D.I.Y. ~ journal project

So I've always had a journal, diary whatever you want to call it. Somewhere special for me to write down all my secrets and ideas. I've never been good at religiously writing in my diary, in fact part of my new years resolution was to start writing a diary for 2015 we're almost in March.

I decided it was time I made a start on that part of my New Year's resolution. I wanted  this year's journal to be really personal and creative. Something that not only held my secrets and ideas but was part of me. So I decided to make my own journal.

I went for a wander round the charity shops and found this little red bound copy of a book published in the 1950s. It had to be an old fashioned vintage looking book as vintage fashion is very much part of who I am as a person and one of my main interests. I also looked at the different titles, the title of the book I choose to upcycle was A Many Splendoured Thing by Han Suyin. I feel like I probably should've read the book first before I began my project. I now feel a little sacrilegious for the way I've edited and updated the purpose of the book. In 1955, the novel was actually made into a film starring Jennifer Jones and William Holden. So, I'll have to add that to my old vintage classics movies list.

My next stop was Rymans for white acrylic paint and a reasonably wide paintbrush so that I could begin painting the pages white so that I could write over them again for my journal. This bit was the hard bit because it took so long to wait for everything to dry. Currently, I've only whitewashed enough pages to last me for the next few weeks but I paint another few pages and leave them to dry overnight or in the morning before college. For the first few pages I just blow dried them with a hairdryer because I was so desperate to be able to start writing in it.

To write in it I purchased some thin tipped black sharpie pens also from Rymans. Rymans is great for students as they offer a 10% discount also Hobbycraft offer a 10% discount if you're a student in need of art supplies.

I love this sort of thing because of how personal and special my journal now feels to me. I don't know anyone who has the same type of journal as me because it's unique and hasn't been bought from my local Tesco as they have been in the past which is possibly what I love the most about it.

I always try to keep train tickets or collect postcards to stick in and give my memories some colour and life. I love taking pictures on disposable cameras when I'm out and about. I find it weird that I have so many pictures on my ipod and other media platforms that I will never print out and put in a photo album.

Anyway, I'm beginning to ramble so I hope you liked this post. I've never really done a D.I.Y. blog post before still all new to this. Hope you liked my project.