Junk Journal with Bridget Benton

This is a workshop inspired by one of my students. She shared her Junk Journal in class, and I was utterly inspired. A few weeks later, I went out and made one of my own, and now? I’m obsessed!

I always thought book binding and journal making was too “fiddly” – too much measuring, too much precision – for my style of artmaking. But the Junk Journal has changed my mind.

This is a no-sew stash-clearing journal that uses scraps of collage papers, old book pages, gelli plate prints, and eco printed papers. The cover is made using old cereal boxes, or in my case, La Croix boxes. A scrap of eco-printed muslin became the spine. Leftover ribbon from my wedding decorations became the binding. I didn’t have to buy a thing – and neither will you! All that and the random pages are sure to inspire painting, collaging, writing, and doodling!

Join me for this two-day class and we’ll build our cover, then gather and distress and decorate interior pages. I’ll even be sharing some hand-printed papers from my own stash with you! For assembly, I’ll demonstrate a no-sew binding as well as a simple stitched binding. Finally, we’ll start in on working in the journal with some simple prompts and inspirations.

You’ll leave with at least one completed journal and a jump-start on using it for an easy, daily creative practice. ALL materials provided, though students are encouraged to clear their paper stash and bring their own junk journal ingredients including ribbons, fabric scraps, cereal boxes, junk mail envelopes, file folders, old greeting cards, collage papers, old book pages, etc.

This two-day class will take place on February 12th and February 13th, 10AM-4PM both days.