This is a flip through of my very large junk journals based on the Mega-Zine Course by Mrs Cogs Crafts. My first journal was the Herb Garden journal for my daughter Varinia. I enjoyed the process so much that it was quickly followed by the Sunflower junk journal for my granddaughter Ayla ,and the Enchanted Forest junk journal for my granddaughter Ce’Nedra. I am currently working on another journal for another granddaughter. Paula has also made some of these journals, so this has turned out to be an enterprise that we are both enjoying, immensely.
How it Began
Paula and I watched a video on YouTube by Elizabeth from Mrs Cogs Crafts, In the video she showed her walk through of her Audrey Hepburn Mega-zine. Now who in the little more advanced in years doesn’t adore Audrey Hepburn? We enjoyed the video and really liked the concept of the larger style junk journal, so we decided to give it a go.
Off we went to Mrs Cogs Crafts on Etsy and purchased her Mega-zine and Quarter-zine course. It’s good value because you get the design for both a very large junk journal, and a much smaller junk journal. After we went through the list of stuff we needed it was time to assemble everything and get started.
To See the Journal in full Watch the Video below
Items Used to Make this Junk Journal
ETSY
- Mrs Cogs Crafts Mega Zine and Quarter Zine Course
- SS Digital Designs – Pretty in Purple Junk Journal Kit
- Style 24 Designs – Herbal Index Cards
Sari silk
Reference Video
Die Cut
How it Came Together
We made the base cover for the journals and then came the time to tea dye printer paper. A long and laborious task? — definitely yes. Well worth the effort – absolutely. Apart from the printer paper we also tea dyed some 65lb cardstock. Once we had our stack of tea dyed paper it was time to decide what we were going to use as our theme for our junk journals as neither of us wanted to do a Christmas journal.
We have recently been planting herbs and vegetables, at both our homes so Paula decided she was going to make a Herb journal. I was leaning towards a steampunk style but in the end decided to copy Paula and also make a Herb junk journal for my daughter Varinia. She is an avid gardener and I thought it would be a nice idea if she could journal about her awesome garden and some of the more exotic herbs that she grows. Plus she can journal about the medicinal properties of her plants.
Now came time to choose some papers for the journal, so we spent quite some time on Etsy and finally settled on a pack from SS Digital Studios. Apart from being quite beautiful the pack has 30 sheets of papers, ephemera. tags, pockets and other embellishments. In fact it had everything we would need to make a lovely junk journal.
We also purchased some herb index cards from Kairi at Style 24 Designs. I think we pretty much bought all of her herb index cards. The cards can be downloaded double sided so that the picture of the plant is on one side and the information about the plant is on the other. I decided to print them separately and adhere them to the tea dyed cardstock to add extra strength as I feel this is the sort of thing that will be pulled out of the journal constantly as reference cards.
The images in the junk journal kit are for a smaller journal so we worked on the pages in Photoshop and expanded them so that they were suitable to use as single A4 pages.
For the cover we chose a furnishing fabric from Spotlight, here in Australia. The brand name is Miller and we really like the look and feel of the fabric. In fact we liked it so much that we went back and purchased a few more colours in preparation for future journals.
After selecting an image for the front cover we added buttons and sewed the photo to the cover.with a zig zag stitch. Okay, cover done and set aside. Now it was time to work on the pages. This meant assembling the sheets in lots of two and anchoring them together. This process is explained in full in the training course.
There are two signatures and each has 28 pages. Of these, one is the cover sheet for each signature. Some time ago we were at our local Lincraft and we found two packets of heavily embossed paper. There were 3 sheets in each pack, so one for each signature and one to use as a cover on a notebook. I just love the texture of this paper. It is heavily embossed and has a silky feel as you pass your fingers over the surface. The brand was ‘Little Birdie Craft‘. We went looking to see if they had some in their store, but unfortunately they didn’t, but they certainly had lots of other lovely items and we ended up purchasing quite a lot of gorgeous flowers and papers. I will do a show and tell in another video on what we bought.
Herb Garden Junk Journal – Inside the Journal
This is the journal I made for Varinia. Here are just some of the pages inside the journal.
On the inside cover I have added a pocket which is large enough to hold a small journal.
The pocket is made from the same furnishing fabric used on the cover, with some tea dyed lace added.
The front cover of the signature has a tuck spot for tags and envelopes and the page is finished with some tea dyed lace.
On the next page I added a Stitched Slots Pocket. The die is by Matty’s Crafting Joy. This is a brilliant die set and is ideal for holding tags in various sizes.
This page has a pocket with tea dyed lace and it holds an envelope and some tags. In the envelope I have added some positive sayings .
Since Making my first large junk journal I have completed a few more. I do love this concept of large junk journals.
Sunflower Junk Journal
This is my second large junk journal. I made this one for my granddaughter, Ayla. She has a bright, bubbly personality and I felt that Sunflowers were the ideal choice for her. I have left lots of pages for her to add photos and journal on. She is very creative so I’m sure it won’t take her long to fill this journal with treasured moments.
Here are just a few of the pages in Ayla’s journal. Watch the video below to see the full flip through.
Watch the video below to see the walk through.
Items Used in to Make this Junk Journal
ETSY
- Mrs Cogs Crafts Mega-Zine and Quarter-Zine Course
- Calico Cottage – Sunny Mornings Sunflower Junk Journal Kit – Lots of beautiful papers, ephemera, tags, cut-aparts, pockets etc
- Style 24 Designs – Herbal Index Cards
- The Journal Boat – Timeless Sunflower Junk Journal Kit
- Pink Monach Prints – Botanical/Floral Words
Sari Silk
Reference Video
Die Cut
Enchanted Forest – Green Man Junk Journal
This junk journal that I made for my granddaughter Ce”Nedra has a very different theme from the others. I had fun making this journal with all its quirky characters. Not the usual flower based theme but lots of enchanted woodland creatures and potions index cards. There are poisonous mushroom index cards which will come in handy for identifying those mushroom that are unsafe to eat.
Ce’Nedra tells me she is going to press flowers into the journal which will add an interesting touch.
Here are just some of the pages in her journal. You can see the full journal in the video below.
Watch the video below to see the full flip through.
Items Used in to Make this Junk Journal
ETSY
- Mrs Cogs Crafts Mega-Zine and Quarte-Zine Course
- Style 24 Designs – Book of Shadows poisonous plants and Mushrooms Index Cards
- Ethera Belle Boheme – Enchanted Forest – Green Man pages & Magical Woodland – Green Man Printables.
- Digital Hobby Helper – Witches Time Junk Journal Kit & Fairy Junk Journal Kit
- Pink Monach Prints – Botanical/Floral Words
- SAACIBO – Healing Herbs Index Cards
Sari silk
Reference Video
Die Cuts
- Matty’s Crafting Joy – Stitched Slots Pocket Set
- KaiserCraft – Decorative Die – Scribble ( Out of Stock)
Stamps
- Lavinia Stamps – Giselle & Creeping Vine
Other Junk Journals You May Like
Maureen says
I found your link through a Tailwind community, and I wanted to check out your journal. This is amazing. I love how you incorporate lace and fabric.
Alanda Craft says
That’s awesome Maureen. Good to know Tailwind Communities is working 😊. Thank you for your lovely comment. I really had fun making these junk journals and it was a perfect opportunity to use up some scrappy bits.