Balzer Junkie and Junque Journals at the Ink Pad

A couple weeks ago I took a class at the Ink Pad with Julie Fei Fan Balzer. What a dynamo! With some people, I kind of wonder how they got so well known or why they have a big following. Or why they have a line of products on the market.

 After taking a class with Julie, the answer is: because she deserves it. She is really funny, really talented, and a very good teacher. I am now officially a "Julie Junkie."

We made "Junque Journals"...it took all day, but is usually a two-day class, so she packed a lot of info into one lesson.

I couldn't resist buying a couple of her new stamp designs, which I used in this little piece above, which I will soon be adding to my junque journal.

The thing that kept me, for many years, from doing journal pages was the blank white page. Or the expensive blank white watercolor paper. I felt like I had to do something deserving of the high quality paper or the beautifully bound journal.

So, it was very freeing to make a journal out of junk. We used paper that was lying around our "stash", unfinished paintings, designs that weren't quite right, and quite a few file folders. Yup, those manila ones that are in every office. Here's a few photos of the journal I made...I must confess, I don't love the cover. But that's okay. I will probably be more apt to use it than one that is beautiful. I do love the ribbon though. I went minimalistic and used some Artistcellar stencils on a plain black gessoed background.