will be the pages I work on each day I do one of the prompts. I used the same cream lace, to bind the two lots of pages in.
If you are looking for a challenge, hop on over and have a look at the FB group, or Linda’s YouTube channel for lots of inspiration…………………..
Have fun playing
Stay Tuned for the 1st Prompt – Using fibres and creating a Book Mark…………………
I apologise for my absence, but I have been very busy work-wise and I have started walking/running most mornings now, to help my fitness and also hoping to drop a few kgs…… I either go with a friend, on my own or with my “personal trainer” (my son :). I am now on leave, which is wonderful not getting up at 6.30 every morning. Hoping to get a few things done around the house and garden this week 🙂 Plus the Australian Open is on, so a planned weekend with my sister 🙂
Anyway…………………..in between everything else I have been making my 2020 Family Memory Journal to use this year.
I decided on a larger journal and it roughly measures, 8×11″. I have not bound the pages in it as yet to make it easier to work in. The pages will lay flat for me with no binding. I made the covers from an old garden book and I made a new spine. so it was wider.
I received a lovely thank you gift from Alicia in a FB group I am in, for Hosting a Junk Journal tutorial. It was the Mintay Old Manor papers that I used on the cover, and some in the journal as well. They are just gorgeous and I knew I wanted to include them.
As this journal is bigger, I have more space on the pages to play with, I decided to not just have 15cm (6″) wide pages. I cut two papers @ 27 cm then I scored each one at 18.5cm. I then stuck them together to make the large pages you see above. I can use the folded piece as a page extension or use as pockets for extra photos or journaling. I used other papers from my stash as well.
I then went through them to see what pages I wanted showing to use then I stuck them back to back to make a sort of book.
You can see them here, they are glued on top of one another and they will sit nicely open over the spine of the journal to use. I will use a piece of seam binding through the middle of them, tied to the spine keep them secure when it sits on my shelf.
You can see how they are sitting in my journal with no binding. Mostly I use the “Easy Twine Binding Method, which is “HERE” on youTube.
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Above in the slide show is a few different bindings I have used. I am not a patient person, so I don’t sew my signatures (groups of pages) in and also not everyone can sew. I have used twine, ribbon, lace, elastic, fabric, ribbon, sari silk and seam binding to put my journals together. They hold securely and they enough give for the pages to turn nicely.
I would love to hear how you are scrapping this year. This is starting my Year of Inspiration.
I hope you have a great week and you can manage some craft. Stay tuned as I hope to start creating in this Journal while I am on leave 🙂
I hope your week is going well. I am having fun playing along with a Youtube Turorial on Treasure Books. This lady makes wonderful art and I thought I would make a smaller version of a Traditional Junk Journal to use up some of my “JUNK”
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You will find the Tutorial that I followed “HERE” I just adjusted to what I wanted to make. I didn’t cut the box up or stitch it together. I used a smaller biscuit box, then did a background technique for the cover using baking paper and paint. I then just embellished the front. I added jumbo eyelets and used seam binding to keep it closed. I went with elastic to bind it instead of sewing in the page signatures!!
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Above I have added some photos of the finished journal so you can see the different types of “JUNK” I added to it, the binding and the closure.
These are so much fun to make out of junk. the types of stuff I added was puzzle page, a couple of cards, lined coffee stained papers, magazine pages, a couple of Daphne’s Diary mag pages, music sheet, book page, vellum, a couple of calendar pages, white paper bags, lined notepaper, a couple of encyclopedia pages, watercolour paper, brown paper, storybook pages, couple of junk mail flyers, envelopes and handmade paper. You can add anything you like 🙂
I will be adding stuff to this one and showing you my Inspiration Journal very soon so stay tuned!!
I just wanted to thank all of you who have taken the time to hop on over and left me lovely comments and started to follow me here. Your love and encouragement has been wonderful.
There will be lots of new Posts and Tutorials for you in 2020 and I hope you might stick around 🙂 I have really enjoyed my creating this year and sharing my love of papercraft with you all. I am excited and looking forward to seeing what I get up to next year 🙂
I am also enjoying my time as a Stampin” Up! Demonstrator again too and getting back to some serious stamping projects in 2020 also 🙂
Wishing you an awesome New Year, good health and happiness throughout 2020 x
I hope you have had a Merry Xmas, and looking forward to 2020 🙂
I am not one to make resolutions but I do, just before NY, choose my One Little Word!
“HERE” is a video from Ali Edwards, to give you an idea about my OLW Journey that I do each year!
I have been pondering my OLW (One Little Word) for 2020. This is my 5th year of choosing a word to take on a journey throughout the year with me. My other words have been Health, Simplify, Frugal and last year Create. I have found this a fun process to do during the year! Ali’s class is wonderful if you want to join in with her and there is also a FB group. I did her class the first time and now I do my own thing. I have been using a smaller 8.5 x 11 Scrap album to document in, but this year I am making a journal…………….
My word for 2020 is “INSPIRATION”
inspiration
/ɪnspɪˈreɪʃ(ə)n/
the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
“Helen had one of her flashes of inspiration”
a sudden brilliant or timely idea,
I think we all have a tendency to get ‘stuck’ or in a ‘rut’ as crafters and also in our busy lives. I know I do and how do you get out of it? I find I look for “INSPIRATION”, something that interests me, or gets my creativeness flowing again!! I seem to find it everywhere; in my daily life, my sons, family, home, garden, magazines, travels, it’s all around us if we look…… I use Pinterest and Google also which gives you lots of ideas………………..
I haven’t really felt very inspired by much since my mum and stepdad, both passed away in 2017. Also breaking my arm the same year in the middle of losing them didn’t help much either. As I couldn’t do anything for quite a while, I lost interest in my garden, some of my craft, work, etc.
Sometimes it is hard to get back into life and/or to find inspiration! I can’t get motivated sometimes and I feel like doing nothing. I think we all get like that……………. I have started making my Journal for my OLW Journey in 2020 to play in. This is the start of my INSPIRATION and my journey……………….
I want to create and craft more, make journals and scrapbook, take more photos and document our life. I have a bit of catching up to do; also to enjoy my garden again and just get out there, live and be inspired again!
“INSPIRATION IS EVERYWHERE!”
My favourite words to find my INSPIRATION would be
CREATE- DOCUMENT-CAPTURE I would say that is because I am a scrapbooker and a memory keeper………………. I take notice of the ‘little things’ in our daily life that we often miss……………
I put together a bit of a list that might help you also find INSPIRATION if you are looking for it. I intend to be doing these things in 2020 🙂
#1 Go for a walk. #2. Exercise, #3. Watch your pets, #4. Take photos, %5. Draw and/or paint #6. Watch videos, documentaries and movies, #7. Read books, ##8. Teach someone something you know, #9. Learn a new skill, #10. Write a Bucket List, #11. Create a Vison or mood board, #12. Attend a retreat. #13. Talk to people, #14. Join a group, #15. listen to music, #16. Spend time with family and friends, #17. Disconnect from social media, #18. Embrace new things, #19. Take chances, #20. Write in a journal, #21. Have some time on your own, #22. Be creative, #23. Sing, #24. Let go, #25. Reflect, #26. Take photos, 337. Travel, #28. Focus on you, # 29. Make new friends and most of all 30. Just Do……………………
2020 is going to be the year I get my INSPIRATION back on track.
I hope I may have you a bit interested you in finding a word that feels right for you and play along with me, for the 12 months. I will be posting about it throughout 2020 and it will be fun, I am sure.
I know I can use a bit more “INSPIRATION” in my life and I hope you can too.
Wishing you all a safe and happy start to 2020. See you then
Just letting you know, when you hop on over here to see my posts now, you will notice a name change on the banner. I am still making and using my journals, but I want to get back into more memory keeping and stamping as that is my passion also. I have neglected it a lot lately. I will have my regular tutorials and posts for you, to continue my love of junk journaling, stamping and memory keeping!!
Anyway………………….as I have been sorting my stamps, destashing some and changing a few things around in my scrap space. I thought you might like to see how it is set up now………………….. I have been a stamper for a long time and when I first started with Stampin’ Up! there were only wooden stamps!!!!
I had some of my stamps in cases some in pockets and I still have a few wood stamps which I love. I have them all my cling and rubber stamps in these five binders and they are dived into the Catagories I chose. I have a lot of Flowers, Birds, Butterflies, Bees, Dragonflies, Backgrounds, Journaling stamps for my scrapbooking, Sentiments for my card making, plus Tag stamps etc. My Misc section is for the few Kids, and Seasons/Celebration stamps that I have.
To make them above so the stamps stick, I stamped them on to white cardstock or used the image acetate that came with them. I used cardstock as it is sturdier than copy paper. After I stamped and sorted them I put them into A4 laminating pouches, then through my laminator and I store them in heavy-duty page protectors. As you can see they are easy to see and find by just flicking through the binder. I used the large strong two ring clip binders. I can just take the binder to my desk or just take the stamp or page out that I want.
I have lots of different stamp brands and I just wanted them all together and not the company that made them. Of course, you can store yours the way it suits you 🙂 My stamps sit on the laminated surface and they stick to it, as they all clear or rubber cling stamps.
This process has taken me a few days, but I am very happy with the result and that I will be able to find the stamps I am looking for, destashed some I don’t use and that they are stored securely also. I would love to hear how you store your stamps also 🙂
Anyone know what a Rolodex is? Well, it was used in offices to keep track of names and addresses or business cards, back when I was a teenager in the ’70s and ’80s. Yes, no computer or smartphones when I was at school or working lol:)
This is what they look, and they have divider tabs. They move around the spool, to find what you are after.
I found this near new one on a trip to Geelong doing some op-shopping for Junk Journal books. As you can see it has little pockets where these business cards are housed.
I decided to put some of my small cling stamps onto this by adhering them to the clear acetate covered pockets. This way I will find them easier when I am making cards and other projects!
At the moment I have to go to the stamp sets to find them but having them divided and kept in their categories will be much better. I made the tabs using a punch and my Dymo labeler. I just added a few small pieces of DSP to embellish the dividers a little.
The one on the left is the one I have now finished filling with my clear stamps. I have used the Dividers with the titles of Grunge, Winged Things, Words, Quotes, Foliage, Frames and Backgrounds. To the right is one I altered a few years ago and used up some leftovers and added photos to the cards,
I will now be able to spend less time looking for these stamps and more time using on my projects. I am now going to go through and cull some of my other stamps and put them together in a similar way into categorized journals. Stay Tuned!!
Who loves to watercolor? I do and I have most of today off, so I have been playing with a few different pens and inks, using the Smooshing Technique, which is easy and lots of fun!!
There are some great YouTube videos out there and I decided to do a sort of Step x Step for you.
Supplies Needed – Any water-soluble media like pens, crayons, ink pads, mists, etc that you have in your stash. A sheet of clear acetate or any clear packaging would work also, a spray bottle with some clean water, watercolor paper which is designed to hold wet mediums, any stamps or embossing powder you have to use for finished papers. I cut mine to A2 card front size which is approx 14 x 10cms, a non-stick mat or work surface, A heat gun if you have it.
STEP 1 – Using your piece of acetate on your work surface, lay down some different colored inks, mist, etc, then spray with some water. You will see it change or bubble.
STEP 2 – With your piece of watercolor next to you, turn the acetate onto the paper and with your fingers smoosh the ink over the paper. You will see the ink move through the acetate and you can move it to where you want your color.
STEP 3 – Lift the acetate off your paper and you will see the color and water blended on the paper. If you have a heat gun dry it before continuing. Just watch what colors you put together as some of them will go muddy!
STEP 4 – Continue these steps, to add layers of color to your paper until you are happy with the result. You can see above the different layers from letting each application of ink dry.
After I made mine and they are fairly dry I put them under some heavy books or punches which helps flatten them out a bit.
I created the black watercolour for the background on this one and added some extra stamping and some lace to finish his card off for a black and white challenge for a FB group that I am in:)
This is a fun, quick technique with a great result and for quick cards! I hope you have a go at ‘smooshing” and I would love to see some of your creations also. If you would like any info on the products I used, please feel to message me and I can help you.
Apologies for being a little absent, but I have been flat out with work as I probably told you and my oldest son Cody had a bit of a brush with a kangaroo last Wed nite coming home from work, on his motorbike. I am feeling pretty drained, but the main thing he wasn’t too badly hurt and his bike will be fixed!
In between everything and having most of today off work, I have been trying to get some cards made but not much luck. I thought I would make a One Sheet Wonder to show you, which is great for anyone to use and you can make some quick cards with it.
3. Some set/sets of stamps with a few different size images.
STEP 1 – With a larger stamp, randomly stamp a few images over the cardstock, leaving a lot of space in-between. I used for this OSW the Floral Essence stamp set which has a few different size stamps in it. I just used ink colours that I thought looked nice together.
STEP 2 – Next I used a few more stamps, a little smaller, with different colours to fill in some of the gaps. Make sure to stamp off the page also, so it is covered around the edges. I used a few stamps from the Pop Of Petal stamp set for this step.
STEP 3 – To finish off filling the sheet of cardstock with stamped images, I used a bee image from a retired set of stamps to fill in the other areas and used two different toned inks. The more stamping you have on your page the better for this technique the better your finished cards will look 🙂
STEP 4 – (optional) I really like the look of the open images, but I decided to go a bit further and give some of them a tint of colour. Instead of using a water brush to paint over them and draw some of the ink into the open parts of the image, I used a Wink Of Stella glitter pen which gave them a lovely shimmery, bling look. I didn’t use any extra ink on these so it just gave the flowers a soft coloured look.
As I also need to make a few masculine themed cards I thought I would get out my grungy and background stamps and create another sheet using the above stamps. I just stamped the large Crackle Paint, Handwritten and Birch backgrounds partially over the cardstock first. I then filled in with the smaller images from the Artisan Textures set. I just used random brown and blue inks and layered them for a bit of depth. Backgrounds would have to be my favourite stamps that I use the most, as you can do so much with them.
STEP 5 – Once you have finished stamping your One Sheet Wonder backgrounds, you can go ahead and cut them up to your desired pieces to add to your cards. Above are a few cutting templates to guide you or you can cut it up as you like.
I found this image on Google just to give you an idea of how you can use your stamped sheet of paper or use a piece of pattern paper also. You can make them Clean and Simple, or add embellishments etc to them. It’s up to you………………….
All of the stamp sets I used can be purchased from me and if you have any questions please feel free to contact me here or over @ my online shop “HERE”
I hope you enjoy my little Step x Step on how to make a quick background, to make some quick cards for your stash, to have on hand.
Stay tuned as tomorrow, I am hoping to create some cards to show you using the two I have made today 🙂
This last week has been a huge one at work with two of the team away and starting on a new team. I am really enjoying the challenge of the new team but will be happy next week not filling in extra shifts.
My SU Kit arrived, Friday but I have only just opened it! The weather is as cold and horrible as yesterday, so hoping today to get some craft done
I was able to pick $235 worth of any products that I wanted for $169 and all my catalogs and business supplies are free as well as postage!
The new Annual Catalogue is absolutely gorgeous with so many new products and I am happy to send you one from the warehouse to your door or if you are local I can pop one around to you! You can also click the catalog image in the sidebar to the right and it will take you to my online shopwhere you can browse. As I have been a demo before I still have some current products already 🙂
When I first started. I ordered items to enable me to create cards and scrapbook-like stamps, cardstock pattern papers and my adhesive, inks, etc. I am happy to help you even if you are a beginner or a seasoned crafter.
I hope you have enjoyed a little sneak peek at what I am going to e playing with and stay tuned to see the cards I create. Have a lovely Sunday 🙂
I am not good with change as it is scary and I always doubt myself!!
I have just started on a new team at work that is going to challenge and get me out of my comfort zone! I do need to keep challenging myself and setting goals. I think I am realizing this more as I get older.
My boys always say to me – “Mum there is nothing you can’t do if you want to” Yes, they are right and they support me all the time as I support them. x
After talking with a lovely friend on FaceBook, Jessie Holton, I thought to myself “there is nothing stopping me, just me” from joining Stampin’ Up! again and doing what I love, which is stamping and sharing it with others!!!
I have always been a stamper first, and SU stamps were the very first ones I had ever used……………… It is just what I love doing. I carried that into my scrapbooking, card making and journals……As I have been a demo a few times and it hasn’t worked out, due to bad timing and different things happening in my life, I thought JUST DO IT!! if that is going to make me happy!!!
“I WANT TO BE THAT GIRL AND life is too short not to follow my heart and do what I want to do”
I am part of Jessies’s Team, the Possum Posse and with Kate Barnade and The Wild Cards!!
The SU Statement of the heart says it all……………..
To LOVE what we do and share what we LOVE
As we HELP others enjoy creativity and worthwhile accomplishments
In this, we MAKE a difference…
I know there will be some out there that think I’m mad, and yes I probably am, but that’s ok!! My cards are selling very well at the Muray Street Market and I am in the process of building up my stock there again. I want to stay as a demonstrator and build up my card making business and share my love of stamping along the way!!!!
I will still be making my Junk journals here and sharing my Stampin’ Up! with you also, I have a Demonstrator website “HERE” if you are interested in purchasing any items, having a peek at the catalogs or contacting me with anything that I can help you with!!
Of course, I would love to expand my business and recruit, but all in good time! I still need a good balance of work and home, as I work split shifts in Disability Support also, and I love my day job!!
You are by all means very Welcome to join me if you want to!!
If you would like any information or I can help you in any way please feel free to contact me on Facebook or you can email me at kerri.smith64@bigpond.com 🙂 I am just waiting for my kit to create some fun cards to show you!
I have had a couple of extra days off this weekend which has been nice. I have visited my sister in Ballarat with my son, had the first part of my permanent tooth done yesterday at the dentist, got the rest of my porch garden finished today, which I will show you in another post and I am quickly coffee dying some paper for my Garden Journal! Phew!
If you know me I do my craft in between everything else and using my time efficiently is important. As much as I like using the “bath method’ (coffee in a container and soak your paper) of coffee dying my paper, it is mesy and time-consuming for me.
I can get quite a lot of copy/lined paper dyed in an afternoon by doing the “spray method” which is putting your coffee mixture into a spray bottle and spraying over your paper. This may seem messy also, but I use something to protect my work surface and as it dries I can spray more onto it if needed. I get some great staining effects on the paper doing it this way too. I use A4 binder books which are really cheap, I take the staples out of them the spray a fair few at ta time. I move them around so they are at the top for a while and it helps them dry quicker.
Above is how it dries and I am not really particular with the end colour, but it depends on I what I am using it for. I wanted it a bit rustic but still able to journal on the pages. Sometimes I will sponge a bit of brown in on the edges.
These papers I have torn with my ruler to approx 7 x 9.5″ to fit nicely into my journal.
These are a few different pages I am adding to this journal. Book pages from a couple of garden books I have, a bit of this and that and some scrapbook paper also as I will be adding photos also 🙂 I have kept my plant tags etc to add to my journal etc.thanks for stopping by and I hope to have another post tomorrow for you
Sorry for the late post, as I have been working over the weekend and the time has flown!
If you didn’t know October 5th is World Card Making Day!! So… Inbetween work and a bit more gardening I found some inspiration to make Wedding cards yesterday., and still going today also. I have a permanent place with a stallholder at our Murray Street Market and my cards sell quite well. I need to catch up so hence the busy today!!
I am quite happy with my achievement this weekend and I will be making some later in the week also after a few supplies I have ordered arrive 🙂 I tend to forget what I need when I haven’t made them for a while 😦
I like buying my cards pre-cut and scored as this saves me time and wasted cardstock. I have stamped a background base for each of them then, I tore some black cardstock and layered some different laces from my stash on top. I then stamped and fussy cut out different stamped images for the focal points and finished off with a die-cut or stamped sentiment.
It was fun to get my stamps and die cutting machine out and get using them again!
I hope I may have inspired you to get creating this weekend!
Firstly, an apology as I have not posted for more than a week! Work is pretty busy at the moment and I do a lot of morning shifts so it is a long day! Anyway…….. I have been able to spend some time with my boys as they have both had some time off work. They are very excited also as they are going to the USA next year! We went to Melbourne on Monday for a day out together and it was a lot of fun. I have also spent the weekend with my sister which is always a nice break 🙂 We decided to get a new lounge suite so yes, I have had to move my Scrap Space from the lounge to accommodate it!
Oh well…………….nothing like a change 🙂 The boys helped me heaps moving some of my heavier furniture which was great and getting rid of our old chairs etc ready for the new 🙂
It was a bit of a job moving things AGAIN, but well worth it to have the loungeroom back 🙂
As you can see I like setting up my space along the wall in our quite large dining room, as there is great light in the front window and it makes it look very roomy! I try not to overcrowd my desk with STUFF as I like to have a good space to create a MESS!
I invested in a new bookcase as my old one was getting a bit beyond holding much these days! This is just as you come into the kitchen door and on the left. I have a couple of pieces displayed on the top-shelf, the second shelf is Napkins, book pages images, etc for mixed media and my sewing box. The third shelf is all my pretty trims and laces plus my ATC holder and a couple of friends;) Forth shelf is some stamps, Junk Journal stuff and my large dies. The fifth shelf is my fabric and 6×6 pattern paper pads. To finish is a few of my journals and my recipe folders.
My Raskog Cart which I purchased from IKEA a few years ago, has been an invaluable piece of storage. It now keeps all my most used Junk Journal supplies, and I can move it closer to me if I need to or use it in the lounge room to craft when I am spending time with my boys.
This table has some storage cubes on it and is covered with protective plastic plus my Hedi Swapp nonstick mat. I can use this space to use mixed media supplies. The cubes hold my die cut machine and dies, more stamps and ephemera for my Junk Journals, a few of the journals I am using most at the moment, my washi tape storage, the tins hold my watercolor and distress markers and any other supplies I use often.
My little white bargain desk, I have had forever and I decided to use it for my computer. This gets it off my large corner desk and gives me more space with the tower underneath and my craft sewing machine, when not in use. I have two large jump rings with stencils on them so they are easy to find.
I have one part of a custom unit, on my large desk to keep my most used scrapping and stamping supplies handy. I have a few of my punches, stamps, tools, extra supplies like adhesive, staples, ribbons etc in the baskets and containers.
On the left of my corner desk, I have the pink magnetic mat, tools and the box is my most used stamps and stickers. On the right is my Tim Holtz Non-Stick mat, and my Canon Selphy Printer, which is one of the best things my boys bought me.
We spend a bit of time in our craft space so why not have it the way it makes you happy 🙂 I still have one son at home so my own room is a little way off yet. I hope my post may have given you a few ideas for your craft rooms and that it helps inspire you to create 🙂
I am always planning my next project as probably most of you do too. I watch YouTube videos and get lots of inspiration and heaps of ideas going around in my mind. By blogging about it I get it out of my head!!
Lately, I seem to be doing more girly themed projects and I thought it was time a did something grungy! I have decided to make my two sons a journal each and scrap some of their outings, trips, etc which I haven’t done yet. They will have the same sort of content as they are always doing things together.
It is a beautiful Spring day here in Australia and I have been out with my sister. I had to take it a bit quiet yesterday as I had a bit of a fall.
I want the journals to have a masculine, grungy feel so I am making them with soft covers and grungy themed scrapbooking papers and elements.
I used cereal boxes cut apart and I added some chipboard to the spines, I covered them using Colour Blast Graffiti Grunge range of papers. I used black book cloth tape and I have done a bit of embellishing on the covers to keep them grungy looking.
So, next I got out my Texture Paste and used a stencil to add a bit of texture over the pattern paper and then a few die cuts and adhered them to the front cover. I painted over a layer of Gesso primer over the top and let it dry.
I glued down some cogs and gears chipboard and metal embellishments with Glossy Accents. I then went over them with Gesso also to prime for my next step. You can still see the layers of die-cuts and texture paste. you can let this air dry which doesn’t take long or use a heat gun if you have one.
As you can see above, I have played with some distress Oxide sprays and a few metallic ones also. I sprayed and splattered the colour and aso dabbed a bit here and there over parts to highlight them.
Here, I added some more colour to hight light some of the backgrounds using Nuvo Mousse Paste and some Metallic Distress Stain. I also added some Tim Holtz Crackle Paste in a few places for a bit extra effect!
Above is just a better pic of the crackle paste. I then glued some hands on to them also.
I wanted to add something just to finish it off and as I was searching I found some small watch parts that I forgot I had 🙂 They were perfect to group together, gesso over and colour!! I just sprinkled them over some glossy accents, then gessoed and painted with metallic spray 🙂
Both the journals are the same but different, just like my boys! Now to have fun putting some paper and stuff into them.
If you didn’t see my post about this journal it is “HERE”
At the start of 2019, I picked my One Little Word and this year it is CREATE!!! I certainly have been using my OLW and letting myself have time to CREATE”! I have scrapped quite a bit and made numerous journals for my self and friends plus gifts. I have also made 3 Tutorials for a couple of Facebook groups that I am in and joined in making ATC swaps and some cards for the shop I sell them in also. This has also been great for my mental health with a couple of challenges in that department of late. Craft is great ‘therapy’ and is good for your soul 🙂 I have also managed a few crafty days with my sister showing her different things and she has taught me a few bits and pieces also.
Anyway………………I was intending to use this journal for my mum, but it has now become my Quote Journal as I always had bits and pieces of quotes kept on paper and Pinterest and never all together! I will be making another journal to use for my mum.
I started adding “stuff” to it over the last couple of days and I am pleased with my progress.
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I have been using my stash for the last 6 months or so and making a slight dent in it!!! Making some journals certainly helps with my stash of pattern paper and matching sticker sheets. I went through them all and put them to good use to make pockets, tuck spots, collages, tags, and embellishments for my journal.
I also added some tags, flip-out pages, and extra pages to use my own handwriting to Journal in it also.
I made a fold-out flip from some pattern paper and it ties up with the ribbon. It’s a nice way to add some more space to journal or add images.
As you can see it has grown a little with all the goodies I am adding to it and it is getting thicker. I love a journal that is loved and chunky….. I will probably be adding to it daily as I find things to add.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a go at making your own Quote Journal. Stay tuned as I am making my boys a Journal each and will share soon 🙂
OK, let the fun begin…………… You have done well and worked really hard to get this journal made so now the fun bit begins. (not that all isn’t fun!!!)
As you can see I created quite a lot of different embellishments, so you can play around and make your own 🙂 If you click on each photo it will enlarge the images.
#1 – I made a small vellum envelope and added a tag. On the other side, I made a cluster and a couple of die cuts.
#2 – This is a fabric fold up that I glued down at the top then added a bit of ribbon, tag and a quote.
#3 – This is a cluster that is hiding under the fabric flap. Made of scraps and stash.
#4 – On the left, I used a bit of an envelope and made a pocket then I put an Artist Trading Card inside it. A die-cut and tag to finish it. On the other side, just a small pre-made envelope with another ATC poking out!
#5 – Underneath the vellum foldout is a white envelope stamped with text. The vellum on top is stamped also, with a fabric tab on the side to lift it up.
#6 – This is a piece of coffee dyed copy paper with vellum over the top and a tuck spot.
#7 – A journal card attached with washi tape and a journal card underneath.
#8 – Two small journal cards stuck down on one side and other cards just tucked underneath.
#9 – A small file folder cut in half and used as a pocket.
#10 – A brown paper kaiser bag that I cut down and taped one end closed. I can put extra bits and pieces in it to store until I get them into my journal.
#11 – This is a cut out from a paper pad and I glued down three sides and made a large pocket. On the right side, I just added some different journal papers taped under one another.
My ideas are to guide you, feel free to do your own thing and add what you want to your own Journal. I will be adding bits and pieces to it for a while. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I am happy to help you if needed.
I hope you have enjoyed your Junk Journal Journey and have learnt a few things on the way. I am looking forward to seeing your finished journals.
As you make your journal/journals you collect lots of scraps from cutting paper down to size. I hadn’t really done much with mine but decided to use some of them up to make embellishments to put in my Journals.
Above is the box of junk/supplies that I pulled out of my stash before I even started anything. Lots of this stuff I have now made into embellishments.
Here you can see I made a heap of word Ephemera -These are “collectible items that exist for joy.” You can use any type like tickets, tags, receipts, brochures, junk mail, packaging, etc.
These were easy to make and I just used some word stickers I had and backed them on to some pattern paper than tore another piece and stuck them on to it. These are great for adding to items you add to your Journal. If you don thave stickers just write your own. Your handwriting is an embellishment on its own 🙂
To make some embellishments for my journal I just tore a heap of paper, cut up some fabric and lace, then just layered them. No plan, just played.
By making these Embellishments, I didn’t need to buy anything for my journal. I used my stash, which I have been doing for the past few months. You can see the word embellishments I used on them also. You can finish them off by adding some machine stitching or faux stitching using stamps or a pen.
I hope I have given you a few ideas for using your scraps up and making some pretties for your journals
The last part of the Journal is coming up and I will be showing you how to use the embellishment you have made and ow to add a few other items.
Are you ready for the next part of making your JJ? For this part, you will need to go through your stash and find any sort of paper you wish to add to your journal. If you didn’t see the post about what you can use in your journal, it is “HERE”
The list is really endless…………………….
Step 1 – For this journal as it a blue Themed I have mainly kept to blue, cream and white where possible. To work out the size of your pages just measure the height of your journal and make the width about 6′ which is a 12×12 piece of scrapbook paper folded in half. I didn’t bother using my trimmer, I just used my magnetic mat and ruler and tore the paper at roughly 9.5″. You can make them all sorts of sizes to give your journal interest.
I have used a variety of paper and ‘junk in signatures to create my different journals.
I like to add packaging like gift bags cut up, vellum, lined paper, ledger and scrapbook papers, brown paper, watercolor paper, and paper bags, pattern papers, vellum, specialty papers, clear cello bags, and ATC holders, coffee dyed paper and doilies, magazine and book pages, brown paper and gift wrap.
Step 2 – You just fold them all in half and collate them to what order pleases you.
I have decided to go with two signatures and they are a bit chunky. Remember you will be adding bits and bobs to your journal so it will expand. It’s up to you how many pages you want and how big.
These are 5 signatures from another journal. You can see how they are separate from each other. This is done so the weight is spread evenly throughout and you don’t damage your spine or pages as they will get lots of use.
Step 3 – Now for the most important part which is the binding.
Now, it is time to bind your pages into your book, ready to use. There are quite a lot of different ways to do this, but the easiest I find is called theEasy Twine Method and requires no sewing or special tools. This is the video I used from YouTube “HERE”
I didn’t use twine this time, but some of the lace that I had left which matches my closure. I just had enough to wrap it around twice as I only used the two signatures. I like using this as you can remove and add pages if you want to 🙂
We are going well with making your journal and only a couple of parts left to go. Stay tuned for how to make and use some embellishments to decorate and finish off your journal.
I have been a bit absent this week as I am on leave and I spent a couple of days with my sister for her birthday. It was a great time shopping, talking, laughing, eating and generally just doing sister stuff!! Back to work tomorrow!
Over the weekend it has been beautiful and I have been out in the garden, to do some much needed tidying up. So happy it’s now Spring here in Australia!!
As you know I like to make the odd journal or three and they have a specific purpose as art, collage, memory keeping, junking, etc 🙂 I am making my boys a journal each and more on that soon.
Commonplace books (or commonplaces) – are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. … Such books are essentially scrapbooks filled with items of every kind: recipes, quotes, letters, poems, proverbs, etc. These are also known as Thinker Journals and I am definitely that.
I thought I would like to make two, to have. One on my desk and one in my bag to use as inspiration strikes. A little journal just to add ‘me’ stuff like inspiration, quotes, arty things I try, etc. I think we all need that one space to collate our thoughts and ideas. I have been doing this for quite a while but not realizing I was. You can use anything you want to as a journal but I, of course, am making my own special one!!
Thinking about the size of the journal that I want and what I want to put in it, I decided on a 5×7 book and I took the pages out to use the cover. I am mainly wanting plain and lined papers in this to write on.
If you know me I like to puddle and this is no exception. I Gessoed the cover, as I want to add these gorgeous owl images that my sister gave me when we did a bit of a napkin swap 🙂 Napkins are so much fun to use and give a great look on any projects.
I am using my Tim Holtz glass media mat and it is non-stick but as I make a mess I always put baking paper under it. I usually need to move it so it makes cleaning up easier.
I was going to leave it white but decided on a sage color underneath for a bit of contrast to the napkins. I just sponged some over it randomly!
To prepare your napkins you need to make sure you take all the layers of the white tissue off the back. To get the tear in it where you want it, I used a wet brush and drew the tear line. It is much easier than tearing it the wrong way.
It’s up to you where you start. You need a good brush to adhere to the mod podge and smooth it under and over the This glues and seals at the same time.
I then randomly put more of the napkin here and there in a collage. I make sure I have some hanging over the edges. I then let it dry. It hardens as it drys and gives a nice aged effect. The wrinkling of the tissue doesn’t bother me.
Here is the cover of my other journal I am making at the same time. It measures approx 7x 9.5. I used the same Napkin technique on this also.
Once dry, I then turn it over and glue the napkin down inside the cover, making sure it is well stuck down. I add pattern paper to the inside, or as I did here a couple more of the images from the napkins. Allow this to dry also before you do anything else to it.
To finish the journal off I cut some lined and plain copy paper to size and then just used some pretty lace to tie it in around the spine and bind it. This way if I want to add or take out pages I can.
Now, his is my finished small 5×7 commonplace journal which I can take in my backpack with and use as I like 🙂
Above is my journal for playing in at home, to journal in 🙂 I just used different lined and plain scrapbook paper in this one from my stash.
I made some tags and lots of places to add journaling in the pages. I hope you like this little look at my Common Place Journals and you might like to try keeping one for yourself 🙂
Welcome to the next part of creating your Junk Journal. This is a lot of fun as you get to decide how you want to embellish your journal covers. You can do it any way you like with Pattern Paper, Mixed Media, fabric, you name it!
I decided I would cover mine with pattern paper this time. I just glued a 12×12 piece of pattern paper on the outside, front and back.
I then turned it over and cut it down so as part of it would fold in as shown above. I like using double-sided tape and wet glue for this part. all the tap will be covered that you did at the start 🙂
On the inside, I chose to take a poem from one of my Daphne’s Diary magazines and place it on the left, some pp on the right and I made a pocket for keeping things in on the back cover, like extra tags. You can cover the middle at the spine on the outside but the one on the inside you really won’t see it. I also write on the bottom corner when I made the journal.
There are many different ways you can keep your finished journal closed. You could wrap some trim around it, used some fabric, or any other way you want to. For me, this easy eyelet closure is the one I use a lot or I just wrap some pretty lace around it. I have a tool called a Crop-o-dile and it punches the holes and sets the eyelets. I had this lovely blue trim and it was perfect for my closure. You could also choose not to use a closure but as you will be putting a lot of stuff into it using something would be a good idea 🙂
For my front cover, I used some layers of paper, tickets, tags, journaling cards, tickets, ribbon, metal, washi tape, a small envelope, die cuts and the large butterfly I fussy cut from an old calendar. I am having a great time making this journal and tutorial for you and I hope you are following along and able to understand the steps. If you are unsure of anything please feel free to leave me a comment or send me a message.
Part 3 will be about collating your papers and making the signatures ( stacks of different papers folded) for your pages and how to bind them into your covers ready to embellish and add some ‘junk’ too 🙂
I am making a new journal and I was asked by Alicia to create a Step By Step Tutorial to go with it, for a lovely group of ladies, that are in Papercraft Secrets group on FaceBook. If you don’t know my favorite color is Blue and that is the theme of this one 🙂 A Junk Journal can be used for many things like a memory book, an art journal, a recipe book, for keeping ephemera like tickets, postcards, receipts, their uses are limitless!!!
I hope you enjoy my step by step and you might like to play along to……………..The first thing you need will be a few things from your craft stash to make it which is listed below………..
We are going to use cereal or some sort of box/cardboard that already has a spine. You can also use a book cover with its pages removed. I like the softness of the cereal box but a harder cover is great also. If you are new to making them I would start small for your first one to get the hang of it, but that is up o you. A good size is 5×7 or 6×8 to start with, but you can be adventurous if you like! I am partial to large journals with big spines, like the one I am showing you here.
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR COVER
You only need basic items like scissors or a cutter, double-sided tape or glue, your box, and some extra cardboard or chipboard to make the covers. I like to use the backing of paper pads, which is still a good strenth but not too stiff. For the spine, I like to use the chipboard as it supports the pages inside.
STEP 1 – Open the box up by cutting one edge, then you can either glue the tabs up or cut them off. I like to cut them off then use my cutter or ruler and blade on my cutting mat, to get a nice straight edge. Cut it down to the size that you are comfortable with. The spine on my box is quite large but a smaller box will, of course, give you a smaller spine. Depends on how many pages you want in your journal to play with 🙂
Now you have the cover measured and cut you can cut some light chipboard/card to a smidge smaller than the size of your covers. don’t forget your spine piece!
My covers are 8×10, but I may cut them down a smidge yet. I cut my extra cardboard a 1/4 of an inch smaller.
STEP 2 – Next you need to glue on the extra pieces you are using to strength your journal 🙂 I like using double-sided oh so sticky tape that I get from Craft Online. It is the best I have found so far 🙂
Use the double-sided tape then go over with a glue stick. Just make sure you leave a little bit of a gap and don’t put the edge of the chipboard right up against the spine as you will need a little room for it to open and close. I always do the covers and the spine by cutting them a little smaller than what you made the covers.
STEP 3 – This step is to strengthen your covers a little with some cloth or duct tape. I get mine at Bunnings. You could also use fabric, etc. You can use whatever color suits your journal. I know you can get printed ones also. I like either white or black for my journals.
I use my craft mat to lay it on, but a non-stick surface is great too. I just add lengths of the tape to cover the spine and where it folds. I make the tape longer than needed and then it gets folded over on the other side.
Fold the tape around the edges as shown above and make sure it’s well adhered.
Now add tape on this side over what was there down the spine and make sure it’s stuck down well.
I like to put some tape on my corners so they don’t get torn or roughed up with handling. I just put a piece like this then cut across the corner to make a triangle. I then fold the pieces into the inside of the cover.
This creates a nice clean looking corner. If you want you can go along each of the edges of your journal to protect them. I have done this on most of my other journals.
Now, your cover will look like this and be nice and sturdy. It doesn’t matter what it looks like as you will be covering it up and embellishing it. You can see the spine on this one is about 3″ wide as I like a chunky journal 🙂 I hope you are enjoying my Tutorial so far 🙂
Stay Tuned for Part 2 which will be up tomorrow for you.
We are slowly getting back to “normal” here, whatever that is at the moment 😉 We moved on the 3/8 to our new home, just as Stage 3 Covid-19 Restrictions hit us in Regional Victoria, in Australia. I haven’t seen my oldest son for about 5 weeks and I do miss him…… We are nearly all unpacked and able to see the floors!!! Life is really busy with work etc, and its nice to be finally getting settled!
I have had this weekend off so I thought I would share with you what has been keeping me so busy!
I thought you might like a little peek of my new scrap space which is wonderful. We have a living area that is not being used, as I have a dining area in the kitchen 🙂 So, it is all mine!!! I was going to use the third bedroom, but not big enough lol!!! 😉 Noooo…. I don’t have too much stuff 😉 This is looking from the kitchen door into the living area then down to the lounge room. Yes, I had some helpers!! Trishka on the left and Nitro on the right…………….. There are lots of windows and natural light. I am just waiting on my new blinds to be made which will be awesome!!!
To give you and idea, this door is the entrance from the front door/hallway.
LOUNGEROOM SIDE BEFORE…..
AFTER………
I tried to do one area at a time. This is my desk where I will mainly create. I wanted to use as much wall space as I could do get the maximum storage. I sorted and did a bit more de stashing as I went and it did take a bit more time, but well worth it. I have my shelf storage and my Raskog Cart well used.
I have two of these shelf units. They are smaller and the best size for storing my ink pads, punches, stamps, tapes and extra supplies I have used Velcro to attach the ink blend foams near the inks, so they are there to use and I don’t have to search for them.
Here I store on my desk my most used supplies. I have my larger tools, watercolour pencils and hand sewing items on the top. There is mainly stamps and cardstock on the second shelf and on the shelves below is paper, adhesives, embellishments and all easy to access. I have a large non stick mat and a small cutting mat to the side.
Right behind me I have my sewing machine set up on my white desk, with my Photo Printer on there as well, ready to go.
KITCHEN SIDE BEFORE…….
AFTER…….
The kitchen side wall is made up of built in shelving and my book cases. I have used all the same furniture that I had. I like using see through storage for as much as I can, plus baskets. The large case I have had for at least 15 years, the light coloured one probably about 10 years and Jj bought me the tall slim one last year. It fits 12×12 storage perfectly.
My large bookcase on the right holds albums on the bottom then smaller albums and Junk Journal books I use. The ring binders house quite a lot of my red rubber and cling stamps. There is also my Stampin’ Up! Paper and cardstock plus other A4 size supplies.
The middle book case shows some of my Journals down the bottom with my spray inks on the left. In the baskets, I have stamps, stickers, ephemera etc.
My tall think bookcase holds 12×12 storage that has paper and junk journal supplies. It also homes my larger cardstock and pattern papers. The light coloured book case holds my smaller 6×6 and 6×8 paper and pad on the top. JJ supplies, paint, my cardmaking supplies also.
I have this area across the room near the window with my Die Cutting Machine set up. The cube shelving house my dies, emboss folders, washi tapes, ribbons and flowers, plus other tools and things. The lovely big window looks out onto the side lawn area. We have a gas heater in this room and the lounge has a split system.
My Ikea Raskog cart which I think I have had about 5 years is the handiest storage. At the moment it has my mixed media supplies (brushes, stencils, paints etc) on it and the magnetic tins are great for holding anything you need.
I may change a couple of things as I go along, so it works for me, but as a whole I am really happy with my set up. It hasn’t happened overnight and I was thinking I was never going to get it sorted again. I plodded along a bit each day in between work and life and finally got it done!!!
I hope you have enjoyed my first post back, even though it was a bit long! Stay tuned as I have a couple of storage solutions to show you next…………..
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As this journal is bigger, I have more space on the pages to play with, I decided to not just have 15cm (6″) wide pages. I cut two papers @ 27 cm then I scored each one at 18.5cm. I then stuck them together to make the large pages you see above. I can use the folded piece as a page extension or use as pockets for extra photos or journaling. I used other papers from my stash as well.
I then went through them to see what pages I wanted showing to use then I stuck them back to back to make a sort of book.
You can see them here, they are glued on top of one another and they will sit nicely open over the spine of the journal to use. I will use a piece of seam binding through the middle of them, tied to the spine keep them secure when it sits on my shelf.
"The Junque Journalist" 