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Earth Day Recycled Paper Handmade Notebook/Journal

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Earth Day Recycled Paper Handmade Notebook/Journal
Swap Coordinator:theanswerisseven (contact)
Swap categories: Handmade  Paper Crafts  Journals 
Number of people in swap:20
Location:International
Type:Type 3: Package or craft
Rating requirement:4.50 (unrated swappers allowed)
Last day to signup/drop:April 1, 2011
Date items must be sent by:April 22, 2011
Number of swap partners:1
Description:

For this swap you will spend a couple of weeks collecting all sorts of paper that could be recycled into a mini-notebook or journal. Think envelopes, boring circular letters, paper bags, magazine pages, wrapping paper. The things you ought to be recycling already, apart from now you'll be re-purposing them.

  1. Collect paper, enough for at least 15 page sheets/30 page sides.
  2. Collect a piece of card for the notebook cover.
  3. Cut down to uniform size [some smaller pages are okay]
  4. Bind into a notebook [sewn, ring-bound, stapled etc. are all okay].
  5. Send to your one designated partner!
  • It's okay if some pages are more decorative than functional [eg already have a picture or text on them] but make sure at least half the pages are functional. A 'functional' page could still include a postage stamp in one corner or be patterned as in the insides of envelopes.
  • Feel free to decorate if you wish - sew a button to the front cover, add a bookmark, paint the front cover, add an envelope somewhere inside to collect bits and bobs, use collage etc.
  • Try to use as many recycled materials as possible, not bought paper from your stash [unless, like me, you 'stash' includes mostly salvaged paper!]
  • Size of the notebook is up to you. Getting enough salvageable paper in larger sizes may be hard so don't expect anything too large!
  • Even though these will definitely be rough around the edges, please try to present your notebook as nicely as possible.

Try a few google searches for inspiration. I also just found this: http://craftydaisies.com/2007/07/05/making-your-own-mini-journal/

  • Rating of 4.5 needed, no recent unexplained 1s or 3s. If you're new maybe just message me or have on your profile a link to a handmade item you've made? Or something? I'm pretty new too so I'm not going to be mean!

ONE LAST NOTE: I'd like this to be kinda gender neutral so that everyone can be involved, so maybe bear this in mind when you make your book? Make the kind of notebook that could be enjoyed by anyone of any gender. [I know this is difficult, stereotype-heavy territory!]

Discussion

tiggerkitn25 03/14/2011 #

Good idea!

kindledwhimsy 04/ 1/2011 #

exciting! i'm in!

fawnscrafts 04/ 2/2011 #

I have run into a snag.

I cannot find scrap paper that is uniform in size.

After all this is the remnants of envys and one sided printed sheets of paper and other such papers.

tiggerkitn25 04/ 2/2011 #

I was planning on cutting remants and papers into a uniform size. Say about 3x5-ish? If you open up the envelopes you should be able to get at least that size I think.

fawnscrafts 04/ 4/2011 #

I figured it out.

Nowe get this.

I had one made and felt it is too small. because this is after a 'journal' book. So then I found some shipping paper and some parchment paper someone used in sending me items.

"Ah ha" ! I said to myself,"how perfect."

Well it is bigger, but not uniform, but hey, that is part of the design element.

So I decorate some of the pages. One of which was a page from a magazine about a small town in Wyoming. One I nevrer heard of and cut out the photo with enough information to make it interesting and without all the business part.

last night I am sorting postcards and getting them ready to put in proper boxes and putting protectors on them.

I happen to run across two postcards that are about the same town.

Ones I did not even know I had. They came in a batch of fifty cards..

Now what are the chances of that?

So I thought, if I find more cards, then I can use this for the swap. But I cannot find any more cards.

I just cannot break up this set and so what do I do. I now want this 'journal' because finding more of those cards will be like another needle in the hay stack.

So I am making my third recycle 'journal'.. LOL

I will keep the small one for grocery lists.

the odd shaped for thoughts and such.

And the third one for my partner.

Now I just have to decorate the third one.

fawnscrafts 04/ 4/2011 #

Oh and I do have some more paper, I just did not know where it was. Sis is a teacher, so she ahd a pile for recycling.

theanswerisseven 04/ 4/2011 #

Really, the journal might be very small. I'm from the UK so I used the word journal when making this swap because I thought that's what Americans called notebooks... and a notebook can be any size. I have already made a notebook for this swap and it is TINY. Trying to get another one together, but we'll see.

When you say the paper isn't uniform in size, what do you mean? Because when you cut it so size surely it will be?

theanswerisseven 04/ 4/2011 #

PS - When I say tiny, I mean it's like 2 by 3 inches.

tiggerkitn25 04/ 5/2011 #

Mine is turning out to be about 4x6 inches. A few pages are a little short but they all have straight cut edges. I have everything cut to size but not bound. And I'm going to stamp some of the pages with woodland rubber stamps since my partner likes the outdoors.

ukstash 04/ 6/2011 #

Mine is 3 x 6". I cut all the pages to the correct size, and used the scraps to practice the binding, before making the real journal. I think I prefer the irregular one, it has a quirky look that I like! I think I will send both to my partner and see which she likes best.

tiggerkitn25 06/23/2011 #

No journal, no communication since the middle of May. =( This was such a fun swap too.

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