The Junk Journal Project – old calendar

These days I’m digging again into junk journals and rediscover the resources I have around that I can use to add interesting marks in my journal pages. One method I keep on coming back from time to time is collage work. Just by simply adding collaged art images on your junk journal it will make it look interesting and unique.

But those images do become yours only when you personalize them with acrylic paints or POSCA markers. Then you “bend” the photos and create something new. And there is plenty of amazing collage art over the internet to get inspired by. In fact, I find it inspiring only to browse and see some of the images others add on their blogs to get started with a new page. That’s one of the reasons I continue to post my journal artworks, I’m sure they are inspiring for others as well.

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I don’t know about you, but ever since I’ve discovered art journaling and mixed media, I was fascinated by the versatility of a junk journal. They allow you to create with materials you already have and they are no two alike. Although many junk journals tend to borrow ideas from the scrapbook world, I don’t like to insert personal photos and I rather prefer to use beautiful images from fashion magazines and then transform those faces with a little bit of creativity and intention.

Junk journals can be created using any kind of materials you like. Here it’s an idea of what I used to create one of my junk journals. This one was made out of an old calendar and it’s one of my favorites journals to work in acrylic paints! I absolutely adore the way paint looks on the paper.

Here it’s a video I made to show you how my calendar junk journal looks like. I sew the pages with a strong thread to make sure the pages are well put together and stay together for a long time. Also, the cover has a fabric added on top and then a thick layer of white gesso so I can paint over it. In fact, this is the only journal that has a whimsical face on the cover! 😉

What other materials are you using to create your junk journals?

Enjoy!