Creative Overload

I’ve been on a roll lately with creating things. When Mike moved in, my sewing room became a spare bedroom. Lately, I’ve been working a lot of long, stressful hours at work. It was beginning to get to me. I asked Mike if we could figure out a way to unpack my sewing things so I had a way to forget about work for a while. He’s awesome and a few hours later, the spare bed was disassembled and I had a sewing area. YAY!!!

In short order, I completed three projects: a tote bag I started a few years ago and never finished, and a couple of cute little mug rug quilts for Mike and I to use on our desks at work.

My new tote bag

My mug rug

Mike’s Mug Rug, he picked the colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I read about “Smash” Journals on Pinterest. I had never heard of such a thing before. But, I’ve always kept little bits of paper (ticket stubs, brochures, etc.) that I couldn’t bear to throw away. I started doing a lot of research and the next thing I knew, I was on my way to my local craft supply store.

I really love the idea of the Smash journals, but not being able to add pages really bothered me. (I didn’t find the adhesive spine inserts until yesterday.) I wanted a three ring binder. This is what I found:

The journal before I played with it.

It was pretty thin.

 

 

 

 

It’s the  Creative Chaos Girl Power Small Binder by Recollections™. I found it at Michael’s right next to the Smash books in the scrapbooking section. This is what it looked like when I was done adding all the stuff I dug out of drawers and boxes:

 

Cover, After I Customized it

 Some Inside Pages

My Christmas Page

After, It Was Fat

 

 

 

 

 

 

I filled that journal up. Done. No more room. I have trouble turning the pages because it’s so full. I needed a new journal to put stuff in for 2013. I went back to the craft store. Man, those SMASH Journals are so pretty. But, they just won’t work for me. I like to add too much stuff.

I looked at dozens of tutorials online (YouTube is my friend) about how to make your own smash or junk journal. They are all so pretty! Tags, stamps, ribbons, vintage papers… I don’t have any of that stuff. I am not a scrapbooker. I don’t have even basic supplies like paper or stickers.

Making my own journal with all of that pretty stuff would require a lot of supplies I just don’t have laying around and can’t afford to buy. But, I do have spare office supplies. This is what I came up with:

1. A three ring binder (1-1/2 inch rings) with a pretty cover

2. Standard college ruled, loose leaf paper

3. 4 x 6 index cards, various colors

4. 5 x 8 index cards, white

5. Index dividers for in my binder

6. CD sized mailing envelopes (white and brown)

Then I went to the store and purchased a box of tags, some washi-style tape, stickers, a few of the SMASH journaling pads (Top 10, Family, and Entertainment), along with a SMASH Stick pen.

I also went to WalMart and purchased two $5 packs of scrap booking paper. They have pretty patterns on one side and the back is white. I bought a bunch of glue sticks and glued them together so both sides are pretty.

Then I used my three hole punch and put holes in everything. I loaded it all in my binder, along with a zipper pocket to hold stickers, pens, tape and my SMASH Stick. This is what it looks like:

Three Ring Binder

Pocket Page

Papers & Cards

I cut the brown envelopes down and glued them to the index tabs to make pockets. I put some tags, pages from the SMASH pads, post it notes and some index cards in the pockets so I can use them when I need them. I kept the white envelopes intact and just punched holes so they can hold stuff until I have a chance to glue it in.

I’m not going to customize the binder. It’s going to travel with me a lot so I’m going to wait until the journal is full, then purchase a paper binder and customize it later. Doing it now is just asking it to be ruined by riding around in my bag.

So, it’s not pretty. It doesn’t have the antique papers, gorgeous tags, pretty stamps and inks… but it will do what I need it to do. Maybe by the time I’m ready to make a new journal, I will have some of those cool things to do it with so I have a gorgeous journal. Right now, this is my non-scrapbook solution to making my own junk journal. I can’t wait to get started!