Making Paper and Fabric Embellishments for Junk Journals

I have become captivated with making junk journals and have been playing with paper and fabric. A junk journal can be made of anything from junk mail to scrapbook paper to antique linens. Some that I have seen are almost too pretty to write in and others are playgrounds of experimentation. I love that there are no rules to follow, rather, they can be made up of anything, be bound using a number of different methods, and can be short, tall, wide, narrow, big, or tiny. Since there are no rules, you can’t make any mistakes!

I started out sewing bits of fabric and paper together like in the top photo. Then I began adding die cuts and stamped images too, like these:

Next I tried using the combination of paper and fabric to create a background paper. On the first one I inked the edges:

On the next one I didn’t ink anything and used a straight stitch, even though the pieces are not at all straight:

On the last one I used a zigzag stitch thinking it would reduce the number of seams to sew down, which it did:

I have no idea exactly where I will use the embellishments or what photos I will scrap on the layouts, but I am having fun working  playing with bits of paper and fabric!

Chipboard Tile Magnets

Hi!

I watched this video: Creating Art Tiles by Joggles.com and was inspired to give it a try. I did one set that followed the technique pretty closely, using gesso and inking the edges. I decided to try another set using more color – you can definitely tell which ones are from the second batch!

I used regular chipboard that I have in my stash, some pieces were thinner than others, but it didn’t really matter. I have lots of little embellishments that I used along with some Tim Holtz small talk stickers and some really old sticker words from Heidi Swapp.

I decided to make these into magnets to make them useful as well as pretty. At first they were kind of curvy so I put them under an old crock for a few days and they flattened out perfectly.

I also used a couple of different Tim Holtz ephemera packages, one of them had really little bits in it that were perfect for the small ‘canvases’ I was working with.

Junk Journal Made From Packaging

I have been having fun lately making junk journals by up-cycling, recycling, binding, saving and re-purposing books, papers, and mail. One aspect of creating junk journals that appeals to me is that they are all different and there are no rules. There aren’t rules with scrapbooking and card making either, I have just been finding it liberating somehow to create these journals. It feels good to find a use for older supplies and having to use my imagination to put them to use. I have heard people say that making junk journals keeps things out of the landfill, although I can’t claim that as one of my main motivations.

This is the packaging I used for this project – it originally contained a Grove Collaborative Glass Spray Bottle. It was a box and I cut away one side to make it a book. I created ten signatures from random papers and cards and attached them with a long stitch binding. As you can see, my stitching could use some practice! I used embroidery floss because it seemed strong enough and I have lots of it. I initially thought I would keep the window on the front cover but changed my mind.

Here’s a side view, I probably wouldn’t make one quite this thick again because it is a bit unwieldy to handle.

Here is a look at some of the papers and cards I used. You can see the embroidery floss in the middle signature. Having those visible doesn’t bother me in a project like this that isn’t meant to be neat and tidy.

I used gel medium to attach the papers on the outside covers and wanted it to be bright and random-looking. I used washi tape to cover the seams and edges and it kept peeling off so I used some liquid glue to encourage it to stay put.

The tag on the back says Dream Big and the one on the front says You Go Girl. I plan to use this as a place to record snippets of my day, quotes, and tiny layouts. The green page below has a couple of small photos of my son blowing out some birthday candles. I seem to have lots of photos like this that have been cropped already or I have scrapped the best photos of the event and these are the leftovers. Even though I have already scrapped the big stories that the better photos tell, I see small stories that I want to tell also. The yellow paper behind the tiny green layout has a small photo of my daughter and a small layout about her.

Here’s another look at some of the pages. There are some of those old green stamps, small embellishments, and small stickers scattered throughout the pages.

A few times while I was putting this together I heard my inner critic questioning the value of spending time making a junk journal. I silenced her by telling her that it was fun and having a small canvas to try out color combinations and unusual paper and materials was stretching my creative muscles. It’s a nice way to just dabble with something and not have any worries about the outcome. One of the pages is part of an old player piano roll – I thought that was cool!

 

Gelli Printing Fun!

Lately I have been enjoying You Tube videos about scrapbooking and I like that I can create my own playlist of the videos I want to see. What typically happens is I will set up a playlist and then watch while I am creating. The only problem is that I keep making projects or experimenting after the playlist is finished. If you leave the auto play button on, after your chosen videos are finished You Tube automatically plays more videos, mostly related to the type of videos you were watching.

This is how I fell into the lovely world of Gelli Printing. You need a Gelli plate, some inks or paint, and paper. It is also helpful to have a brayer or two, some stencils, and lots of counter or floor space for your prints. The link above has a how-to video and once you get started it is hard to stop!

The photo above is the result of my first try – I used two colors of paint and the one on the left is the first print, the middle is the second and the one on the right is the third print. As you can see the second and third prints are a lot like second generation stamping, where you stamp two or three times without re-inking your stamp. The paper was a card stock weight.

The rest of the prints used copy paper. I added a stencil and some purple paint to the top set and a stencil made from a cut file for the bottom set.

For these pages I used two stencils  – the top set you can see some of the turquoise paint from the previous print shows up on the image on the right. I really the like that print except for the turquoise paint transfer. Then I turned the stencil over for the print on the left. The bottom set used a stencil from a die and the holes were really small so when I made the print on the right the dots are small, when they show up at all. I turned the stencil over for the print on the left as I did for the top set.

Some different colors and another stencil from a die. These turned out okay but they are not my favorites.

I used a swirl from a cut file on the top prints and a brick mold for the bottom pages. I dislike the colors and the intensity of both of these sets of prints and will likely reprint on top of them of paint over them.

These prints are even more blah in color and pattern. Tried another die cut stencil and don’t like the way it came out.

I had fun experimenting with the Gelli plate and will definitely use it again soon, making sure I have lots of space ready to set the wet prints on to dry.

Mixed Media Adventure: Knowing When to Say When

I have been looking at mixed media videos and mixed media pieces all over the web for awhile now and it looks like it should be easy to do. I am beginning to learn that it is one of those things that looks easy until you try to do it! One part of the process I want to change is stopping earlier, before my page or project becomes a muddy mess. I guess I thought that since there really are no rules that meant that I could just throw several techniques on and it would be okay. I have decided a little restraint will make me happier with the outcome.

I started two pages side by side in my kraft envelope mini book, one with scraps of old music paper and old sewing pattern pieces and the other side with crackle texture paste through  a stencil. Next I covered each piece with a light wash of white gesso. The kraft envelopes are pretty sturdy but I wanted to be able to add lots of liquid so I added the gesso so the pages would be able to handle all the liquid.

I intentionally left some of the music and pattern paper raised up to see what effect that would produce. I used spray inks and tilted the page to let them run to the sides and bottom and then I stamped with some medium inks. That didn’t show up very well so I stamped again using darker inks. I like how the page became so dimensional with all the colors. Because I wasn’t sure what else to do I decided this page was done. I think it looks okay but probably needs a focal point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The page with the crackle paste wasn’t dry in this photo so you really can’t see the crackle lines, but they were very small. You could still see them after I added the spray ink but when I stamped over that they become very difficult to see, so that was not a particularly effective technique. I like the white paint splatters on the blue and green background and did add a bit of a focal point to this page. The wavy squares are cut from ripped apart cardboard and I put so much paint on them that the cardboard flattened out. So then I added some twine that I sprayed with ink and it helped tone down the white paint a bit.

            

I also seem to be missing the journaling piece of art journaling so I want to work on adding that to my pieces, but will not really do so until after the next few pages. I’ll post those with my thoughts soon.

Two Distress Ink Techniques

I am not a watercolor expert but I like to play with water and ink colors. I made this card for a challenge a couple of weeks ago using Distress Inks and water. The same Distress inks worked well to dye the seam binding and the card stock which were both originally white. I wanted the ink to pool a little bit in the debossed areas so I used the impression plate first.

I put some water on the card before dropping inks on it and that helps them move around without much help from a brush. The key to keeping the colors light was not mixing them very much.

This card also used Distress Inks but this time I used an ink blending tool to create the very soft tints of color. Tapping the ink blending tool off on a scrap first let me add very small amounts of color and not make them too heavy. I used the February My Monthly Hero Kit to make this card. It is an amazing kit full of weather stamps and dies.

Hooray It’s Your Day card kit variations

The Hooray It’s Your Day Card Kit comes with tons of cool supplies:

The dark stencils are re-usable and there are enough supplies to make 20 cards and envelopes. There are photos of each of the cards, but I made some that were a little different.

For the first one I used the resist background and some sponge daubers with ink. The white chevron lines are already on the paper and they resist the ink which is a fun effect,  much as if you had heat embossed the design with white embossing powder. I colored the clear rhinestones with the Blendabilities markers to match the flowers, I love that I can customize the embellishments that way.

For the second card I used the sunburst stencil and another sponge dauber with ink. I really like the way it turned out. Just a little washi tape and the wooden hello finish of this simple card.
So even if you get one of these kits don’t feel like you have to make all the cards the same as the directions – play around a little bit and see what you can come up with!

A

SU! Butterfly Basics Bundle

Say that three times fast – it’s a tongue twister for sure! I made this page using the Butterfly Basics Bundle stamps and dies and a couple of punches.

The bigger butterflies are made with the thinlets, and they cut really easily. I have tried using waxed paper between the die and the paper and without and both ways work well. I love the middle-sized butterfly the best so far.

The stamp set is really versatile and I used the stamps with what I call “the very forgiving technique”. Especially when you use a nature-inspired stamp this technique lets you stamp without worrying about being exact with your stamping. All you do is stamp twice after inking and before re-inking. It also shows some depth. I love that fern stamp!

The small butterfly coordinates with the small butterfly punch and I really love that there are always new designs that work with previous products. The other punch I used is the Hearts Border punch.

Here is the photo of the clear bundle – it’s 15% off when you buy the stamps and framelits together. Check out the quote, I’ve not heard it before but I really like it: “There is nothing in the caterpillar that tells you it is going to be a butterfly.” What project could you use that quote on?

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