When Kelsey Starr, art teacher, was in high school, she would collect scraps from art projects, magazine clippings and anything else that inspired her, and keep them in a sketchbook.
“It became a space where I could freely express myself and explore ideas without pressure,” Starr said.
Now, in Starr’s art classes, she uses sketchbook journaling with her students, which is a form of journaling that is similar to junk journaling and is focused around drawing out memories rather than making collages.
While Starr said this form of journaling is not for everyone, she finds it to be a creative tool for those who can connect with it. It can build students’ confidence and provide creative growth, Starr said.
“What I love most about junk journaling is how it encourages people to find inspiration in everyday surroundings,” Starr said.
Starr recommends that artists use a variety of materials, including vintage book pages, ticket stubs, washi tape, fabric scraps, lace, stamps, packaging and found objects.
Emily Xu, freshman, uses any flat, paper-like items she can find in her junk journals. Xu said she enjoys junk journaling monthly recaps and any trips or vacations she goes on.
“I travel a lot for volleyball, and wherever we go, I take receipts or business cards and I put it in there,” Xu said.
Xu started junk journaling in January, with her first entry being a “January recap.” She began junk journaling to document her memories after finding the idea on Pinterest.
Pinterest helps her find ways to be more creative with her entries, such as making her pages 3-D or putting letters inside an envelope and taping it to the page.
She said she especially enjoys junk journaling because she feels as if she’s starting off with a general idea when creating a project, rather than starting from scratch.
“I feel like I’m artistic, but I don’t have any creativity, so this gives me materials to work with,” Xu said.
Xu also appreciates being able to share her pages with her friends, such as Mia Zhang, freshman, so they are able to encourage and find inspiration from each other.
Zhang started junk journaling as a part of her New Year’s Resolution.
“I saw influencers doing it online, and I like hoarding weird logos,” Zhang said. “I used to keep them in a messy bin, but then I was like ‘what if I made these cute?’”
She would watch YouTube and TikTok videos of influencer Katie McKenzie and her junk journaling process, and she liked seeing how fun it was for her.
Zhang’s advice to new junk journalists is to not stress about making it perfect.
“The first time is the hardest time because you’re like ‘this seems scary, I don’t wanna mess this up,’ but then you’ll start to realize it’s really freeing and it’s more of what you want it to be,” Zhang said.
