Junk Journal

What is the purpose of a junk journal?

It can be anything you turn it into. As I enjoy bookbinding I'm stitching my own book.

Over the years I have kept ephemera so have plenty of supplies for gluing in collage, old drawings, memorabilia, old books and photos.

I have often been told I can't draw so I’m using it to doodle and paint in. My skills are improving and I’ve found I like using a fine black ink pen. I'm on a junk journal journey so who knows what it will turn out like. I’ll keep you posted.

Start at the Second Page

Bookmaking has its challenges. After spending time cutting pages, stitching a cover and binding that bundle, the first page often poses fear and anxiety.

What if I make a mistake?

I don’t really know what to write?

Shall I just leave the book blank?

This blank page is daunting.

Start at the second page. A quote is always a good way to start as someones else's words can give you inspiration.

Randomly paint a few pages.

Colour on a page can give you objects or patterns that you can make out. It's called pareidolia. Just like we see the ‘man in the moon.’ In some dyed paper I saw a blue splodge as an eye and so embroidered a few stitches.
Give things a go. There are no mistakes.