Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Favorites: Crafting the Perfect Personal Journal




I enjoy keeping a journal and usually have three I use at a time.  I have one where I keep a list of books I want to read, movies that I'd like to see, travel ideas, and other things I want to research. I have another journal where I develop my craft project ideas, and a third book where I make notes on my knitting projects.  I take great care in choosing each of these journals, and I want each book to have a special look and feel to it.  These are personal items and I like each one to be unique in its own way.

However, the super nice and pretty journals can get expensive and sometimes the ugly ones on the clearance table are a tempting alternative.  So I created a way to cover the not-so-pretty journals with a unique woven paper design to add color, creativity, and personality to my journal or sketchbook.  This same technique can also be used to beautify and upcycle a diary, scrapbook, family albums, photo albums, baby books, and wedding albums.


This paper craft uses the basic weaving technique that most of us learned in art class in school.  The materials are hardcover book, some decorative paper and some Mod Podge.


 
More photos and a step by step tutorial are on my Hubpages.  This tutorial is also featured on AnyoneCanScrapbook.com.  I hope you check it out!