As I thought about what to make for my last GF journal, I was initially going to go with my traditional “safe” journal design; a keepsake, with pockets and ruffles. But as I pondered it, I decided to really challenge myself on this, my last, GF Junk Journal Design Team project. I find the long, slim journal style really hard to work with, so I decided to go with that design, to see what I could do with this style journal. This Madame Butterfly Journal is the result.

This journal is also a special nod to my mother, who loved opera and especially loved Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. She took me to see this opera when I was in my teens at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. I think she loved it because our family has a special connection to vintage Japanese artifacts as her grandfather traveled on a buying trip for the Union Pacific Railroad to Japan in the early 1920’s and brought back so many treasures which remain in our family to this day. The cover of this journal is a testament to the opera and also to the lovely Japanese Geisha dolls brought back from Japan that became my mother’s and which reminded her of Madame Butterfly and the opera.

The journal opens to a pocket made from a scan I made of some authentic Madame Butterfly ephemera I have in my stash. The lovely sewing Geisha from the Japanese Watercolors bundle is juxtaposed with this pocket on digital papers I designed especially for this journal. This sewing Geisha pops up again and again and she becomes the anchor to this journal.

The next page spread features both images from the Graphics fairy as well as actual vintage ephemera and some free to use Japanese art from the Art Institute of Chicago, the city I am from. This journal became a real testament to my youth and to my family. In the upper corner of the page on the right I made a lovely cluster from vintage Japanese ephemera – I found that clusters really helped me overcome some of the mental and creative blocks I faced when making these long journals. They draw the eye up and down and compensate from blank spots.

This photo shows some more of the digital paper I designed for this journal. In keeping with Japanese artistic rules, I kept most of may papers simple and I used the lovely cherry blossom from the Japanese Water Color Bundle and added a Dragon fly from the one of the bundles! I can’t remember which one!

This photo uses an image from the traditional GF blog. I took this photo of a Geisha and colorized her hair and face with traditional Geisha makeup. I also put the photo onto a postcard from the printables in the Japanese watercolors bundle. The adjacent page will be more clearly explained in the video, but it shows a cluster notepad of various papers which is adhered to a fold out, 3 way pocket. This pocket also helped me navigate this journal style. It is a tri-fold pocket and very interactive and goes up about 3/4’s of the page.

This photo shows the trifold pocket opened to reveal the next set of pockets: one a traditional pocket and the other an up-tuck pocket. You can see that I used a printable paper from the Medieval Spring bundle. I love this paper and really felt it had an Asian feel to it.

This photo shows a layered page using a GF envelope I have embellished with birds from the Japanese Garden Bundle. The green paper page is made from vintage mulberry paper I have been hoarding. I used this page to create a bit of tea bag art – the tea bag is filled with lavender which scents the entire journal.

Here you can see another digital paper I designed using images from the two bundles I have already mentioned as well as music from one of the music bundles. The pocket next to this page is actually sewn into the seam of the signature and flips like a page, but it holds a large journal card. The image in this pocket also comes from the Free Use Digital offerings available from the Art Institute of Chicago, my home town.

I placed this image from the Asian Inspired Images bundle and it folds out for additional journal space. The next page features a pocket constructed from a few pages torn from a vintage Japanese novel which holds several journaling cards.

The final combination uses a pattern piece from the Fancy Modern Ephemera bundle and a butterfly from one of the butterfly bundles, I have had it in my GF stash for so long, I can’t remember which one, but it looks lovely sewn into the seam of the signature. (Note: I looked it up – it is from the Interesting Insects bundle.)

I want to thank everyone on the Graphics Fairy team for giving me the opportunity to create some journals and test my skills. I especially want to thank Jane and Karen who are indefatigable in their support of each member of every Junk Journal Design Team. XO, Dody

MADAME BUTTERFLY JUNK JOURNAL SHOW & TELL VIDEO TOUR

Bundles used in making this journal:

Japanese Watercolors
Japanese Garden Bundle
Asian Inspired Bundle
Modern Ephemera Bundle
Medieval Spring Bundle
Interesting Insects (Butterfly)

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Thanks so much!

Dody

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