Inside Joy

Julie got her journal a couple days ago so I thought I would give you a peek at the inside joy. I shared details about the layered cover in this post. 

If you remember....Julie's stash was full of bits and bobs of color....and it's ALL in the journal. 

I'm not going to share all the pages....but it was hard tp choose...so you're going to see quite a few of them. The post got a little long....so read on if these kinds of things bring you joy.

I stitched a belly band on the inside cover with another piece of Julie's fabric snippet strip. I knew I wanted this journal to be layered....with pages of different sizes and pieces and parts peeking through. 

Julie included several art papers done by her grandson....Connor loves rainbows and bright colors! I added just a few of my gelli prints but Collin's art is featured on most of the base pages.

Julie included several little puzzle pieces....the pink one became a tab to turn the little heart page.  

Most of the pages are double up and reinforced...and I carried the black stitching throughout the journal. I like using a mix of straight and zig zag stitches.

I cut some of the pages following Connor's line drawings. I think these unexpected shapes make the journal more interesting. The crayon cutout is glued to that page strategically placed for viewing from the prior pages.

Julie and Cherie are friends....and one of Cherie's clothing tags tops a little pocket.

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All through the journal you get a glimpse of things to come...including the llama and the pink butterfly. I include a butterfly in every book because of this post. 

Wonderment was one of the words Julie included....and it seemed perfect along this page. 

I tried to leave some open spaces for Julie or Conner to do their own thing. 

There wasn't room for many....but there's a few.

This is the center...and the heart and soul of the book. It was tall page from the book Llama Llama Red Pajama that Julie read to Connor at bedtime every time they were together at either house. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. I had to figure out a way to cut it down preserving the art and words. It worked out well. 

These next few pages have lots of layers and a page that flips out. Julie sent the stickers and cutouts in cellophane envelopes....I cut them down and turned them into pockets in a few places.

All the stickers came from Julie....Connor loves dragons.

This spread has a couple of pockets. I tucked Julie's Monopoly card in the side pocket and there's another puzzle piece as a tab on a pullout in the other pocket.

I folded Connors practice alphabet page into a little zine. 

I wanted to finish with another rainbow....I've had this card for years. 

If there's any journal it belongs in...it's this one. This PERFECTLY IMPERFECT joy journal.

The rainbow card has some texture...and included Rainbow written in braille. 

I saved it and tucked it in the joy pocket. There's a another belly band on the back cover.

Another art piece....that I almost forgot about. I didn't quite know what to do with it. Too much of it would be lost if I folded it into a zine. So I backed it with fused fabric and cut it out. Julie could iron it flat again if she wanted to...but it gave me something to tuck in the last belly band.

This last little page started as a plain white add on for the spool cover page. I found this paper snippet strip in my stash and thought it was a nod to her fabric snippets and I turned it into a side pocket. Congratulations if you're still with me here at the end. Julie's Joy Journal is a wrap!