I made these junk journals for my nephews to use for collecting fun things they find on nature walks, to draw in and practice their writing.
MiMi Dibble
THEscrapinator5000
Summer is here and although it's time for the beach and sleeping in and vacations, we want our kids to stay academically active. I know there are summer school programs out there but this is a great way to help the little ones stay creative during the summer. I made these junk journals for my nephews to use for collecting fun things they find on nature walks, to draw in and practice their writing. These junk journals are made from recycled food boxes, return mail envelopes, old maps, plastic zip bags from packaging, old nature books, flashcards and then a variety of papers they can write on. I typically only make my junk journals out of recycled and found papers but for these boys, I wanted to make sure there was plenty of room for them to draw, use sticker and practice their writing. I used some old constructions paper and colored copy paper that I have had forever. The colors are faded but perfect for this project. I made pocket, tabs and fold out pages to make it interactive for them. I tried to pick super fun boxes to make this journal with and didn't cover up the writing or images on them. I just left them. They love the Cheez-It guys and the funny muffin cow. This page below is a noodle box with a plastic window. I left that and put a picture on the other side. I decided to make these journals with C Rings so my sister can add pages or art work if needed. I just used my 3 hole punch with the holes set to the middle and then one inch from the top and bottom. Making junk journals is really fun. I hope you give it a try and share with me.
MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000
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I recently hosted and participated in a Junk Journal swap in the Facebook group Scrappy Diva's. We decided to do the Junk Journal Swap in honor or Earth Day. There was one swap rule: all the materials used to make your junk journal needed to be reclaimed, recycled, reused, re-purposed materials. There were to be no commercial products used besides paint and glue: no scrapbooking materials or embellishments, no pre-made or bought items. The swap was a lot of fun. I wanted to share with you the book I made and the book I received. Here is the one I created for my partner, Vibeke Hoby Holman. This next group of pictures if the book I received in the swap from Vibeke. She has a fantastic YouTube where you can see videos of her art and hear her wonderful music she makes as well. Check her out here. I just love all of her pockets and interactive pages. She has tons of picture windows too with fun bits like fish in them. She did lots of sewing and painting...I just love her style.
I hope these books give you some ideas and inspire you to try a junk journal. Thanks for stopping by. Next up will be a junk journal for kids. It's a great idea for the summer. MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000 I have some super talented friends who have made junk journals and I wanted to share those with everyone in hopes that it will inspire you. Enjoy! This junk journal was made by Wendy. I just love all of her painting, strips of paper and flowers in this book. Wendy hand sewed the journal together. You can find more of Wendy's art at http://planetscrappymom.blogspot.com/ or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PlanetScrappyMom. This next one was made by Debbie. This first slide show is the junk journal before she decorated it. It's all made from recycled papers and bound with 3 rings. This next slide show is after Debbie decorated her pages with paint, sketches, stamps and stencils. You can find more of Debbie's art on her blog at drdunnit.blogspot.com. The last one I want to share today is made by Betty Molnar. You can find her on Pinterest here. Hope you liked these different styles of junk journals and I really hope it gives you some ideas.
The next blog post will feature 2 junk journals from a swap I hosted in Scrappy Diva's Facebook group. One journal will be the one I made for my partner and the other will be the one she made me. Thanks for stopping by. I do hope you leave me a comment and let me know what you think of these journals. MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000 Next up in the junk journal series is a machine sewn journal with 18 pages, used to document our Spring Break activities this year. It's a very simple journal that has not been painted and decorated. It has pictures and journalling. The cover is wall paper. The machine sewn seam is reinforced with yellow painters tape. The lettering and numbers on the front are cut out from magazines and just glued on with Mod Podge. It's tied together with an old shoe lace. Here are some pictures of the inside pages: In the next blog post, I will share some junk journals that other people have made. There are lots of different styles and fun ideas.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the Staycation 2013 journal. MiMi Dibble [email protected] Finally! A page flip of the big huge, awesome, chunky, junk journal made from recycled materials. This is the 5th in the junk journal series I started in April in honor of Earth Month. To view the complete set of posts for this series click here. I hope you enjoy the flip and let me know if you've made a junk journal. I'd love to see it and possibly feature it on my blog in a coming post. Here is a slide show of the rest of the pages. Click the pictures in the bottom bar or the arrows in the top right corner of the large picture to advance the photo. The next blog post will be showing you the inside of this junk journal I made for Spring Break this year. We didn't go way like we usually do but had fun activities planned for each day. I'll show you how I added pictures and journaling. As always, thank you so much for stopping by and please comment below and let me know what you think.
Also if you have a minute, check out Emma Goddard's blog here. My junk journals are featured on there today. Peak around, there are lots of fun things to check out. MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000 Decorating a junk journal can sure be challenging but I have admit, I had the most fun ever decorating this one. I am sure it would have been easier if I would have allowed myself to use scrapbooking scraps and embellishments but I wanted to stay true to the intent of this series. That intent was to create and decorate a junk journal only using junk, recycled materials, found objects or items from thrift stores or garage sales. I did this in honor of Earth Month and have had a great time. In fact, this junk journal is my favorite book I have made to date. The Process1. Decide on the structure of your book: What kinds of pages will you have, paper or cardboard? Will you use envelopes and bags? What will your cover be made out of? How will you bind your book? My typical junk journals are made out of recycled papers and envelopes. For more information on choosing junk journal papers, see my post here. The covers are usually cardboard or wall paper. For this book, I decided I was going to use a lot of cardboard as my pages in this book because I wanted them to be thick and sturdy. I also decided to use a lot of envelopes and bags, and that I wanted to use an old interoffice envelope as the front and back cover. The last decision was to use rings for a binding. I thought this was the best type of binding method given that I would be using cardboard materials for my pages and would not be able to machine or hand sew them. For more information on cover options as well as instructions on various binding methods, see my post here. 2. Gather all your materials: I pulled out a variety of different types of cardboard boxes, bags and envelopes. I varied the sizes and shapes. I also used a coffee sleeve, packaging, wallpaper and a toilet paper roll. 3. Get out your paint and glue: I wanted all my pages to be painted or collaged with recycled papers. Painted pages: I used craft paint and homemade sprays along with found objects, homemade stencils and stamps to create patterns and designs. I used a variety of bright colors to make it really fun. Some examples of found objects I use to create patterns for backgrounds on my base pages: Collaged pages: I used recycled papers for collaging some of the cardboard pages that I didn't paint. Some of the papers included newspaper, phone book pages, dictionary paper, music sheets, magazine cut outs, maps, word search pages, old wrapping papers, napkins, paper towels used to wipe up paint, and foreign language book pages, After I collaged my recycled papers down to the cardboard bases using Mod Podge, I got my paint back out and did some spraying and stamping. I also used paint markers to doodle. 4. Add the Extras: Once all your base pages have been painted and collaged, it's time to add some extras. Here are some extras I used to add a fun decorations after my backgrounds were done:
5. Charms: Besides pony bead I purchased from a thrift store, I used a pop bottle cap, large washer from the garage, old jewelry, bread closure, green twist tie, fabric and jean scraps, and some paper beads to make a couple long charms to hang on the binding rings.
What's up next?The next post will be a page flip of this junk journal. You'll get to see every page layout, all decorated. After that, I have a post on junk journals for kids and to finish up this series, I'll have a post with my favorite recycle/upcycle links and also share some other junk journals that friends of mine have made to give you lots of different ideas.
I hope you are enjoying this series as much as I have. Thank you so much for stopping by and please leave me a comment. I'd love to know what you think and if you've made a junk journal. MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000 BINDING???? Ahhhhh!!!! The four letter word in bookmaking. I know, I know! It's a scary thing but I promise, with a little practice and detailed instructions, it can be mastered. In this post we will cover numerous options for binding junk journals including 2 and 3 hole punch, 2 or 3 hole ring binding, hand sewing, machine sewing and pamphlet stitch. Putting it all togetherAfter you've selected all you different papers you will use to make your junk journal, start making a stack. Alternate with different types of papers, different sizes, and between papers that have pictures and papers that would be good for writing on. Just keep arranging and rearranging your papers in your stack until you have them the way you like them. For more info on what kinds of papers to use in your junk journal, go here to see my detailed blog post. CoversHere are some suggestions to use for the covers of your junk journals: Card board boxes - these are great to use with rings, they are really sturdy and can easily be painted. Heavy magazine covers or catalogue covers Wall paper (my favorite) - it can also be painted. Scraps of material or jeans - my next project. Book covers from old books Binding OptionsBinding Junk Journals is a lot like binding Daybooks. I have a series of blog posts that can be found here that show step by step instructions on several different binding methods. 1. 3 hole punch binding tied with a ribbon in the middle (also known as a pamphlet stitch), and 2 hole punch binding tied with a ribbon: Detailed instructions found here. Pamphlet stitch: Go here to view a pin in my Pinterest Book Binding board. The link will take you to a blog that shows a 3 hole pamphlet stitch. It has a nice diagram that shows the order of threading. This blog post also shows a "modified" pamphlet stitch that does not require hole punching. It's a simple version using scissors and easy to do. It looks great tied with really wide ribbon. This is a link to a ustream video showing how to do the 2 hole punch binding tied with a ribbon. Side note: it's hilarious! http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/23474851 2. 3 hole punch tied with a ribbon at the top, and ring binding: Detailed instructions found here. Note: If you like the idea of ring binding, you can use an office 3 hole punch machine instead of a handheld punch. This is super easy and really quick. After measuring the height of your book, set the holes to punch in the middle, and then one inch from the top and one inch from the bottom. I really like this method because you can move your pages around. 3. Hand sewn: Detailed instructions found here. This is a very sturdy method of binding. Note: If you don't have a paper piercer, you can use an awl, nail or thumb tack to poke your holes. 4. Machine Sewing - This is also a really sturdy method of binding. You can find a great blog post with detailed instructions here. My friend Yani did this tutorial. She did not use the foot peddle, she just sewed it by turning the needle manually with the hand wheel. She gives you needle size as well. I use a denim needle and outdoor polyester thread. When I use regular thread, it seems to break on me quite easy. Here are a couple of my machine sewn journals. I am really enjoying this junk journal series and hope you are too. To read the complete series, go here. Following posts will be about decorating and filling your junk journals. Have you tried to make a junk journal? I'd love to see it! Thanks for stopping by. MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000 I know there are lots of different views on what a junk journal is, how you make it and what you make it out of. For me and for the purposes of this series on junk journals, in honor of Earth Month, the type of junk journal we will be focusing on is one that is made totally from recycled materials and found papers. What on earth does that mean MiMi? It means that these junk journals and the ones that will be featured on this blog, this month, do not have any commercial products in them, no decorative papers, no left overs from scrapbooking, nothing...just paper you'd normally throw out, recycle or found papers that you'd pick up during your daily travels and errands. Papers I use to make my Junk Journals:used envelopes unused return mail envelopes (security envelopes) junk mail such as postcards and advertisements brochures left over from travel and vacation old greeting cards wall paper (you can get free outdated sample books from the paint store) wrapping paper paint chip samples and brochures packaging from products you have purchased envelopes and packaging from things you have received in the mail decorative bags from purchases in stores boxes: cereal boxes and other food boxes from your pantry Kleenex boxes (they have great images) thick corrugated packing boxes old interoffice envelopes old file folders paper grocery bags old gift bags that you received a present in pharmacy bags old recipe cards old index cards and index card dividers flash cards used gift cards coffee sleeves empty tea boxes - the designs are usually really pretty printed on printer paper - something you have printed and are done with old calendars - purse size, planner size or wall size catalogues magazines tags from new clothing extra put-put golf cards old maps Sudoku or word search pages old notebook paper or note pads old journals left over paper from your kids school notebooks old book - old school books, books with text, coffee table books with pictures, history books, old encyclopedias, foreign language books, old cook books, old music books, cartoon books, old art books, old poetry books (check thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales and library sales) How I store my junk journal papers:
What's next?The next blog post in the series will focus on how to put them together and different binding options.
Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to read your comments on things you use to make your junk journals. MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000 I know there are tons of different versions of junk journals or junque journals out there and man are some of the really beautiful works of art. For some they are altered composition book or journals made from scraps of scrapbooking papers. For others it refers to what is put inside, junk from ones life. If you Google or do a search on Pinterest for junk journals, you will find a million different things that are all wonderful but for someone who has never made one before, it can be a bit confusing. This is my version of a junk journal. For me, it's simple...the junk in junk journal refers to the materials that go into making the journal (recycled and found papers) and not what you do with it or put in it after you've made it. Weird, I know and not the popular view either. I was hard pressed to find some examples of this view anywhere in the internet. I found only a handful. Why is my view a different from most? Well I think it might have something to do with the fact that I am a scrapbooker (15 years) and a daily journaller. My scrapbooking and my journalling tend to intertwine one with another. My scrapbooks have lots a journalling and my journals have lots of scrapping. I don't want to be confined to rules on how to journal and what I can and cannot do in a journal. If I make a junk journal and just want to write one day, then that is what I want to do. If I want to put pictures in and decorate a page and decorate it like a scrapbook page, then I want to be able to do that. No rules! I want the freedom to do what I want in any book, journal or scrapbook I make. I have always kept junk, ephemera and memorabilia for daily life. I'm not sure why I am attracted to those kinds of bit of life but I am and love it. I think it's fun to add to any type of journal or any type of scrapbook. Making junk journals is really fun and I do hope you give it a try. If you do or have already made one, I'd love for you to share. Keep your eye on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/THEscrapinator5000?ref=hl this month. We'll have lots of run recycling projects and tips in honor of Earth Month and Earth Day.
MiMi Dibble THEscrapinator5000 |