‘What was said in the Woods’ Junk Journal

Hey, everyone! Abby Monroe, one of our amazing  Junk Journal Design Team Members, created a fabulous Woodland 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 Abby tell you all about her incredible project…

The beginning of the year here on the Suffolk coast in the UK has been very frosty. Days spent wrapped up in layers walking along the beach, along the footpaths across the farmland and into the woods always with my camera in hand, making sure to connect with the light as the days gradually lengthen. I try to spend as much of January as I can focusing on my art practice and thinking about the coming seasons and all the creative projects they might hold.

The idea for this artist book came from my connection with the woods and using it as a metaphor for creativity and transformation. Woods for me are places of shadows, hidden pathways, and growth. They hold stories within their layers—tree roots tangled in secrets, branches etched with time. The bare branches whispered their wisdom, inviting me into the shadows where I found my inspiration.

I started by exploring the Graphics Fairy website, searching for images of forests, woodlands, and spring. I collected those that resonated into a folder to guide my vision. I really loved the book cover from the Forest Folk Bundle which has the title “What Was Said in The Woods” I thought it was so intriguing and really spoke to me of this time of year when I like to go into my roots and really listen to my intuition.

I wanted to create a concertina book to allow the journal to unfold like a walk through the woods. Each page telling a part of the story, using layered textures, pressed leaves, and fragments of vintage paper to evoke the beauty and mystery of the woods.

I am very lucky to have a beautiful wood walking distance from my house and love to go to and collect leaves in the Autumn, I had a lovely selection of pressed leaves from last year in my flower press and really wanted to bring them together in a book. My search on the site found me the lovely ivy print from the Spring Endpapers Bundle, which I used for the inside covers. I thought it worked really beautifully with the book cover so that’s where I began.

I like to collect plain book pages and used these for a lot of the backgrounds. To make the book I cut 16 pieces of different card and paper, some pages made from envelopes some from 2 pieces of thicker paper glued together. I attached them with masking tape on each side and then primed them with gesso mixed with some acrylic paint which I mixed a mossy green colour using raw umber and yellow ochre.

I then wrote a poem which I wanted to thread through the journal and printed it out on vellum which I then soaked it coffee and let dry. I love the effect this gives, it totally transforms the vellum making it looked soft and aged yet allows it to still have its beautiful transparent quality. The poem became the backbone of the book. Each line corresponds to a page, creating a rhythm that helped guide me on each page. I love writing poetry, it’s an intuitive process for me and always inspired by time spent in nature and my reflections on the woods as a space of transformation.

The pages are collaged with a variety of vintage book pages, graphics fairy printables (of course) and pressed leaves. I kept the palette to soft greens, natural buff tones and browns, being led by the softy faded hues of the pressed leaves.

I printed most of the printables on card stock and then painted with coffee, there is also lots of vintage ephemera and my own drawings, leaf rubbings and watercolour backgrounds scattered throughout.

A stretch of green velvet ribbon from my stash, unused until now, became the perfect closure, keeping everything safely tucked inside.

This journal reminded me that creativity, like the woods, thrives in layers and shadows, where the unseen holds the most magic. What would your woodland whisper to you?

I hope this journal inspires you to explore all the wonderful woodland inspired bundles and listen to the wisdom of nature and explore your wild essence through your journaling.

WOODLAND JUNK JOURNAL SHOW  & TELL VIDEO TOUR

Premium Membership Bundles used in this project:

Forest Folk
A Forest Stroll – Fungi
Fairyland Landscapes
Enchanted Forest
Woodland Wonders
Spring Endpapers
Botanists Field Guide
Cream and Green Ephemera
The Artist (Printables)
Enchanted Forest – Journaling Tabs and Stickers
Tattered Treasures Fern Paper
Artistic Landscapes (Printables)

I hope you will visit me here:

Abby’s Instagram

Abby’s Website

Abby’s Etsy

Abby

Check out the Graphics Fairy Premium Membership Site HERE!