A Fabric junk journal

Since I began making junk journals, I've been thinking about incorporating fabric in to a project. I kept saying "someday", and in the meanwhile, looking for inspiration from others to make my very own fabric junk journal.

My inspiration

There are so many wonderful artists on Instagram. I love the fabric junk journals by Sophie De Cort. After seeing some of her photos, I decided I simply had to try my hand at one of these. First, a few photos of her work:

junk journal made from fabric

fabric tabs on journal pages

Amazing, isn't it. I'll get there one day. I love, not only how the colors, so many of them, work well and complement each other. When you add in the mixing of the acrylic paints, you've got such a lovely cluster of colors. It's pretty interesting to me, how Sophie manages to pull it all together.

Finding my pieces

Recently I got some upholstery fabric samples as well as some scraps of watercolor paper that had already been painted with bold bright colors. I got these things from the art group I attend sometimes. People share their scraps and leftovers, which is a great way to find things for a new project.

a pile of painted paper scraps

I began with making the cover. The outside isn't very inspiring; it's got a busy fabric pattern that I sewed some beaded string to. The inside is much better. I wish I had a better picture, but here's what it looked like before I started sewing in the signatures. I added some handwriting just to make it interesting. I like how it adds something to the paint in the background.

3 signatures ready to be sewn into the cover

My signatures were comprised of papers that are all different sizes. I like that staggered effect.

staggered pages with lots of color

Sometimes I did a bit of stenciling to add more interest in the pages. Below I did a full collage with washi tape and a postage stamp.

One of the main features of the journal is the piece of driftwood I sewed on to a piece of fabric. I've had that piece of driftwood for years and years. I don't even remember where I was hiding it. In my desk drawer. How did I manage to pull it out at just the right time?! I put some beads on a copper wire and wrapped it all around. It was then easy to sew the wire on to the piece of fabric.

Sewing a piece of driftwood on to the fabric

This has turned out to be an odd little book. I like it that way. It's different than anything I've ever done. Here's the video in case you are interested in seeing the whole thing:

https://youtu.be/2WJMr1aodiM

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Rolodex card collage art

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A Deck of prompt cards