Junk Journal Embellishments Using Words, Sentences, and Phrases from Old Books and Magazines

 It has been said that books don't change people;
 sentences do! And, even paragraphs!
With that in mind,

 I have created embellishments on page pockets,
 library cards, and on the covers of my junk journals.

Here are some pictures of ideas for you to consider using in your junk journal

 the next time a sentence, paragraph or even a phrase in a table of contents catches your attention:

A chapter title was cut from an old book and placed on top of a title to a library card that had featured a book on a boys boarding school. That subject didn't fit in with the theme of my journal. The library card was purchased on A Tattered Dream on Etsy.  The sari silk fabric was purchased from Bohodaydreams. The peacock chipboard is from Dusty Attic.

These chapter titles came from an old book where the subject matter were women as weaker vessels. Ha! They made their way on the below three journal covers I created.

These words were from a magazine spread: Tear It, Crunch It, Paint It, Stitch It...oh don't we all relate

to those action words?

 

Here's an example where I need to find the right word or phrase and affix it to the simple design below.

I hope you have found some inspiration here to use in your junk journals.

All my best,

xoxo

Spring Journal

Look what is on my desk....a spring journal in the making.

I was inspired by Shabby Souls fabric binding and fabric hinges.

She has been awing us with her unique Shabby vintage journals

for quite some time.

I was further inspired by Amity Bloom's wallpaper delights.

The cover is vintage wallpaper and the usual bits that you

are already familiar with, including some of my 

messy thread embellishments.

My mom shared some vintage recipe cards with me, and I quickly

set to create some lovely tucks with them.

Here are some pictures of what i have finished so far...stay tuned more

pictures are to follow.

Stay safe my friends.

What's On My Desk...making progress on the cover of my journal

Happy New Years Friends

and welcome back to my blog.

Sharing some progress on my junk journal cover today.

I purchased some old books to re-purpose into art.

The spine on the old books were easy to remove from the old book pages.

However, the newer books are not that easy to remove,

and you will see the poor results I had in the pics below.  

I think I found a way to repair it with some cardboard from

a paper towel roll and will attempt the repair later on, and before

I finished sewing in the signatures.

I was influenced by the talented Nellie Wortman, and

the lovable Mrs. Cog with her paper clipped fabric book markers.

Here are some pics of my progress...keep in mind some pages are still not complete.

Thank you for viewing my channel.

What's On My Desk Post No. 2

Welcome back Friends!

I'm making progress with what's on my desk.

While watching a YT video featuring both Sheila, from Bohodaydreams, and

Sally, from Rainy Day Gypsy, these two daydreamers, and oh so inspiring ladies,

had me laughing out loud while viewing their video.
 They inspired me to get out my baubles, beads, and wire cutters

and create a few boho baubles of my own.

The vintage envelope above was converted into EnVe Art 

with some of my sari silk, vintage french papers, faux scotch tape cut using 

a pattern pair of scissors and a rusty good metal flower creating using my

rusty goodness recipe where you can find such recipe here on my blog. 

The above piece of ephemera was inspired by Rachel Tomlinson on YT.

 I used one of my own vintage family photos. 

Some of that yummy sari silk was used, as well as some old vintage tatting too.

Oh look...you can see a better view of the boho beads in the pic above too.

When I see these beads, they make me smile because of Sheila and Sally's funny posts. 

An envelope tea dyed, stamped, some faux scotch tape,

and some messy threads too. 

Thanks for visiting and checking up on my progress.

What's On My Desk...

Hello....I have been inspired lately by 

Jacqui Chimes' beautiful tags,

 Arty Maze's Digi Kits, 

Sheila from Bohodaydreams, and many others.

While in the mood for warm colors, using some new products, and

wanting to create my own quasi digi papers, I set out to create

some mixed media book pages which were used to create a tag with

some of my messy threads and beads.  I designed a journal page which features

a journal box and is adorned with some messy threads stamping and

faux vintage tape.

I'm sharing some close up of items I have created so far which

will become affixed to a junk journal I am creating for myself. 

Below are some yummy silk ribbons, a bohobead, and some of my messy threads adornment on top of the journal spot.

Jacqui Chimes inspired tag with an inventory tag from A Tattered Dream on Etsy. You will see some faux vintage tape in this picture.  I used some dried chamomille flowers and placed it on top of some book text, stamped around the tag to emphasize the flowers. The dried flowers are protected with acetate. The tag is comprise of ink sprays, stamping, sewing and messy threads.

Below is my attempt of a faux digi paper for my junk journal.  After I designed the book page, I took photos of it and will use prints of the designed paper to add in other parts of the journal. The lovely ribbon on the bottom left is from A Tattered Dream on Etsy. It works beautifully with the colors of the sari silk and silk ribbons that will be included in this junk journal.

To the left of the tag below, is another designed book page. I will print copies of this paper and create other elements for my journal.

Thank you for visiting. I will upload the finish junk journal to share with you when it's completed.

Winner of the "Whispers of Lavender" Junk Journal.....and the Winner is......

Thank you to all who entered into the Give-Away

to win this Junk Journal!

And the winner is...……………….

CHARLOTTE PETERSON - #33

Congratulations Charlotte!
Please let me know your mailing address
before
September 12, 2018.
You may use my Contact Form 
on the right hand side of this blog, or you may
contact me at scrapsofelegance@gmail.com.

Thanks again everybody.

I am working on three projects at the same time
 and hope to be sharing them with you soon.

Rusty Goodness

Here's a simple and safe recipe for

Rusty Goodness!

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup hydrogen peroxide

2 tablespoons salt

Container: plastic or glass jar

All the above can be found at your grocery store.

Insert the ingredients in a container and gently stir.

Add metal bits in the container such as safety pins, charms, jewelry findings and paper clips, etc.

Stir the ingredients gently in the container.

Allow to sit for three days, and rotate all the metal bits once per day.

After three days have passed, pour out the liquid with a strainer

to catch the metal bits, and rinse the metal bits.

Put the metal bits on top of a paper towel, or foil,and let sit in a sunny location until each bit is dry.

In one case, I let the metal bits sit for four days in the container, 

and in another case, I did not rinse the metal bits.

I did this because I wanted to see the impact, if any.  

There was a difference and I will point those out in the pictures below:

  Below...sitting in the sun to dry.

Below, in the right hand corner are the results when you don't rinse the ingredient's

Below are the results when you let the metal bits sit in the container for our days and rinse.

Rusty goodness. I adore how those Tim Holtz frames turned out, and that pearl clip on earring too.

I hope you try the recipe out and use it in your mixed media, junk journals, tags, EnVeART….

Thanks for visiting me!

EnVe Art = a portmanteu for Envelope Art

Hello everyone!
I ordered a lace and textile kit from Amity Bloom on Etsy, and no sooner than having opened the package and being mesmerized by her beautiful collection of laces and textiles, I started working on another EnVe Art collection.  This time instead of creating with one envelope, I made several. As Nazy says, you achieve more dimension when creating several envelopes.  And she was right! There is so much more beauty and interest when the envelopes are bunched up together.

The lacy bit, gold infinity looking trim, dark red sari silk, and vintage button were all a part of the Amity Bloom textile kits.

The gorgeous deep red and gold paper bits are from Jarf, MidievalMirage from Etsy.  Her digi kits are sophisticated, elegant and so delicious....I want all of them!

White envelopes were gathered and seeped in coffee to create an old aged charm. These envelopes are already stuff with secrets, ephemera and affirmations.  I am already working on a blue collection. I think I will more until I grow weary of them, or run out of the fabrics from the textile kits.

I used a faux gold leafing product from IndigoBlu.Com, named, Mega Flake (the one I am using is the Lancashire Rose). You apply the flakes with IndigoBlu Flitter Glu. I found that using a fine image stamp works best. I apply the glue thinly on parchment paper, then I light apply the stamp to the glue and immediately press the stamp on the paper I am using. Then you apply the gold flakes and let it sit until it is completely dry. Use a stiff brush to wipe away the excess and the image will reveal itself.
The photograph shows a nice lit image of the gold, but when the image is not near a light, it's nicely opaque looking.  It's a really great product!

Here's a short video to get your EnVe Art creative juices flowing:

Thanks for visting me!

It's Mauvelous - Junk Journal

A happy mail package I received that contained remnants of

of beautiful mauve colored blouse

inspired me to

create this junk journal entitled,

It's Mauvelous.

You'll have to watch my YouTube Channel to

see the pocket on the last page of the journal

to see what became of that fabric.

In the meantime,

here are a few pictures of pages

in the journal.

Valentine Junk Journal

Hello Friends!

It’s time for another Junk Journal Share.

Soft sweet colors of blush, pink, cream and charcoal are incorporated in this journal using designer papers such as Kaiser Craft and Prima.  In a recent treasure haul at a local thrift shop, I found some lovely linen and doilies.  I used one linen piece as the cover page, and I affixed some Wonder Under which is a fabric adhesive and it worked wonderfully on the linen and paper.  I’ve said it before… I’m not a “Cover Girl” in every sense of those words. I struggle with creating them.  When I’m done with the inside of the journal, I want to move on to the next project.  And, this is why my covers are so simple in terms of design.  The most frilly part of the cover is the paper tab made out of designer paper, sari silk ribbon, embroidery threads and a lovely intricate designed button.  I so enjoy creating these paper tabs and no two are alike.  

This journal has more journal papers to write on.  Not all of the journaling papers are included in the YouTube video…after you have seen one or two, the rest are pretty much the same. There are 76 pages including both inside covers, and the little paper bag, and security envelope.

Here are  few more pictures and if you like what you see and want to see more, you may find this journal on my YouTube Channel:

Floral Fabric Cover Junk Journal

I seriously need to use these old paper collections I have accumulated over the years!

And, as I was going through my neglected paper stash, I came upon the Bo Bunny Gabrielle paper line.  I immediately remembered what drew me to that collection…the gorgeous designs, colors of cream, various hues of aqua, brown and coral.  And, I found upon viewing these papers again that they sparked a renewed energy and inspiration.  So I set about creating this junk journal. 

The size of the journal cover is 4.5 inches wide and 9 inches in length.  It is a pamphlet style with one signature.  There are 54 pages in total which includes both inside covers and the short papers. 

Some of my favorite features in the journal are as follows:

 Filigree Pendant Hitch:  I knew I wanted a simple cover and a closing hitch, but I didn’t have the proper hitch to affix to the cover.  I sewed a button through the fabric to secure it, but it didn’t give me the height I needed to wrap the textured teal ribbon around the button.  I resolved this by affixing this pretty filigree pendant on top of the button and sewed it down through the underneath button and fabric.  I wasn’t going to give up using that teal colored ribbon because it really helps set-off the colors in the journal and adds lovely texture.

 Inside cover page features an aqua ribbon woven through a flower lace pattern and tied at the middle.  I must do this again, as I love the effect.

Elegant Twig: After pruning a shrub one day,  a small fragment fell down.  As I reached down to pick it up, I envisioned what it could look like slathered in gesso with pretty embroidery thread wrapped around the twig.  It’s interesting how you view objects after you become a junk journalist. ;)

White Kraft Long Flap Envelope from A Tattered Dream on Etsy:  I just can’t say enough about these envelopes and their design.  They are so unique in their design and the paper quality takes on inks and staining beautifully.  I do think I should have diluted the coffee a little bit before applying it to the envelopes, and I’ll remember that the next time.  There’s stamping and some Tim Holtz stencil work with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo inks.  I save some of the die-cut remnants and used them as collage pieces. I think die-cuts and chipboard remnants add a lot of interest in a collage with very little bulk.

 Vintage Photo of Little Girl on Chair:  I adore this photo of this young girl sitting on the chair with her legs dangling from the seat.  You can tell her sweater is skewed because one side is longer than the other…I think she dressed herself that morning.  I had these little bits of trim left over from a previous project, and I thought I could use them to adorn the photo.   The trim was placed on layers of paper and sewn in places for more texture and topped off with more ribbon and a petite size jewelry tag.  The element piece became a pocket on the page.  Some embellishment pieces just design themselves and this is a fine example. 

Paper Tags:  I think these page tabs are one of my favorite embellishments to create. Each one is unique, and since I am fond of “elegance,” I think they render some tattered elegance and a little shimmer and shine.  Just tear off a piece of designer paper and fold it down the middle (don’t try to make a perfect square or rectangular shape… you want it to look tattered). Open it up and apply layers on both sides of the torn fold with a lacy bit, sari silk ribbon, embroidery or metallic threads, and sew them down in a straight stitch and ziz zag stitch, and with a threaded fine needle weave in some pretty beads, or add a button.  They’re really simple.

Thank you for viewing, and I hope I have inspired you to use some of these ideas in your junk journals too.