Winter Junk Journal

Hey everyone.  Terri Kolte, one of our amazing Junk Journal Design Team Members, created a gorgeous  Winter 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!

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 Terri  tell you all about her fabulous project…

Hi everyone- Happy 2020! It’s Terri, from The Gypsy Magpie and today I’m sharing a travelers notebook I created for Winter. I thought it would be fun to make four- one for each season- and
at the end of the year I can bind them all together into a single book for 2020. My goal was to make something that had room for photos (knowing myself, I won’t be adding a
ton) plus some journaling.

Simple and sweet! In order to keep things as “thin” as possible I wanted to eliminate bulky trims and embellishments as much as I could. Machine stitching for interest on the elements was going to be my Super Power!

The mainstay of this journal were images pulled from the Winter Greenery and Winter Birds bundles on the Premium site. Additionally, I found some beautiful winter bird calling cards on
the main Graphics Fairy website. Any time you want something specific, go ahead and type it into the Search bar- it’s a great tool. I did use a pretty little Ballerina Fairy and made her a sparkly
silver crown from star stickers!

 

The journal structure was built mostly by folding pretty papers in half, making sure to cut them all different sizes so that it added interest. Pockets can be made either by adding a strip of paper
along one edge and sealing the edges, allowing one side to remain open- or, another fun technique is to use two tags and seal those edges in the same manner. Either way works and the more variation you add in your journal the more interesting it looks!

I always use Distress Ink on the edges when I fussy cut, but with a very light hand. Your favorite adhesive is about the only other item you’ll need. To bind my journal I did use a binding template to poke the holes but if you don’t have one you can just use a ruler for the hole location. Nothing special about the thread- it was just a heavy waxed thread.

 

Once you create the notebook structure it’s time to decorate!! When I create, one of my favorite ways to design a project is to print a nice pile of images, spend some quality time fussy cutting (yes, I’m one of THOSE people that loves to fussy cut!) and I’m left with a huge amount of flexibility. I get to audition pieces across the pages with no commitment. Once I decide I like it, I go ahead and glue it down unless it needs to be machine stitched first.

 

 

To machine stitch on paper I use just use a regular spool of polyester thread (any color you like) and a long stitch on my machine. A general purpose needle works fine. You may need to adjust your tension to get it right but it’s not really very scientific- use scraps of paper approximately the weight and thickness of your project and play around a bit with your dial. You don’t need to stitch perfectly straight and instead of back stitching all you need to do is stitch right on past your first stitch by one or two more, snip the threads and voila!

Another way to add your own personality into your work is to incorporate quotes. You can find them everywhere- when I see one that speaks to me I quickly jot it down into the notes on my phone. Later when I have more time I try to put them onto index cards. I’ve collected quotes for many years and have a large ceramic tray in my studio that holds the index cards- often when I’m searching for a project idea I sort through it. It doesn’t take long to find one that inspires me and I’m off and running. When I want to add them to a journal all I do is type a bunch of them onto
my laptop, print and cut into strips. Honestly, the most difficult part of the whole thing is trying to hold onto those skinny little strips while I run some glue onto the back!

Creating really is so much more fun when you throw off all the self-imposed restrictions and rules. If you like it, that’s truly all that matters. Enjoy yourself!

Some of the TGF Premium Bundles used in this project, from The Graphics Fairy Premium Membership Site:

Winter Greenery
Winter Birds
Ballerina Fairies
Wreaths and Swags

To see a video tour of my Winter Junk Journal Design Team project, please watch below:

Happy crafting~

Terri from The Gypsy Magpie

The Gypsy Magpie Blog

Terri’s Instagram

Terri’s YouTube