I Heart Junque/Art Journals

Have you ever heard of a "Junque" Journal? It's a composition book you decorate and put all of your odds and ends in. You know, those movie tickets, baseball game tickets, brochures, and even those Christmas card photos that people send you every year and then you have no idea what to do with them after the holidays. Basically junk! What I think is cool about this idea is you can also journal about the experiences you had with these items and once your journal is full, you can pass them down to your children and they can look back on all of the things you did over the years and read your thoughts about them.

My cousin Lisa is 19 years old and has been in the Navy for a year now. She came to San Diego on the USS Reagan for about 2 weeks and spent last weekend with us. I made her a Junque journal for her travels. She took the task on full force. I painted the cover and started the inside of the journal for her. She sat down with all of my stamps, ink pads, stickers etc. and "junked" up her book big time. She loves "In and Out Burger" and never gets to eat it until she visits California (which isn't often)and she even took one of the wrappers from the burger joint and glued it in her journal. I love it!!

If you do a search on YouTube under "Junque Journals" you will find a great 3 part tutorial on how to make one.

Awhile ago I took a class by Julie Prichard from The Land of Lost Luggage on how to make journals. Well, months later, I have finally finished the one she calls LTS (Long Tall Skinny). I have to tell you, I LOVE THIS JOURNAL!! I think it came out so cool. The pages are all collaged and ready for painting and journaling! If you get a chance to take any of her classes, I highly recommend doing so!

Also if you live in the San Diego area and need portraits done, Julie is a wonderful photographer. The beautiful young lady on the front page of her website is my daughter. Julie shot her High School Senior pictures and they came out so beautiful!!