Once I had started making the Treasure Box from this post, I was already thinking about what I was going to put inside it as part of the gift I was making for my friend, so I decided to try this little Passport Book die journal to see how it fitted inside. Turns out three of them with inserts fit comfortably inside this little treasure box.
The Finished Journals
I made three little journals and made nine little notebooks to fit inside them, three in each. You can see them in more detail in this video.
Journal Construction
First, I used some mat board to die cut all the pieces for the journal covers, then cut the front and back cover pieces from some of the Cosmos paper so that one journal matched the box. Then I chose other papers from Prima Midnight Garden that I liked for the other two covers.
I painted the covers and spine in this cool blue acrylic mixing two of Finnabair’s Impasto paints together to make a custom colour. I used some Tim Holtz papers for the insides, and glued everything down. Assembly is very easy, some people use adhesive tape but I find it better to use wet glue, in this case Nuvo Deluxe adhesive.
Notebook Construction
This die also cuts covers for folders that can be inserted inside the journals. I used some previously painted watercoloured backgrounds to cut them in two themes – galaxy backgrounds and rainbow backgrounds. Then I cut some Rhodia squared and dot grid paper to size and made them into signatures to fit inside each of the notebook covers. Then I stitched them together using strong linen thread. I used a corner rounder to round the pages to match the covers.
Finishing Touches
I decided to cover the insides of the journals with paper, which covered up some of the lovely blue painting I had done, but I felt that it finished them off better than just paint. I gave everything a coat of clear Gesso for protection. So now all that needed to be done was put it all together. I was trying to decide which way to go to attach the notebooks to the journal covers. The covers have holes already punched in the spine so thread or elastic can be used to thread through the holes and attach the notebook inserts Midori style. However, because I had constructed my notebooks in a different way, I decided to loop elastic around the outside of the covers and use that to just slide the notebooks inside. In this case, elastic hair bands were the perfect size for this!
Final Thoughts
These little journals are so useful and can be used for multiple purposes depending on what you need. Think of them as mini art journals, junk journals, bullet journals, travel journals or any other type of notebook. They can be made from mat board, chipboard, fabric, leather, just about anything at all.
PROJECT RECIPE:
Clear Gesso
Mat Board
Stamperia Cosmos Collection
Eileen Hull Passport Book die
Prima Midnight Garden paper
Finnabair Impasto paint
Tim Holtz paper stash – Correspondence
Rhodia square and dot grid paper
Strong linen thread
Watercolour paper – previously painted
Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
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