Are you easily influenced? I am and I have been spotting mini art journals all over the interwebs, mainly Instagram and I wanted to make my very own teeny tiny journal.

So I did!

I have lots of paper ephemera ranging from maps to paper bags via old National Geographic magazines and sports order forms, so I thought I would drag it all out and make a book or five!  You know how it is, once you start, you can’t stop.

I started with a couple of small but not mini books, they are about five and a half inches by four inches and some of the pages fold out to make a wider spread.

To stitch them together at the spine, I used wax linen and pamphlet stitch.

I found a good book at the library with lots of clear instructions called How to make Books by Esther K. Smith which is full of great ideas including the single signature pamphlet or leaflet style book.

I cut out three different size mini journals, the biggest is three by two inches and the smallest is three by one inch.  I used a finer thread which I think is upholstery thread (thicker than regular sewing) to sew these books together.

Making your own books is such fun, you can use all kinds of paper including plain and/or ruled and make whatever size book you want with extra fold out pages too.

There are only a few plain pages in these books because I like to work on a page which is not completely blank and I love old pages with text or information on them.

Some of my favourite art journals are made from altered vintage books or ledgers from years gone by.  I am often found at estate sales and thrift shops looking carefully at the old books or even any random piles of papers, it is amazing what you will find.

I can’t wait to get started in one of these books, in fact I almost guarantee I will be starting on at least one or two to work alongside each other.

When the paint in one book is drying I need to be able to carry on in another book, so I am happy that I have made a pile!

I hope you are having a creative day,  Happy Wednesday x