A Roaring 20’s Art Journal

Hello, friends!

This is my first Paper Play post on a topic other than my AECP course creations.  Today I’m sharing my very first art journal with you, which was made using the Beauty of the Roaring 20’s digital kit from The Gingerbread Prints (TheGingerbreadPrints.Etsy.com).  This digital kit contains so many beautiful images, ephemera, and paper that is inspired by the 1920’s.

I wanted this to be a shorter art journal since it was my first attempt at creating one.  Given this, the design I had in mind was to make a sort of flipbook art journal out of chipboard.  I figured this would give it enough sturdiness to stand up and be displayed.

I started by cutting three 5x7 pieces of chipboard and two 3x7 pieces.  These pieces act as the structure of the journal.

I needed to bind these pieces together in order to create the journal, and decided to go with white duct tape.  Duct tape is strong, super sticky, and flexible.  I have to say that it worked really well!  I adhered pieces of duct tape along the sides of the chipboard, and then placed a corresponding piece of tape on the other side.  You may see the finished structure in the video below.

With the jounal structure made, I started to cover the pages with paper.  I selected one of the collage papers from the kit to use as the front and back covers.  I cut the height of the paper to 7”, ran double sided tape around the non-printed side paper, added some craft glue for extra reinforcement, and adhered it to the front & back covers of the journal.  Next up was chosing the paper for the inside pages of the journal.  I selected the postcards and written note collage papers from the kit and cut them to a 7” height.  They were then adhered to the larger inside page spreads using double sided tape and craft glue.  I had some paper from a vintage paper bundle that I bought on Amazon.  I selected four sheets of that paper, cut it down to 3x7, and adhered a piece to each of the smaller journal flaps (you guessed it . . . using double sided tape and craft glue! 😊)  My journal pages were now made and I wanted to add a little extra shine to it.  Gold was a popular color in the art deco designs of the 1920’s, and so I decided that shine would come from gold washi tape.  I ran some craft glue along the edges of the covers and pages to reinforce the washi tape, and then cut & adhered pieces of the washi tape throughout the journal.

I went through the kit and selected the images and ephemera that I wanted to use to create the vingettes on each page.  After cutting them out, I adhered them to the pages using craft glue, double sided tape, or a combination of the two.  There were some items, such as the french door frame, street lamp, and Eiffel Tower, that I cut out using dies in my collection.  There were also some stamps and decorative items from my collection that I added as well.

I really enjoyed the process of creating this journal!  While similar to card making, the nice thing about an art/junk journal is that there is no wrong way to do it since you are the audience for it.  It’s your art, your process, and your happiness that matters.  I’m truly happy with my journal and hope that it may bring you some joy, too!  Until next time . . . be well!