Blog — junk journaling

I first used vellum in the Ephemera Storage Journals I made to organize my stickers and other little bits. I made the pockets out of vellum and they worked great! They are super sturdy and transparent, so I can see what is in the pockets. Here's a video if you are interested: DIY Ephemera Storage Journal I liked the vellum so much, that I spent a week coming up with fun ways to use it in my journals. Here are some of my ideas: Emboss Vellum The overlay on the pink belly band on the right is embossed vellum. The vellum looks...

I recently realized that I have a lot of junk journaling supplies that I got from hardware stores. And I got them because they were special and inexpensive. So I thought I'd share some of them with you. Organizational Supplies Hardware stores have great organizers. And they are sturdy and stackable and functional and half the price of craft organizers. Are they pretty colors? No. But I keep them in my closet and I can deal with that.  This $23 tool box will last forever. The yellow bins are removable and there is an upper deck with smaller bins. I...

I did a deep dive with tabs recently and experimented with making and using all kinds of tabs in my junk journals. In my mind, I separate them into functional and decorative tabs. Functional Tabs These tabs in my ephemera storage journal are functional because they let me know where my various colors of ephemera are. The vellum tab on the side of the page can be either functional or decorative, depending on what label you slide into it. And the pink tab on the side of the belly band is functional because it lets you know there's a journaling...

I have discovered a super fun way to get a jump start on my junk journaling ephemera - I call it the Strip Collage. It's a long thin collage that is SO easy to make. It's perfect for decorating tags, pockets, belly bands, tuck spots - even whole pages. I've made them in lots of colors and it's so great to grab one when I need a quick element for a page. There's something about the narrow workspace that makes it easy to create something beautiful - even if you are new to collaging. Give it a try! The best...

I've been on a quest to use real junk in my junk journal. There are so many possibilities that I could never cover everything at once, so this will be an ongoing project that I will add to as I have more ideas. Here is my first video on the subject: Using Junk in Your Junk Journal Tissue Box I made this small journal from an empty tissue box. The front, spine and back were all cut from one box and covered with pretty paper. The rather thin cardboard is fine for a journal this small. The "frame" is made from the hole in...