I have been wanting to do one of these TBT’s for a long time. But, because of the type of scheduling I do for my blog posts, this is the first Thursday I’ve landed on in a long time.

This is going to be a pretty photo heavy blog post, so I hope you have a beverage at hand!

My first keepsake journal! I read some of my old journaling in it, I spend a lot of time talking about how much I love it!

The majority of it is sewn together, this was my “sewing” phase, and an excellent way to use up scraps! What you will see inside is the flotsam and jetsam that I pulled out of drawers and envelopes that I had collected over the years.

Let’s get started…

My favorite postcard ever! It was sent to me back in the ’90s from my brother when he lived in Ireland. I made a pocket out of velum so that you could see the whole card.

On the left is a handmade postcard and a pocket made from a paint swatch with some journaling tucked inside.

The page on the right is a piece of the freezer paper I use to protect my desk when I’m painting. I love the effect of an instant background. I made a pocket to store things too!

On the left is a postcard from my mother-in-law from Italy.

Another postcard and a journaling pocket. If you look closely, you can see some of the stitching on the pages.

More journaling. That envelope on the right is one  I took apart and glued back together inside out. I stamped the word “safe” onto a piece of paper and glued it into the window.

If you’ve noticed the aqua rub ons and faux stamps, I thought the eclectic mix of colors and styles in this journal could use a little cohesiveness, so I added them throughout, and I needed to use them up!

More postcards and journaling…with pockets…

On the left, there is a photo of my first article in Art Journaling magazine and in the pocket is a friend’s doodle. She doodles a lot and I always keep them. I sewed some fabric onto it and journaled inside.

On the right is a pocket with an anniversary card from my husband and some journaling in an envelope.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and I hope I gave you a few good ideas for using up some random crap! It all seems random until you put it all together in one place.

Once again,

Thank you for visiting,

Have a great day,

~Patty