junque journal swap

 I joined SwapBot recently and discovered that post cards are more fun to swap than one might imagine. I also joined a Junk Journal swap. You start a junque journal in a cheapo composition book, then send it off to someone, and receive one from someone else. You're supposed to do at least 10 pages, plus add about 25 prompts to blank pages. I'm all done with the decorating part, so thought I'd share them.

This was oddly freeing, knowing that I wouldn't be the one working in it. Not that I mean I didn't do good work, just that there wasn't any sort of pressure to do it "right," since I have no way of knowing who my victim will be or what they like. I tried out some different techniques, I added pages from old books, all sorts of fun stuff. Can't wait to see what I get back.

This also cured me of thinking that people who journaled in composition books were nuts. Who wants thin, lined paper? I used to think. Certainly not me. Well, turns out it works just fine. I even painted a little, altho not real wetly. So, while at Wally World today, I bought another blank comp book, just to have on hand, if, in case, you know, the mood strikes me to start another one. Gotta do something with those hundreds of magazine images I tore out back in my frenzy days of cleaning out old mags.

Anyway, here are my pages.

1st pic is the cover. I used some cool looking scrapboook papers. I love the colors in these and they already looked all distressed. 


2nd pic is the inside cover. Old books, torn up and patched, plus the eyes from a magazine, the word ART, and a writing hand.

3rd pic is torn brown paper bags, a mag image, and tucked into a fold of the bag bottom is a bit of bright crepe paper from a Mexican store in San Diego, bought when I visited Julie in January. (finally used some of it!)

4th pic - woven strips of old book pages and blue squares made with Derwent inktense watercolor pencils.

5th pic - background is paper from a music writing notebook. I like the spacing of the lines. Part of a map showing where I live, some painted paper, and part of a gift bag sewn to make two pockets. I decorated a tag for the small flap pocket and stuck two ATC bases in the other. In the word search puzzle, I circled the letters to spell out 'blue sea.'

6th pic - painted acrylic square bordered by the untwisted paper handles of a gift bag. I love the texture of the paper after it's untwisted.

pics 7 and 8 - background is a bunch of receipts from the last few days - grocery store, Walmart, Starbucks - torn and glued down, painted yellow, then brayered with some blue. The tip-in is a page from one of my journals stuck to the back of an ad card torn from a magazine.

pic 9 is two large book pages with an image of a crumbling old mansion and a tag hanging from a grommet. The tag says "but it's magical". This is my favorite spread, I think.

last pic is several diff colors of tissue paper put down with gel medium - sort of an impressionistic garden scene, I suppose...

a-journaling I go... vacation journal

There are so many things to try that I often have a tough time narrowing my adhd focus down to one thing long enough to complete it. My stack of quilting UFOs has filled many a Goodwill bag over the years. But when I made plans to go visit a friend in San Diego last January, I knew I wanted to keep track, in some way, of the fun I knew we'd have. In surfing around god knows where on the intertubes, I found a tute on making a quickie journal from a manila file folder. As I'm surrounded by file folders all day long, it was right up my alley.

I didn't take any pics of the thing as I assembled it (gluing, folding, sewing, inking) (doh!) but now that it's finished, I figured I'd post it. Visiting Julie...

Front cover. You can see the tab at upper right. It ends up at the back of the journal.

Pages 1 and 2, scanned. Reciepts from shopping, bits of the trims I bought at Road to California, a sun because the sun was actually out and shining!!!, what we had for dinner, football playoff teams, an accordion of pictures.

Pages 1 and 2, photo 1. You can see the photo accordion. That's a big chicken looking at you bottom center.

Pages 1 and 2, photo 2. Unfolded flyer from that art store, I think. Pic of Julie in her wonderful kitchen making me something to eat.

Pages 3 and 4, scanned. The fish are street art we walked past. Blueberries for breakfast, Mex for lunch, cake for dinner, more trim, a crossword puzzle, bit of a book I bought at the excellent used bookstore, pic of coffee from an old dictionary, more receipts. Upper right corner is a bit of the lace we dyed one afternoon on the back patio. 

Pages 3 and 4, photo 1. Fish pic opens to show another image on the back. Book page unfolds. More little papers stuffed into the pockets.

Pages 3 and 4, photo 2. Just a different angle.

Back cover. Tim Holtz tissue tape. Some journaling using a white gel pen, the one I bought in San Diego.

And that's it. I'm very pleased with it. It totally captures the mood of that trip - colorful with odds and ends all over the place because we crammed so much into just three days.