This art journal started as an afternoon of experimenting with paint alongside my son — no plan, no particular intention — and ended up becoming one of my favourite things I've ever made. It's a flip-through of that journal: a junk journal / art journal hybrid built almost entirely from repurposed materials, with painted and mark-made pages, hand embroidery, paper beads, and a chain closure made from a dismantled necklace. The whole thing was inspired closely by Jennibellie's tutorial (linked below), and her influence is very visible — from the style of the tags to the way the pages feel.
What we cover
This is a full flip-through of a completed art journal — cover to last page — with a closer look at the closure and a few pauses along the way to explain how specific elements were made. It's less a step-by-step tutorial and more a show-and-tell: here's what's possible when you treat every scrap of packaging, every leftover piece of fabric, and every paint experiment as raw material.
What you'll learn
How to use a tissue box, packaging cardboard, and linen box as journal structure — the cover came from a box that linens arrived in; circles punched from a tissue box become decorative page elements. Nothing goes to waste.
How bubble wrap dipped in paint creates texture on journal pages — press it down, lift it off, and you get an immediately recognisable pattern. Combine it with fingerprint stamping and watered-down paint for loose, experimental backgrounds.
How styrofoam packaging becomes a mark-making tool — tear off a piece, dip it in paint, and drag or press it across the page. The irregular surface leaves marks no brush would make.
How a leaf placed on paper and sprayed with gold spray paint becomes a stencil — lay the leaf flat, spray over the top, lift it away. What's left is a clean silhouette in gold on whatever background you've built underneath.
How kids' shoe soles with patterned treads work as stamps — my son's old shoes, especially the ones with floral patterns on the sole, dipped in paint and pressed onto pages, give you shapes and textures that feel genuinely handmade rather than tool-made.
How to make and attach paper beads to a journal spine — I rolled and sealed these myself, then added a coat of sparkly nail polish for the finish. They sit on the spine alongside fabric scraps and charms.
How to hand-embroider directly onto journal pages and the cover — the journal's name on the cover is hand-embroidered with embroidery floss. A small "let's create" piece sits loose inside, unb backed, and I actually like how it looks that way.
A chain closure made from repurposed jewelry hardware, including:
- A crocodile clip (jewelry-making finding) attached to the spine
- A necklace chain clipped on and threaded across the cover
- A second clip at the front that fastens and releases the closure
- Jump rings and a heart-shaped pendant from a necklace, turned into a decorative spine charm
How to make and use Jennibellie-style tags — layered, decorated tags that tuck into hand-sewn tuck spots on the pages. The video shows several variations, including a detailed altered tag with "language of the flowers" imagery that I'll be honest — took long enough that I haven't made another one since.
What "book jewelry" looks like in practice — a beaded or chained element that hangs from the journal like an accessory. More decorative than functional, but exactly the kind of detail that makes a handmade journal feel like an object rather than just a notebook.
Tips & gotchas
Bubble wrap gives you the most satisfying results when the paint is just thick enough to coat the surface without flooding the cells — too runny and the pattern fills in and disappears. A quick press and lift rather than a roll or drag keeps the shape crisp.
Styrofoam from packaging works brilliantly for mark-making, but it soaks up paint unevenly, which is actually the point. Re-dip between every press if you want consistent coverage, or work with the variation if you want something more organic.
The leaf stencil trick with spray paint is simple, but the result depends on keeping the leaf completely flat against the paper. A slightly curled edge will let paint bleed underneath and soften the silhouette. Fresh, flat leaves straight from picking tend to behave better than dry ones.
For the kids' shoe sole stamps — the patterns on the soles of small children's shoes, especially girls' shoes, often have flowers or geometric shapes that are genuinely lovely. If you have old small shoes you'd otherwise throw away, check the sole first.
The chain closure looks delicate but holds well if you crimp the fixed clip completely closed at the spine end so it can't move. Only the front clip opens and closes — the rest of the chain just drapes and looks like jewelry on the book.
An art journal with a fully finished page is harder to add to; one that's half-there invites you back. If this kind of loose, experimental approach appeals to you, Jennibellie's original tutorial is worth watching alongside this flip-through — her tag-making process in particular is something I've returned to more than once.
