School Days Junk Journal

Hey, everyone! Sharon Hoerth of The Journalocity Shop, one of our amazing Junk Journal Design Team Members, created a fabulous School Days 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…

Repurposing an old and well-loved reader from 1903 was the perfect jumping off point to create this school themed journal. One of the things I enjoy most about creating journals is embellishing the cover. Sometimes it’s ornate and sometimes the simplest things are the perfect addition. For this journal, I used a simple leather strap for the closure and hung a couple of antique treasures from the tie to complement the beautiful cover. I just can’t seem to create a journal without adding some type of fabric. For this journal, I didn’t want anything frilly or fussy. Instead, I chose simple striped linens, wools, and plaid cottons. They add texture, interest and warmth without going over the top.

Images found in the Premium Membership bundles can be used creatively in a wide variety of ways. When making tags and pockets, I find images whose original purpose may have been something completely different. On this page, I layered a book cover and stereo card image to create the tag front and a business card image for the pocket. What usually draws me to a particular image first is pattern and color, then content second.

I think combining old and new papers gives a journal character. For example, in this spread I used vintage book pages, a printable, and scrapbooking paper for my page bases. Then I added an antique postcard and wallpaper to finish it off. The small piece of antique wallpaper is the perfect finishing touch to add interest to the page.

Even though there is a lot going on in this page spread, using two large and similar looking tags anchors it and pulls everything together. For the tags, I took one fruit image, layered it on top of that beautiful fern paper, then cut the image in two to create the two tags.

Another effective technique in calming down a busy page is to add a simple piece of fabric or lace. In this example, the dark wool piece in the upper corner gives the eyes a place to rest and makes the whole spread less chaotic.

One of my favorite ways to add extra storage in a journal to stash favorite photos and found ephemera is to create an envelope in the center of a signature. Here I created a policy style envelope using a hanging file folder. I kept the sides of the envelope open and free until after I had the signatures sewn in. Then I created fabric gussets using cheese cloth to allow for maximum storage space. For the closure, I attached two circles with brads where string can be wound around to securely close the envelope. Collaging the envelope with wallpaper, book page and a printable ephemera piece pretties it up a bit.

I love the striking effect these simple but effective tags have. The ornate frames from the Gilded Age Bundle are the stars of these cards. I cut out the oval centers and simply layered them over these stereo card images. At the bottom, I punched a slit to feed through seam binding ribbon and topped it off with a wax seal.

Looking for fun ways to add tucks and pockets is part of the creative process in making a journal. Here I stitched a portion of a 1945 high school yearbook page to create a side tuck.

I hope this journal has given you inspiration on how to incorporate many different images, textures and materials into one project.

Let’s take a tour of it together:

SCHOOL DAYS JOURNAL SHOW & TELL VIDEO TOUR

Premium membership bundles used:

19^th Century Phrenology

European Maps

East Coast Maps

1700’s Sheet Music

Antique Sheet Music

The Author

The Ephemera Collection

Script Ephemera 2

The Typesetter

Vintage Office Supplies

Junk Journaling

Antique Title pages

Back to School

Bibliophile Ephemera

Blank Paper Ephemera

Instant Ancestors

Mini Ephemera & Mini Ephemera Pieces

Gilded Age

My handmade journals are for sale in my Etsy Shop

You can also follow me on Instagram

My YouTube Channel

Thanks so much!

Sharon Hoerth

Check out the Graphics Fairy Premium Membership Site HERE!