If your drawers are filled with old ticket stubs, greeting cards, maps, or bits of ribbon you might use someday, you’re not alone. Many of us feel compelled to keep things that seem meaningful or potentially useful—but that tendency can sometimes spiral. Hoarding disorder is a real and serious condition, recognized in the DSM-5 as part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. If you believe you may be struggling with it, consult a medical professional. But if your collecting habits don’t interfere significantly with daily life, there’s a creative and therapeutic way to channel them: the junk journal.
Here’s a new word: papyrophiliac. A papyrophiliac is a person who loves paper, who is obsessed with pages from old books, scrapbooking paper, pretty craft beer labels, stickers, stationary, playbills, ticket stubs, old library checkout cards, old greeting cards, photographs, sheet music, maps.
Take that paper love/obsession a couple steps farther and junk journals begin to appear. Add items important to you—think long-saved greeting cards or travel brochures—a bit of lace, a few buttons, maybe a paper doily or two and you’ve got a one-of-a-kind, hand-made book that provides a creative outlet and a place to store your memories.
Junk journals blend journaling and scrapbooking, creating a unique medium that uses recycled and repurposed materials as often as possible. One website calls it a form of “rebellion” against purchasing pre-made papers and other supplies, instead turning to paper items that normally would end up in a landfill (houseofmahalo.com/history-of-junk-journals/). The journals can range from books of blank pages with a unique cover to each-page-a-work-of-art volumes. Etsy sells junk journals that range from about $35 to as high as $650.
Kathleen Wojtowicz lives on Grand Rapids’ West Side and owns Rose Colored Glasses, a papercraft business that features junk journals, junk journal kits, small packages of ephemera, and other papercraft items. She exhibits at arts and crafts shows, outdoor markets and hosts workshops.
Wojtowicz’s motto is “thrifted, gifted or found.” She finds papers at thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales, junk bins, other peoples’ trash. “I look at it as true junk, using items that I’ve found. I don’t use anything digital, and don’t go to retail stores,” she said.
Wojtowicz says her love of paper is where it all started. “People tell me they need a creative outlet. Creating a junk journal is very tactile. You use scissors and glue, which seems silly when talking to someone who doesn’t do it, but once you start handling it, it’s about creating something new.”
Buttons were the gateway to junk journals for Linda Radermacher, who lives in Kentwood and owns Button Up. She had collected thousands of buttons through the years, first adding them to jean jackets and other clothing. A friend gifted her a junk journal and she was immediately drawn to the medium. She put her own take on junk journals, adding buttons of course, fabric, paper, embroidery and more to each unique piece.
“I never know what a single page will look like until it’s done,” said Radermacher, who upcycles and thrifts what she needs. She’s made ten junk journals and has three left after beginning to sell them last year at craft shows, pop-up markets, and through home shows.
For her, it’s also about the creativity. “Junk journals are an artistic outlet, and customers appreciate the uniqueness of each one. Some are terrified to start making a journal but I’ve already done the hard part for them,” she said. “I hear oohs and aahs as people turn the pages. They can use the junk journals to save things by tucking them into the many pockets.”
She admits to being a bit of a hoarder when it comes to paper, fabric, cards and more. In her pre-retirement life, she called herself a rule follower. Now, she said, she can break the rules.
“Anything goes because it’s all in the creator’s eyes. Throw rules out the window and do what you want to do. Experiment,” said Radermacher. “Try something a see where it leads. People are surprised at how much creativity they have in them. The key is having fun with what you’re doing.”
Whether you create your own junk journal to store your memories or purchase one and add your memorabilia, it’s about “putting something of yourself on the inside and in the process. The end result is something important to you. We cut ourselves short if something we make has to be perfect,” said Wojtowicz.
Where to go and who to follow
Follow Rose Colored Glasses on Facebook and on Instagram @rosecoloredglassesgr
Kathleen Wojtowicz will lead workshops at the DAAC on Plainfield Avenue NE on Oct. 24, and Nov. 7 from 6::30-8:30 pm. Cost is $15. For more information, contact her via Facebook or Instragram.
Follow on Instagram at buttonup.by.lmr
Linda Radermacher will be at several markets through the end of the year and does home shows where attendees create junk journals. Contact her at lmr44buttons@gmail.com.
