Birds and Botanicals Junk Journal

Hey, everyone! Sharon Coughlin of Mad Paper Crush, one of our amazing new Junk Journal Design Team Members, created a fabulous Birds and Botanicals Junk Journal for us this week. As you know, we feature one new Junk Journal project each week created by one of our creative team of artists. Our Design Team Members select from the 100’s of Vintage Image Bundles on our Premium Membership Site, for their creations, in order to show you beautiful ways to use those images. We hope you will be totally inspired by this series!

Therefore, please make sure you check out the video tour at the bottom of the page…please scroll all the way down to see it. Are you ready to be inspired? I will step out of the way and let Sharon introduce herself, and tell you all about her incredible project…

Well, hi there again! Sharon here and I’m so happy to be back with you today sharing my second design team journal. When I saw the Tattered Paper Treasures kit and the gorgeous collage printables included, I knew I wanted to make an assemblage journal – using papers to build flips, tucks and pockets that create an adventure finding each new hidden place to stash notes, tags and bits of everyday life. And since I try to get outside every chance I get, I decided adding in butterflies, birds and botanicals would make me want to flip through it on those days when the weather won’t let me get outside.

I used old book boards for the cover of the journal, and after putting the spine together, thought it needed a little something, so I added torn fabric to match the tattered papers used throughout the journal. I used an altoid tin cover from the Secret Flowers kit and some torn fabric to make the cover plate. Tucked in the right side is a little hidden pocket that reveals a note card!

The journal cover is an accordion flip, so it can be opened to the right or the left. When you open it to the right, there is a little tuck spot for holding a postcard, and the cover of the journal has a hand collaged 2 layered tag that nestles into a belly band I secured with large brads.

When you open the flip to the left, there is a vertical pocket perfect for a notecard, and another tuck spot where I put an illustration taken from the Central Park Bird Watchers kit.

I created assemblages on the inside covers of the journal, and the top layer is a long narrow pocket that holds a tag I created using images from the Butterfly Garden kit as well as the Antique Title Pages kit.

The next layer of the inside cover has 2 window pockets I made using a die cut, and the tags were made from the Feathered Friends printable to peek through the holes. I love the pop of black and white here to break up some of the colors from the Tattered Treasure papers.

The final layer of this assemblage includes a library card printable I found on the site, and I added some scrap fabric to the library card to make it really pop!

There are 2 signatures in this journal, and I used many of the journal page printables you can find throughout the premium membership site, and I chose the ones that had close to the same colors I was using, as well as butterflies, birds and botanicals to match my theme. I also used some of the individual graphic files in the Butterfly Garden kit and a title page to create the large tag found in the pocket on the right.
I love adding old book pages to my journals, and this page is from “Warblers of America”, illustrated by John Henry Dick. A touch of matching dyed seam tape seems to finish off the page.

The back assemblage is all hidden underneath this accordion folder with a button and string closure. When you flip open the folder, you find 3 more flaps that open out: one up, one to the left and one down! There is a large pocket on the bottom layer where I printed and aged a copy of a letter included in the Tattered Paper Treasures kit. The bottom flap is a little envelope, and when flipped down there’s a little hidden pocket for tickets or little bits of ephemera.

The left flap is another window pocket where I’ve included a little note card edged in frayed fabric. The top flip is actually a handmade envelope, and it has another handmade envelope on the front – both which are great places to stash notes or journaling!

Thanks for joining me for a walk through my Butterflies, Birds and Botanicals journal, see you soon!

BIRDS AND BOTANICALS JUNK JOURNAL SHOW & TELL VIDEO TOUR

Premium Membership Bundles used in this project:

Butterfly Garden
Central Park Bird Watchers
Feathered Friends
Tattered Paper Treasures
Antique Title Pages

Sharon’s YouTube
Sharon’s Etsy shop
Sharon’s Instagram

Thanks so much!

Sharon

Check out the Graphics Fairy Premium Membership Site HERE!