I've become a little obsessed with junk journals lately. The coronavirus stay-at-home orders combined with a yearly junk journal page swap I'm participating in has given me reason to work on many pages and ephemera. I've also been watching many YouTubers in the junk journaling community which has been very inspiring.
When you remove pages to reduce bulk when making altered books or when you gut books to use the covers for all kinds of journals, you end up with a pile of loose pages! I have an abundance to use up! There are all kinds of ways to use book pages and here are just a few I've tried.
First, you can make "origami" boxes. These can be any size, depending on your pages and can hold so many things. I will use a few for cut up bits or odds and ends in my art room. They could also be used for jewelry or little gifts or office supplies ...
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| These are made from a pretty standard book page and measure about 2" square by 1" deep. |
A great use for book pages is for bases. They can be glued together to make them thicker and can be cut into tags, journaling cards, bookmarks, even pages for books and journals. Once they are collaged, they make beautiful elements.
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| journaling cards on doubled book page bases |
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| tag and journaling cards all on base of book pages (coin envelope in center has collaged book text) |
Torn up pages can be used for collage or even collaged bases for mixed media art.
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| canvas for mixed media prepared with book pages and gesso |
They can be folded or cut into many different kinds of envelopes and pockets.
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| double pocket |
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| vertical double pocket |
Stamp to make new "paper".
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| stamped book page made into envelope |
Cut out words from book text to use as titles or sentiments or poetry.
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| example from Pinterest |
Die cut or hand cut to make paper flowers.
Use as "glue pages." When gluing elements, work on an old book page. When it's sticky just throw away and start with another - a great way to keep your work area clean.
Some other ideas (which I haven't yet tried):
make paper beads, then color as desired
shred and make handmade paper
shred and use as "filling" when shipping packages
use as wrapping paper
punch for borders
make feathers
make ruffles
make banners or tabs
weave for a background
use for paper mâché
stamp on them and fussy cut images
punch or die cut shapes
I'm sure there are more ideas out there. I can assure you, I now rarely throw away a book page!
