Danika’s Handmade Journal

Your Handmade 2010 Journal

by Danika Rameshfar

Why not start this new year…new decade even…out on a more insightful note with your very own hand-made journal? Easy to put together, this can be a reflection of your own creativity and something very personal, a way to explore your true identity.

Fill it full of memories, sketches, doodles, lists (oh, I love a good list), a mini 2010 calender, schemes, letters, maps, dreams, stamps, stickers, flowers, rubbish and those free postcards you get in pubs and tourist information offices. Write a novel, biography, songs, poems. Draw yourself. Draw someone else. Create a recipe, a knitting pattern, a spaceship…It can be anything you want it to be, so go for it!

Below are a list of steps taken to make this sample journal, but they are only guidelines. Feel FREE to do anything you want to your journal, decorate it in anyway you see fit and above all, make something that speak to you.

Materials:

Thick brown paper
Cardboard
Glue
Stapler
Scissors
Decorative items e.g. leaves, ribbons, sequins, music manuscript paper, wrapping paper, etc…

Procedure:

Cut out 2 pieces the same size from your cardboard. These will make the front and back covers. Make them as big or as small as you want your journal to be.
Cover both pieces of cardboard with brown paper, using glue to hold.
Cut pages for your journal from your selection of papers. I like to do three-quarters of the pages paper I can write on (coloured, lined, sketching paper, etc) and the other quarter more decorative (pages from magazines, novels, music manuscripts, photos, etc.).
Staple pages together down one side. This will be the spine of the journal.
Glue the front and back covers on over the where the staples are.
Use leaves, ribbon, wrapping paper, etc. to decorate the cover.

7. Start exploring and discovering…

Take a look at these links for more inspiration for your unique journal –

Danika Rameshfar is a crafty soul from Queensland, Australia. She made this journal originally as part of a project, exploring her ‘True Identity – who we were created by God to be’ and the result was so beautiful that Little Fire asked her to share.