Chicken Junk Journal by Jennifer Carroll!

Chicken Junk Journal

Hey, everyone! Jennifer Carroll of  Celebrating Everyday Life, one of our amazing NEW Junk Journal Design Team Members, created a fabulous Chicken 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 Jennifer introduce herself, and tell you all about her lovely project…

Do you love chickens? No matter if you have your own flock or are just smitten with the idea of one, you are going to love this chicken-themed junk journal! This past spring my daughter and I brought home eight tiny baby chicks. We’ve so enjoyed watching them grow over the summer and just recently we started getting our very first eggs from our hens! To say we’re excited would be an understatement.

When I found out that I had been accepted on the Graphic Fairy’s Design Team, I quickly realized a chicken journal would be a terrific first project! Especially since there is a design bundle already collected and ready to inspire my chicken journal fantasies.

One reason that I love junk journals is that there are no rules. You can truly let your imagination soar, and the bundles on the premium site are like a little kick start to your creativity. 

For this journal, I decided to make the cover a tri-fold with a window cut-out on the front that acts like a little window looking into the hen house. Very sweet and fun! A bit of rub-n-buff gives the window a bit of sparkle while still maintaining the well-worn charm that a farm-inspired journal should have. The base of this journal is a humble cereal box – which is one more reason I love junk journals, it’s another way to make even more out of the resources we have, we’re reusing and recycling everyday items into treasures!

The tri-fold cover makes a great spot for an extra pocket too!

I made a collage of images for the cover. If the idea of making a collage feels intimidating, I encourage you to watch the many tutorials on the premium site. They walk you step-by-step through how to get started with collages! And once you know how, the sky is the limit! For mine, I used several images from the chicken bundle and then pulled some florals, a lace frame, and a book cover image from within the premium resource library – it is a true treasure trove in there!

I added an eyelet and a yard or so of hand-dyed rayon ribbon for the closure on this 60+ page journal.

There is plenty of space for writing, as well as tuck spots for adding treasures, photos, a feather or two, and more!

Since there isn’t room for tabs to spill out the side of the journal, I decided to build a few into the top. My favorite tabs are the chicken busts ringed with flowers peeking out – there is little doubt what this journal is about! While those two tabs are fixed, there are a few additional bookmarks you can move around as well and the addition of ribbons on these add a little extra interest.

For the pages, there is a mix of hand-dyed papers in varying shades of cream, pink and green. There are also some custom-designed papers featuring a few more chicken images plus a few fun page elements like a torn clip from a flower catalog, a paper lunch sack, a doily, and a ledger page.

And then of course there are pockets, trims, and note cards tucked throughout. Making the journal itself doesn’t actually take that long, but I get lost in the decorating. It’s my favorite part! Adding bits of lace, buttons, printables, and more, that’s where you can really let your personality shine!

CHICKEN JUNK JOURNAL SHOW & TELL VIDEO TOUR

Let’s take a tour of it together:

Here is a link to the Roosters & Hens bundle that started it all! https://members.thegraphicsfairy.com/2015/10/26/roosters-and-hens/

I also used these bundles:

• Perfume label
• Lace Frame
• Green Book Cover

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you will visit me for even more junk journal ideas. You can find me on Etsy (Celebrating Journals), on my blog (CelebratingEverydayLife.com), and on YouTube. 

I’ll see you next month with another fun junk-journal flip-through!

Jennifer Carroll

Check out the Graphics Fairy Premium Membership Site HERE!