2020 #10 Junk Journal with Urban Snapshots {by Miriam Grazier}

2020 Topic 10: Recycled Packaging

Miriam has created a junk journal that is anything but junk! Her clever finds of everyday materials to transform is the perfect epitome of this recycling topic. What I find amazing is that you simply can't tell what some of these adapted elements started life as when you view the wonderful finished result.

~ Keren,

Hi everyone, it's Miriam with you today, and I'd like to share with you a junk journal that I have created using all recycled packing apart from 1 sheet of A4 Smoothy card.

I feel as though I have been preparing for this topic for years.  I often look at packaging and put it aside because I think it looks 'interesting'.  I always recycle packaging where I can but it is so satisfying when I can turn it into something to use and love.

With money being quite tight for many at the moment I wanted to create something using materials around me and I was actually quite surprised at how I used these materials.

I love making junk journals and mini albums so knew straight away this is what I wanted to create as soon as I had gathered my materials.  I always find creating a journal very calming and I lose myself in the creation of them.

The materials that I collected were a mixture of packaging from clothes, book covers and even cheese.  I find cardboard from cereal boxes and tags perfect to stamp on as you don't see that it was from packaging when you adhere them to your project.

The only non-recycled item I used was one A4 sheet of PaperArtsy Smoothy card which I used to create a brayered masterboard for my covers.

The Urban Snapshot stamps are some of the first PaperArtsy stamps I purchased. I adore these and they are so versatile.  You also get a lot of stamps on each stamp sheet.

US Nature 1

US Nature 2

US Nature 3

US Nature 4

I loved how I turned this pillow box packaging into a pocket in my journal.  I simply snipped the bottom, painted the whole box using Cloud 9 and Spring Fresco Acrylic Chalk paints and then stamped and scribbled around the pocket.

  

I loved using different materials for my pages and the bubble wrap packaging was another idea.  It already had a top opening so I merely folded it over to create 2 pocket pages.  I added Cloud 9 quite roughly , along with Spring that I added using my finger.  I love how this page came out and it's so useful as a pocket too.

All of my tags were originally from clothes and the bonus was that they had string still attached to them.

I used leftover bits of card from my covers to decorate the front of some of the tags.

This was my favourite tag as it had an extra tag attached to it - it was a bonus for me!

Even the tissue paper that clothes are wrapped in was useful.  I found giving it a layer of paint gave it more strength.

Even the button was re-purposed from an old duvet cover I used to have.  The elastic closure was in clothing packaging too.  See, it is worth saving everything!

It was actually quite liberating creating such a satisfying and useful project using materials saved from packaging.  And what's more, is that I can keep adding more pages. 

I think one thing I would have liked to have done is to save some envelopes - they would certainly be useful.  I also think materials like the plastic that dies come in would be great here.  I can imagine die cutting tags from it.  

My only tip.... which I don't have to confess to but will.... is before you glue your pages down check that they are in the right way up!  Yes, I had to unseal the pillow pocket as I had put it in upside down.  

I really hope that I have encouraged you to try this yourself.  Have a look around your home and you'll be amazed how much packaging you could find.  You never know, an embossed bit of packaging could also make a great stamp.

Thank you for joining me this evening.

Miriam

Blog: Miriam's Creative Dreams