a tale of 3 journals: journal the second

 

 

Journal the Second, aka, the file folder journal, is by far my favorite journal at present. It's similar to this one but I'm waiting to bind it all together when it's done or when I'm done, whichever comes first. The covers are made from a spray painted file folder stitched together with heavy weight fabric to give it a little extra strength. I've also nestled in another folder to hold all the pages together nicely until I decide to bind them up. You'll notice that the cover is not really decorated, unlike Journal the First. In fact, I don't think too much about covers. My usual modus operandi is to work on the cover only if it screams at me that something specific needs to be done (the 10 cent stamp keeps me humble and reminds me of what my thoughts are really worth). Otherwise I leave it for the very end. Once the journal is finished or filled, I'll decorate the cover to kind of tie it all in together. Either that or I'll ignore it and move on happily to the next one.

The beauty of Journal the Second is its simplicity (easy to make, easy to change, easy to work in) and its loose pages. Although preparing pages for journaling with paint, ink, etc. is one of my favorite things to do, there is no prepping pages for the file journal. I simply stick my spray painted papers right in (after a little stitching, of course) and call them ready to go. Its first few pages have stayed the same, but I like to move the rest around depending on which sets of pages I'm working on or have completed. Once their 'done', I like to admire them for a while and then I don't really want to see them again (for a long while, anyway) and it bugs me to keep running into them.

  

 
 
These are a few of the pages in the front of the line for now. I'll tend to work among them first.

(Notice the Papaya! influence??) If I get stuck on a page, it will eventually get sifted to the back until inspiration strikes again. I've never worked in order or chronologically. I'd rather skip around working here and there as I feel inspired, so the loose pages are particularly nice there. And I love that I can stick them back under the sewing machine any time I want! 

You can see that starting with the spray painted papers gives these pages a completely different feel than Journal the First. They start off busier and way more colorful. I don't know if I'll always journal like this, but I'm seriously enjoying it at the moment. Here are some completed pages; some you've seen before, but to give you an idea where they fit in to the whole journal family....

 

 

 

  

Next up: Journal the Third, the adopted child....

Comments

[Pamela Holderman]

OK I just love this! glad I found your blog and I will keep returning...

[Laura Pace]

Are you going to coil bind this?

I too have been doing some of my journaling on loose pages. So I've been thinking about how I might bind them at some point in the future.

[littleblackkitty]

Hi, Laura! Yes, my plan is to coil bind it at some point. I recently bought a binder and have fallen in love with it--worth every penny! Most of my journals before the binder had folded pages in pamphlet style sewn together (which I still like), but I love the freedom of individual pages! xo, debra

Debra Cooper

My Artist Blog: A Little Imagination and A Pile of Junk

Shop littleblackkittyart on Etsy

[Lynn]

I've made a journal a few years ago, but its not as beautiful as yours!!! Thank-you for the inspiration!

[Jessica]

This is beautiful and unique! I have had your blog linked to my blog for awhile now and like to return time and again. Each time I do, you always have something special, and this time is no exception-:)

[Christie (SweetbriarStudio)]

Wowee Kazowee! I really, really love your journals. I'm taking a class where we are combining all sorts of techniques to make fabric 'pieces'. we're ending with a book that will use the fabric pieces as covers. You've inspired me to have fun with the inside, too. Thanks!

[cheryl]

sweet! how 'bout 'journals the yummy!' or 'journals the sparklins' or 'journals the happy'...just had to let you know how the prettiness got to me! thanks for posting :)