Farewell faithful junk-journal....

... it has served me well..

Early last year I sewed 3 junk journals and bound them into the covers of an old hardback book.. I didn't decorate it or anything because I wanted this book to be something that I wasn't too precious about...  and, well, you can see from the state of it now how I've treated it! lol

I wasn't too cruel to it - I carried it around in cotton bag (you can just see the pink bag in the photo above and below) along with pencils, pens, glue and scissors - always prepared - always a girl guide! lol

It has accompanied me on many train journeys to and from London (the reason for the slightly shaky lines of many drawings sketches), and I've really enjoyed working in it - so much so that half way through last year I sewed two more journals into it...

I would thoroughly recommend working (making) in a journal like this - something that you're not too fussed about so you don't mind if things go wrong or you just want to doodle/experiment.

There's something freeing/liberating about working on pages that already have paint or marks on them - its that 'it can only get better' feeling! ... no pressure..

AND you get to use up the scraps and project leftover left on the work desk.. (I can't be the only one who has those!)

This book has been used, loved, filled with colour, ideas, doodles and more colour - now I'm going to mend the spine (I might even rebind it to give it the cover it deserves!) and put it on the shelf with my other journals.

Here is the final page I decorated in the journal - its sets the scene for the year ahead and shows my mantra for this year: 'LESS IS MORE'...

I hope this has inspired you to gather up some scrap papers, discarded gelli prints, underpapers, book pages and bind them into a book (which is easier than you think!) to work/play in.

Give it a go - no pressure!

Take care

Jo