Making a Junk Journal

 Hello all, it’s so lovely to be back to making and I apologise for my long absence, I’m still struggling but have returned to what I love most… creating!

I have always enjoyed keeping a journal and bullet journaling was part of my routine.  I keep most things in my journal like tracking moods, food, etc, listing to dos, appointments, writing about my day, my feelings, art work, sketching, designing well just about everything.

Recently I discovered “junk journals” which are even more appealing because instead of buying stickers and decorations and books to journal in, you make your own and use all those scraps and papers and junk you have lying about your home.  Not only is it a good way to recycle but it helps you clear your clutter and stops things going to landfill.

I find this concept so appealing that of course I had to try it.

First, I found an old book that is really boring and of very little use to me. You don’t have to recycle a book because there are other ways to make your own scrap journal, but I love the thought of making use of an old book.  The cover is sturdy and it’s very easy to “gut” the book, i.e. take out the book pages, which you can also reuse when you come to actually use your journal.

Anyway, using a very sharp craft knife I ran it along the inside to detach the bulk of the book from the outer cover, taking care not to damage the cover or spine.

I then set about strengthening the spine by using packing tape (it’s also possible to use duct tape, etc) and then covering the tape with a small piece of fabric (shown above).

Some of the papers I used were old experimental printing jobs which I cut to size and others were just old used pages that were destined for the bin which I coffee dyed prior to cutting.

This is the outer cover which I intend to cover with fabric.

Stitched the pages to a strip of card which will the be glued into place on the spine of the book.

Some more old print experiments to use for pages.

The outer signature showing the stitching onto the card which will be glued in place on the spine.

I will now cover the outside of the book in fabric before I glue the spine in place.  I rather like the little sketches on the inside cover so I do not intend to cover these.

Voila!  I now have myself my first Junk Journal that I can write in, collage in and decorate to my hearts content and feel happy that I didn’t spend anything to make it.

Do you enjoy journaling?  I recommend it, as it really helps one’s mental health plus by using your own home made Junk Journal you will also help the environment and clear your clutter all at the same time.  You just can’t lose!

Thank you for looking and I hope this encourages you to try something new.

Best wishes

Shari