Craft Project – Magazine Pages to Art Journal 

The inspiration 

There were a couple different sources of inspiration that blended together and formed the idea for this journal. It started with pages I’d saved from the magazine Bella Grace. When it was time to clear some of the clutter in my office, it felt like such a waste to toss them all. Instead of negotiating which issues to keep or toss, I kept only the pages that I felt were worth saving. It was a mix of images, articles, prompts and practices that seemed to call to me. I cut them out without really having a plan for what to do with them. In the meantime, I came across and saved this Youtube tutorial on binding single pages together for a journal. Somewhere along the way I was also influenced by videos and images of junk journal and art journaling. When I came across the pages recently, on another decluttering session, it all clicked together.  

The Good 

I finished. After so many previous attempts that were left incomplete, just that fact that I completed this project is a major win. Tackling any project from beginning to end is always a confidence builder. And not so surprisingly, the best way to learn and improve your skills. The reason most of my past projects got backburnered was because of the learning curve. My ambitions were way beyond my skills. Instead of bridging the gap with practice and experience, I gave up. 

Of course the best part of completing this project is now having my very own handmade, personalized journal to fill up. Most of the pages include some kind of prompt I can write to. But I also would like to use it as an art journal. I think the thick high quality paper will be able to handle a variety of media. I think it’ll be a fun place to experiment with collage, stamps, and the tons of paints I’ve collected.  I’ve already started filling in the first couple pages. 

The bad

This ended up being a lot more difficult than I anticipated and took longer than I wanted. The original plan was to work on the journal throughout December so it’d be done before the new year. But of course I got sidetracked by holidays, indecision and general procrastination. I took care of most of the prep work (aka procrastinating busy work) in December. The actual binding process didn’t start until January, I finished about halfway through the month. 

It has quite a few flaws. The paper I glued onto cardboard for both the outside and inside cover ended up slightly crooked. They also dried with a bit of a curve. The sewing job is a bit haphazard. It loose in some spots, too tight in others. I actually ripped a couple pages pulling too hard on the thread trying to tighten it up. And not all of the holes lined up, they are closer to the edge on a few pages. Overall, not great work and I just hope it stays together. 

The lessons 

I learned a ton working on this project. The first lesson was that I should have started with something simpler. This was a huge stretch outside of my bookbinding skills, so not a beginner project. I don’t expect to be trying my hand at it again anytime soon, if at all even. But I can definitely apply the lessons to most other bookbinding projects. 

For example, I should have consulted more than one source for sewing techniques. I wasn’t quite sure that I was doing it correctly because I couldn’t always see exactly what was being done in the video. There was at least one similar tutorial I’d watched but never went back to see if that had a better view. Or maybe found more detailed instructions and photos in one of the several books on bookmaking I own. And next time I’ll try doing the sewing all in one sitting. I got started, did a couple pages, then took a several day break. When I started again, I’d forgotten what to do. I felt lost and like I had to relearn it all over again. 

Related to the first lesson, starting off simpler, is that I need to slow down. I rushed through parts of it just to get it done, leading to some of the mistakes. If I’d taken my time I could have gotten the cover straight and lined up the holes properly. Looking back I also should have reinforced the pages, the tutorial suggested using a strip of tape along the edges. I chose to skip that step because I felt so far behind after the stalling and procrastination. I thought the sooner I started sewing the sooner it’s be finished.