February has arrived! It is a balmy 28 degrees outside today; far warmer than the -5 degrees we had a few days ago. The sun is shining and currently, all is well with my world. We have chosen to stay home this winter instead of going to Florida. There are several reasons for this. First, we want to be closer to our children and grandchildren; plus, they still worry about us traveling too far from home. Second, we received our first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine last week. Our second dose is scheduled for February 25th. By then, spring is only a few weeks away.
What are we doing to pass the time? My hubby has been busy removing grime from out kitchen cabinets and handles. I must admit, he has done an amazing job. Now he is waxing and polishing all the wooden doors in the house. I have re-lined all the cupboard shelves as well as our walk-in pantry shelves. They have never looked better. In the process, I dumped a lot of junk. Everything is so much easier to find. My many cookbooks are now on a higher shelf where I can actually see them and perhaps use them more.
However, it hasn’t been all work. I have spent a considerable amount of time working on my latest book: two more Sophie London-Evin Foster mystery novellas (#3 & #4). I hope to have it ready for publication the middle of April. That still gives you time to read novellas #1-He Never Said Good-Bye & #2 Deception in the Moonlight.-available on Amazon.com. #3 and #4 are called, STONEHAVEN and Four Days to Midnight.
The biggest project I have been spending a lot of time on is my JUNK JOURNALS. I made my first junk journal a year ago. The cover was made from a journal I had filled up. I tore out the used pages and added my own, using a paper punch and string. I use it to log my yearly goals and daily happenings in our family.
This January, I made another junk journal. I was sorting through my scrapbook supplies and found a bunch of embellishments that I no longer had a use for but needed a home. I also found many ticket stubs from various places we had visited over the years. I knew they deserved a more secure place to spend their time than in one of my little scrapbook supply drawers.
How did I go about making this journal? I took a used cloth covered one I had and tore out the pages. I made an inner spine from a heavy piece of cardboard I cut to fit. I wrapped twine around it length-wise four times. Using heavy duty glue. I glued the spine inside the cover and put a heavy weight on it while it dried.
For my pages, I took nine pieces of 81/2 x 11 colored card stock. I folded them in half and then cut then to fit the journal. I strung the pages through the twine once the spine had dried. Now, I was ready to design the pages anyway I wanted. I even designed the cover that contained all the colors of my cardstock. With all the little pockets and envelopes I added to the pages, I was able to tuck away all the tickets I found, quotes I had saved as well as other mementoes.
One business card I found holds many memories. When I was in high school, my invalid aunt ran a little business out of her home. I still had one of her cards and it now has a home. My sister-in-law introduced me to the idea of junk journaling. One page in my new journal has a couple of items she made. They fit in perfectly for the baseball themed page I made. Once I had that junk journal constructed, I looked on Pinterest for more ideas. I found so many I liked that I knew I needed to make another junk journal.
This second one is all about layering and texture. It is about tags, pockets and envelopes. I even bought some Victorian themed embellishments and what nots to use. For this journal, I developed a specific design. The pages on the left I have left blank for my journaling and any artwork/drawings I want to add. The pages on the right are made using the layering techniques I am learning. I love to make different size pockets, tags and envelopes so this is right up my alley.
Another reason I am enjoying making this junk journal so much is I have also been able to save and use some of the beautiful greeting cards I have received over the years instead of throwing them away. Junk journaling has become a great way to use old one-of-a-kind buttons, torn pages from old used books, ribbon scraps, etc.
The cover for this newest junk journal was so much fun to decorate as well. I went all out on the layering there. I used some very special ribbon for the closing ties for this journal. I had received an Italian Christmas bread for Christmas that was made in Sicily. The ribbon that was used to tie the outer wrapping on the bread was too pretty not to save. Now, every time I use my journal, I am reminded of FIASCONARO’S and the delicious bread.
I decided to use this layering method to make our granddaughter’s birthday card. I love the way it turned out. Again, I rescued a beautiful card I had received from the scrap heap and I think our granddaughter will love what I did with it.
When you junk journal, the possibilities are endless and the great thing about it is there are no rules. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on the project. If you have old books or magazines that you plan on tossing anyways, they are excellent sources of material to use in your journal. Since there are no rules, you can’t make a mistake. You just get to create and express yourself. TRY IT!
As always, “Don’t Save Today for Tomorrow.”
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Cool idea! Very creative!
Such fun & interesting ways to spend indoors during this cold winter.
I love your junk journals! You e inspired me to try this too. I love the creative aspect.
Super great ideas! Very creative!
So very cool! I used to scrapbook when my kids were younger. I just don’t have the time anymore with a full-time exhausting career, a home business, a blog and 4 kids! LOL
Very cute journals…I don’t know where you live, but with the cold weather and snow, doing those little jobs around the kitchen is a great idea. Doing those picky little things take time, which we don’t normally take time to accomplish in the normal scheme of things. I mean, crafting, being outside, etc. is much more compelling, isn’t it?
I live in northern Michigan. Our temps this week are only in the teens. It is way below zero every morning.
My aunt is an avid scrap booker, I love wandering around her studio, she has lots of cool stuff.
I sort through my things once in a while and find things I forgot I had. It is a lot of fun.
Congrats on the novellas! Winter is my favorite time to write. Every time I pick up my novel, it’s in winter (and when the youngest kid gets to be about 2 and I have more free time hah!) I love your junk journal. I have something similar from high school. I still have all of the scrapbooking stuff left over. I should dig it out and put it to use!
Such a neat idea and they turned out beautiful!
What a cute project! I need to spend more time doing crafts such as this and it’s snowing now so I have plenty of time! Thanks for the inspiration!
Love getting things done around the house. Way to be productive. And such a fun way to preserve the junk haha.
What a fun winter project!
I LOVE these! they are so fun to make, and sometimes you find them in flea markets, craft events to buy! I have such a mini collection – great post!
I may have to make some mini ones.
What a fun idea. A great way to keep keepsakes.
What a great way to use those odds and ends that we all collect and just never know what to do with.
What cute ideas! I have to admit scrapbooking feels overwhelming at this point in my life. But i would love to try it.
My first pages look a lot different than after I tried a few. Pinterest has so many ideas to help you.
Such cute ideas! I get commitment anxiety when trying to figure out what I want to do…LOL
What a cute journal! Love it!
Productivity and creativity all at the same time! Great idea.
I am going to put my 9 year old on to this. What a cool idea! You’re a wonderful artist.
What an incredible Journal! I love Creative journaling – though I don’t do it incredibly often! But I feel re-inspired to open mine up again! I have acquired quite the stack of things I wish to add to it that are now just floating around – waiting to get lose
Go for it.
What a cool idea! Especially after the nuts year we had, we definitely collected a ton of “junk” we could use to help honor the memories of this past year.
Didn’t we all.
This is so creative! I love the idea of it, maybe I can get myself to start a junk journal as well!
The fun thing about it is there are no rules. You can’t make a mistake. I am using my newest one to write down notes for a future novel so I can remember what I was thinking.
I love this idea of junk journals. I have tons of stuff like this in various draws. What a creative way to utilize these keepsakes. Thanks for sharing.
My kid and niece have been talking about a junk journal and had no clue what they are talking about. Now I know and can help them find ideas for when they start making their own.
These are so cute! What a fun, creative process to make a junk journal!
My travel blog has basically become my scrapbooking outlet, but I love this junk journal idea!
I am impressed with your creativity! Not to mention your productivity: you’ve made excellent use of your extra time that the COVID shutdown has brought. Congratulations on receiving your first vaccine! Your journal covers are lovely.
Thank you. I am using my newest one to make notes for upcoming novels. If I don’t write down my ideas, I won’t remember them later.
Lovely. You are very creative!
Thank you-gives me something to do this winter since we are staying home.