Junk Journal: Green Celestial

26 Apr

Ah my first ever Junk Journal. SO much went wrong lol

Picture it, Sydney, 2023. I watched one too many Junk Journal Youtube videos and decide to make a journal. Its should be noted at this point that I tend to be impulsive creatively, once I get the idea, Its happening. Now.

As you would imagine, that can have its downsides, like not learning how to bind a journal before actually making said journal. I do not recommend winging it, it doesn’t end well. Half way through I decided to watch a video on journal binding, and managed to save the work I had done, if a little roughly. I have learned now, not my lesson you understand, just how to book bind lol

It also turns out, that despite my attempts to try new things, I have a persistent aesthetic that won’t be denied. You’ll probably see that across a lot of my artworks. Let’s just call it a signature, its sounds better than rigid autistic boundary.

What IS Junk Journaling?

Strictly speaking, I’m doing it wrong. Junk Journaling is supposed to be using up trash and offcuts, old magazines, scraps of paper and fabric, leftovers basically, anything that would have otherwise gone in the bin. I however have trouble with random. I can’t cope with odd sized pages that don’t have a cohesive theme. Its more of that ‘signature’ we talked about. So while I do use reclaimed cardboard, and print out or make a lot of my own paper and ephemera, I prefer to use what matches, even if that means using new.

I’m a crafting rareity though, I tend to only buy materials as I need them, I have little by way of a “stash”. I enjoy watching craft room tours on YouTube, while also wondering what bank they must have robbed to pay for all those supplies! I may be impulsive, but I’m also a cheapskate, which acts like a kind of safety jacket happily.

Do you use these books?

You absolutely could, and many people do. I make them as generally stand alone artworks, ALTHOUGH, I am planning to use this journal as a keepsake journal (now that I’ve filmed it and nothing personal would need hiding).

You can also buy these kind of things on Etsy, but save up, hand made art isn’t cheap (nor should it be!) They can easily fetch AU$500+.