See It, Make It

I saw a book like this somewhere on my Internet travels and had to make one.   I was taken by the flap on the right hand side that holds it closed.

It's made from a file folder and a few of the other bits of paper that fill my office.

There seems to be no end of journals that I have to make! 

Cute Idea for Book Signature Threads

I found a cute idea for finishing the ends of the threads on a handmade book.  

I found it on Vintage Junk Journals. There are so many good ideas on this site!

All of the signatures in my new junk journal have a calendar page for the innermost page.

Debbie-Anne uses punched hearts for all of her junk journals, but I used punchies and hand cut shapes based on the theme of the page.

I glued matching shapes to the ends of both threads, sandwiching the two threads between the two punchies.

Fun, eh?

New Junk Journal

I finished making a new junk journal.  It contains all kinds of papers from my (OK, extensive) paper stash - ledger paper, painted paper, calendar pages, coloring book pages, gelli-prints, etc., etc., etc.)

I bound six signatures into an old book cover:

And While the Sewing Machine Was Out.....

I made a junk journal out of a file folder.

Rose brought one of these that she made to the last Vancouver Artist Trading Card Swap.

I sewed old book paper, ledger paper and scrapbook paper to it.

Some people make journaling cards to put in the pockets.

Mine is currently holding bookmarks ready for The Bookmark Project.

Follow the Spark: A New Junk Journal

"Follow the spark", Penelope our Vancouver Artist Trading Card organizer, said.  She credited Nick Bantock for this instruction on chasing down passing inspiration.

"This would make a great book", Rose said.  "See how it folds out?"  Rose brings lots of interesting stuff to put on our "free table" at the swap.  Apparently, this was junk mail with potential!

I couldn't resist, and brought it home.  It didn't sit for long - that spark just wouldn't go away.

I sewed paper on it, including this map from a Paris Brochure,

book paper, scrapbook paper

ledger paper

an architect's plan, music

I'm collecting embellishments that I'll store in this envelope I included.

Where is the spark leading you?

Vintage Junk Journal

 I just finished making a vintage junk journal, inspired by this site of the same name.  A junk journal is made largely of junk (used envelopes, maps, brochures, book pages, etc.), and I've made similar ones in the past.  The ones featured on this site are the nicest that I've seen on the internet, and they inspired me to make another.

For now I've attached the embellishments with paper clips, until I start to use the journal.  

Yup, that's foreign currency you see.

The site is full of great tips and tutorials and I've spent a lot of time over the last week watching their videos.  One of the cute ideas is to decorate the ends of the binding thread.  I used little tags.

Slab Book

You may have heard of Smash Books, released at CHA in January. They are kind of a "junk drawer" journal by K & Company designed to hold ideas, pictures, memorabilia, -- all the stuff that goes in a junk drawer. (Here is a cute, short video all about them.)

I'd heard of them but didn't know much about them, when I saw a video on Journal Artista about her trash books and stash books. These are journals she makes out of papers she would otherwise think of as "trash", and scrapbook papers she has in her "stash". Hmmm. I've done trash books (Papers of My Life), and I certainly have a small stash of scrapbook papers. It occurred to me that some of them were purchased in "slabs", so all the papers are nicely coordinated. The one I used is a Creating Keepsakes slab from Provocraft that I bought at Michaels.

I created a cover and put it all together with my Bind-it-All.

Here I did some stencilling......

and some stamping.

This will be a fun journal to work in. It is 6" x 6"