easy handmade journals

 

I've never attempted to make an art journal or my own scrapbook but I have a strong motivation right now to take things out of boxes and drawers and give them the attention they deserve. 

I made two journals...one for all of the cool little bits I've received from blog friends and one to store my Jane's Apron stuff that I want to keep (like postcards, business cards, and the first sewing pattern card I made).   

 

For the basic construction, I started with heavy scrapbook paper cut to 8.5 x 11 inches.  Then, without worrying about color, I folded the papers in half and nested them together.  I used a paper piercing tool to poke 5 holes along the spine of the journal and threaded the pages together with baker's twine.  I used 5 pieces of paper for each journal for a total of 10 pages.   

 

Again, without much planning, I added paper scraps, envelopes, and little bits that I liked.  The next layer added photos, moo cards, business cards, buttons, ribbons...much busier and chunky than I normally would do (but it was fun!).  I could keep going with stitching, paint, journaling...whatever.  The journals are pretty tough and have a heftiness when you hold them.

 

There's also plenty of room to add more stuff.  And plenty of other ideas in my head...I made 3 more journals to get some of my kids memories out of boxes and into their hands.