making mini's

When a question comes your way, it is an opportunity to create the answer.

How small can a journal be?

I had seen mini junk journals on my online YouTube travels admiring other journal crafters make some very cute, grungy, tiny tiny ones but I'd never considered making one myself - until now.

Inspiration from a conversation with another

This journal creation was inspired by an interaction with a lovely stranger one afternoon whilst I was on holiday at the Sunshine Coast. The lovely young lady I got talking with turned out to be a wedding dress maker and we had a lovely chat talking about creating, the benefits and the challenges.

In the conversation she kindly asked me ''what do I create?".

At that time I didn't know quite how to respond as I actually have several pursuits in life and I didn't have a brief ''elevator pitch'' response practiced.

To read more on my other pursuits - visit here.

The idea of this journal was to create a mini version of the bigger journals so an interested other can
see, feel, flip through to get real life sense of
what a junk journal is
when I am out and about in the world.

Time for Business

I hadn't really shared my journal creating with anyone except family and this moment of unpreparedness sparked the unravelling of ideas to answer the question I was asked.

From this moment, I set about to update my own business cards to include a QR code for quick access to my website, print more out and create my own business card holder.

One evening whilst looking for ideas on YouTube, I came across an origami style paper folding wallet/card holder. I was inspired so much with this idea that I made a whole batch from pages of a large flower book. They are so simple, functional and a great size for personal use or even as gifts - like a paper wallet.

Size is approximately 8cm wide x 11cm tall
with 2x signatures.

Why would you do that?

A few months later later, another interaction with an artist at a local market amplified my need to bring preparedness to this question again. In chatting with this artist she inquired if I was an artist or market stall holder.

I answered that I was not a stall holder but I was a creator.

My mother who I was with at the time shared with the artist that I was a creator of beautiful junk journals to which the artist responded ''but why would you do that?''.

This also led me to answer the second question and add to this website some content on 'what is a junk journal'.

It's just so cute and I love how the dragonfly draws the eye.

If only I had a journal on me

This was a great question and again encouraged me to quickly offer a response that made sense to someone that had never heard or seen of such creations before. I'm not sure how well I did in conveying 'making journals out of junk, just because'.

In travelling light at the markets my mum and I were perusing, (husband was in the background somewhere under a tree to keep cool in the summer heat), I realised after all my making of business card holders, I didn't have anything on me to give to this artist or even show her an example of what I create.

I fumbled with my phone in the glaring daylight to try and show her some images on my website. If only I had a business card on me or a sample journal to demonstrate what a junk journal is.

2 Strikes

This encounter was the second strike from beyond to urge me to create the answer to the question now two strangers had put to me and my mini journal was born - from leftovers of a master board used for a bigger journal.

I filled up the cover with scraps of papers, a folded envelope as internal pockets to hold my business cards and I added some embellishments to the pages as usual. I even included one of my handmade flat journal pens and embellished paperclips.

An embellished envelope within the signature as a pocket to hold my business cards.

The top of the envelope was torn off and then added back into the signature as a top tuck spot - for even more business cards.

Question Answered

I'm quite please with this mini and am considering making a few more to have available for purchase. Its actually nice to hold in the hand, the pages are actually plenty for writing notes, lists, ideas and more. It's not too heavy and most importantly, its very cute and pretty.

Never Again Without

Now I aim to have this cute mini journal dangle with me at all times when I leave the house and I made sure to put business cards in all my wallets, bags, journals so I'm never again left without the answer to the question ''what do you create?".

And....I've since made an even smaller one - as a phone dangle. --->

My Mini Journal Phone Dangle

Here it is. I wasn't really into the bag or phone dangle buzz until recently. But of course - making your own bespoke dangle not just for decoration but for functional use makes more sense to me.

This mini mini journal is still functional, has writing pages, a few embellished pages for effect and includes some of my business cards. I recently purchased the handmade charm dangle from some craft markets.

I made my own dangle insert to place inside the phone case (not sure what they are called) from a nearly cast away piece of acetate, punched a hole in the tab to add my own eyelet to house the tassle and all the dangles.

It seems a lot - all the different dangles together - but in actual fact, it's quite handy to have these as I can now find my phone in my handbag with ease - especially when it slides all the way to the bottom of my bag.

The dangle charms are long enough that they can hang outside of my bag or basket I take with me and help to identify where my phone is and of course - the charms are cute and invite the eye just in case anyone asks ''what is that little book you have there?''.

No excuse to never have a journal on me ever again.