Faith Hale I love to junk journal but my energy level specifically for gathering ephemera can range wildly. Sometimes I’m a lil’ magpie bopping around town getting bits and bobs from a bunch of different locations, and sometimes I’m so overwhelmed with the things I have on hand that I want to sit in one place and churn through a few spreads without having to think to hard about it. We’ll be working on three different junk journaling spread ideas you can use again and again.
We’re heading to CVS for a magazine! Pack up your journal, a pair of scissors, a glue stick, and some pieces of parchment if you’re concerned about pages sticking to themselves. The CVS is a half mile away, just a few blocks. On our way we pass some spooky decor. Hi skeletons!
Plan to spend no more than $10 on a magazine, ideally something that catches your eye but that you won’t be tempted to save – we want to feel comfortable chopping this thing up. I love working with fashion magazines because the style spreads are always a little bit weird and the colors form a gorgeous overall palette. And of course you can work with a magazine you have on hand, but I love an excuse to go out, and we’re heading to the coffee shop anyway, so we might as well!
Now that our main material has been acquired, it’s time for an artsy solo date somewhere with a spectacular bulletin board. This one is my favorite in town and if an event has passed, I’ll pull down the flyer to cut up and use. Not today though – today is the magazine only. Lets get a vanilla latte (and an apple braid, warmed up) and spread out our supplies.
Junk Journal Spread Idea #1: Animal Heads on People’s Bodies
Flip through the magazine once to get a feel for the vibes. For our first assignment, we’re getting inspiration from the artist John Hiltunen, who cuts out bodies and replaces their heads with animal faces. We’re keeping an eye out for a solid pose, for anything we can use as a replacement head, and animals. Cut out a few to try out and don’t be afraid to be fussy with it. I like “auditioning” different heads and backgrounds and went through a few before settling. These gem people are my first attempt but I’m not gluing anything down just yet.
I’m checking to see if a background could make it more interesting and this big cat makes me want to try out a cat head on one of the people.
I am loving Miss Kitty but think this particular background is a bit cluttered. And, I’m a little skeptical about the sweater gem man. Cat Lady is oozing cool but he seems a little impatient, no? Lets revisit the big cat.
Here’s the final spread I settled on. I paged through the magazine twice more looking for the perfect accessories, and I’m just tickled with how it turned out.
Junk Journal Spread Idea #2: Make A Collection
Now that I’m feeling warmed up and have seen each magazine page a few times, I’m on to assignment number two: make a collection.
This one’s a bit more straightforward: decide on something you can make a collection out of, cut them out, and paste them on the page. Eyeballs are great and weird for this. Depending on the season, you might be able to find clouds or grass, and if there are a lot of buildings you can find windows. Deciding on what specifically is my favorite part and I always try to lean into my odder impulses. One of my favorite spreads has a page ringed with elbows, and on day nine of my Altered Book class, I collected hands, (though wouldn’t actually recommend it because cutting the fingers was so fussy!). Find something you can get 4-8 of. I liked the legs at the top because it made it look like people were floating into the sky, and I added this picture from a photo shoot to balance out the page.
Junk Journal Spread Idea #3: Stacking Color Blobs
At this point, our magazine should be sufficiently trashed, so we’re going to do one last pass and look only for color. Assignment three: Cut out a rainbow of color blobs and organize them in stacks. I liked this rainbow situation and the page reads as so happy to me. This looks fun but is also a lovely nod to the grounding or mindfullness technique of looking around you to locate a single colors. I always feel so soothed after one of these spreads. As with all of my more abstract spreads, when I look back on them and can identify where most of the elements came from it doesn’t just capture the feeling of a creative day – it feels like an inside joke with myself.