40% off until 31 October on selected products·8 days left

5-star Etsy seller

Shop Now

Author: Helene

  • Folklore Forest, Played Night by Night: Tracey Young’s Journal in Five Videos

    Folklore Forest, Played Night by Night: Tracey Young’s Journal in Five Videos

    When we made Folklore Forest, we could only guess what other people would do with it. Then Tracey Young started filming her nights.

    Tracey is a journaler from Tracey Young Creative here in New Zealand. Over a few days in October she posted five short videos of the game: a first look, a flip through her first week, two quiet nights of making with music and no talking, and the night the wood forgot one of her favourite pages. She has kindly let us share them all here.

    If you have been wondering what Folklore Forest looks like in somebody else’s hands, this is the best place to start. Watch them in order.

    How a night works, in one paragraph

    You turn one card from any ordinary deck. The suit tells you where in the wood you walked, and the number tells you what you found there. A face card means you met one of the Folk. The book gives you one question to answer in your own words (three sentences is a whole turn), then tells you what to make on the page. Fifty-two cards, and the book is finished. An Ace is different, and we’ll come to that.

    1. Tracey’s first look

    Video by Tracey Young, Tracey Young Creative on YouTube. Watch it on YouTube.

    Tracey explains the game before she shows a single page. She calls it a game for journalers and storytellers, played with a standard deck of cards, where you “pull a card each so-called night or each page and it just leads you to doing some journaling and some inquiry.” Then she makes a page with the music playing, starting from a blue watercolour background and building it up around her first picture card.

    She mentions the price she paid on the day she bought it. Current prices are the ones in our shop.

    2. Her first seven nights

    Video by Tracey Young, Tracey Young Creative on YouTube. Watch it on YouTube.

    This is the one to watch if you want to see lots of pages at once. Tracey doesn’t have a printer, so she started the evening the download arrived, writing her notes straight from the screen and making her own map by hand. (More on playing without a printer further down.)

    Then she turns through her week:

    • The Standing Water. A still pool in the Deep Woods where someone has placed things on purpose. They keep coming back, so Tracey added their footprints.
    • The peddler’s marks. A peddler selling haberdashery leaves marks on the fence that tell other travellers what kind of household this is.
    • The Fairy Ring. The Ring moves in this game, so she made hers movable on the page. Later it turns up again beside a standing stone, with a bike she would love to ride again sitting on top.
    • The House That Isn’t. Just a worn doorstep between two oaks. Tracey decided the person who lived there let a horse come inside and knitted socks, and she put a sock basket on the page.

    At the end she meets her first Folk card, a deer who sometimes lets people pass and sometimes doesn’t. “I get the feeling he wants to move around,” she says, so she started building him a little world of his own.

    If you’re about to start your own first week, our guide to your first seven nights pairs well with this video.

    3. The child who asks the price

    Video by Tracey Young, Tracey Young Creative on YouTube. Watch it on YouTube.

    Two minutes, music only. In this entry a child sits on the fence and asks what you would give to keep one thing out of the whole book. The game asks you to look back through what you’ve written, name the entry you’d keep, and then add one small thing to that page to mark it as the kept one.

    Tracey’s page grows from a few lines of handwriting into a spread with the child sitting on a mushroom. It’s a nice one to watch if you want to see one night from start to finish without any commentary.

    4. Night 10: something growing in a well-tended field

    Video by Tracey Young, Tracey Young Creative on YouTube. Watch it on YouTube.

    Another quiet one, just under three minutes. Tracey writes, then builds the page in watercolour and paper, layer by layer, with a pink flower shape at the centre. In her notes for the video she says it is very hard to stop, “so brace yourself.”

    This is the part of the game we find hardest to describe on a product page. The book gives everyone the same prompt. What comes out on the page is completely different from one person to the next.

    5. Night 11: the wood forgets a page

    Video by Tracey Young, Tracey Young Creative on YouTube. Watch it on YouTube.

    This is the rule people ask us about most, so we were really pleased Tracey filmed it.

    Four times a year the wood loses something. When you turn an Ace, you don’t go out that night. You look back through your journal and find the best page you are not holding, and that’s the page the wood takes. Each suit takes it a different way. For the Deep Woods you lay tracing paper or thin tissue over the page, tape it along one edge only, and write on the front that there was something here. The page underneath is fine. You simply don’t read it again this year.

    Tracey chose the page she loved most, the one with the movable Fairy Ring, and covered it with tissue paper she wanted to use up. “I can still see what’s underneath if I ever want to,” she says, “but at the same time, I’m playing to the rules of the game.”

    She also says something we’ve heard from other players: “I’ve been so surprised at how creative it has been. It’s a great way to use up a whole lot of stuff as well.”

    No printer? You can still play

    A question we get a lot is some version of “I don’t have a printer. Can I still play?” Tracey’s videos are the clearest answer we have. She started the night the download arrived, with no printer at home.

    • Read the book from a screen. The book is something you read, so a tablet, laptop or phone propped next to your journal works. “I just went ahead and started writing my notes from the download that I got straight away,” she says in her first-seven-nights video (from about 1:35).
    • Make your own map. Instead of printing ours, she made a map of the wood in her journal by hand and used that.
    • Use what’s already on your desk. Tissue paper, scraps, tape, watercolour and cut-outs all turn up in her pages. Old book pages, envelopes and magazine pictures do the same job.
    • Print only the bits you really want, later. She mentions printing “a smaller portion” of the artwork. You don’t need to print everything on day one.

    If you do want to print the matching papers at some point, our guide to printing junk journal papers at home covers the settings that matter.

    What you need to play along

    • Any ordinary deck of playing cards.
    • A journal, a pen, and whatever paper and bits you have (how to make a journal for a solo game).
    • The game itself. Folklore Forest the game has the 60-page book, the Folk plates, the map and thirteen sheets of pieces to cut. You make the pages from paper you already own, so it suits a no-printer start.
    • If you’d like the matching papers too, the Folklore Forest Kit adds 36 junk journal papers and nine sheets of ephemera. Every Make instruction in the game names something that’s in the download.

    Thank you, Tracey

    Watching someone take a game we made and turn it into their own book is one of the best parts of this work. Please visit Tracey’s YouTube channel, subscribe, and leave her a comment on the videos you enjoyed. All five are also on our Watch the Games page, in order, alongside Shannon Green and Laura from The HalFass Crafter.

    Helene and Ashley

  • What Is a Commonplace Book? 4 Simple Steps to Start One

    What Is a Commonplace Book? 4 Simple Steps to Start One

    A commonplace book is a notebook where you copy out lines worth keeping: something you read, something you overheard, a sentence off a sign. You write down who said it, and you file it by what it’s about to you rather than by the date. People have kept them for centuries, and you can start a commonplace book tonight in a notebook you already own.

    This guide covers what goes in one, how it differs from a journal, and the bit most guides skip: how to find an entry again months later.

    What a commonplace book is

    A commonplace book is a personal collection of other people’s words. You copy each line by hand, exactly as it came, and add who said or wrote it. Then you give it a heading, one word for what the line is about to you.

    That heading is what makes it work. Lines on the same subject end up together, even when you wrote them far apart. There are no rules about what counts, and no need to fill a page a day.

    Commonplace book vs journal vs diary

    A diary is about what happened to you. A journal is usually about what you think and feel. A commonplace book is about what struck you, in the words the other person used.

    You can still add your own reply under a line, and many people do. But the heart of the book is the borrowed line, not your day. If you want a wider look at the different kinds, our guide to types of journaling sets them side by side.

    A short history: Locke’s commonplace book index

    Commonplace books are old, and the most useful thing to come out of their history is an indexing method.

    The philosopher John Locke described his method in a letter to his friend Nicolas Toinard in 1685. It was published in French in 1686, in the journal Bibliothèque universelle et historique. The English translation, A New Method of Making Common-Place-Books, came out in London in 1706, after Locke’s death (Wellcome Collection catalogue record).

    His idea was simple. Every entry gets a “head”, a key word for what it’s about. You keep a short index at the front of the book, and you look up a head by its first letter and the first vowel after it.

    His own example is the head Epistle: you look under E and I. Two pages of index can then point you to everything in the book, however thick it gets. You can read the 1706 English edition yourself in the Internet Archive scan.

    You don’t need his letter-and-vowel grid to use the idea. The part worth keeping is this: one head word per entry, and an index that collects them.

    What to put in a commonplace book

    Anything somebody really said or wrote. A few kinds of entry to get you started:

    • An overheard line. Something said at the shops, on the phone, at dinner.
    • A sentence from a book. The one you read twice.
    • Words on a sign. Notices, labels, a handwritten note in a window.
    • A line you think is wrong. Disagreeing with it is a good reason to keep it.
    • Your reply to a line. Copy the line, then answer it underneath in your own words.
    • A list. Several short lines on one subject, gathered on one page.

    The common thread is that it really was said by someone. If you’d rather work from prompts than found lines, our junk journal prompts are a better fit for that kind of page.

    How to start a commonplace book in 4 simple steps

    You don’t need a special notebook. Any notebook with pages you can number will do.

    1. Number the pages. Do it before you start, or as you go. The index only works if every page has a number.
    2. Leave space for the index. A few blank pages at the front or back. Locke put his at the front; the back works just as well.
    3. Set out each entry the same way. The line, copied exactly. Who said it (a name, or “a woman at the bus stop”). And a head word in the margin.
    4. Pick the head word for what the line means to you. Not what it’s literally about. A line about rain might sit under patience.

    If you like printed pages pasted into your notebook, our guide to printing junk journal papers at the right size covers fitting a letter-size sheet into an A5 book. If you prefer a whole page of quote and decoration, see how to put a quote on a journal page.

    The commonplace book index: how heads collect entries

    This is the step that turns a pile of quotes into a book you can use.

    1. Write the head word in the margin of the entry.
    2. Turn to your index pages and write the head word there with the page number.
    3. When the same head comes round again, add the new page number beside the old one.

    Now patience might point to page 4 and page 31. Read those two entries together and you’ll often see something you didn’t notice when you wrote either one. That is Locke’s point: the heads collect entries written far apart, so you can read them side by side.

    Over time a handful of heads come up again and again. That short list, in your handwriting, ends up saying a lot about what you pay attention to.

    Commonplace book ideas when you run dry

    Some weeks nothing stands out. A few places to hunt:

    • The youngest person you spoke to this week.
    • Words put up for strangers to read: signs, menus, noticeboards.
    • The last book you gave up on. Was there one good sentence?
    • Something someone said that you’ve since repeated to someone else.
    • A line you think is wrong.

    If you like the look of collaged pages, a glue book is a close cousin: scraps and found paper rather than copied words. Many people keep both.

    Keeping a commonplace book going

    Most commonplace books stall in the second week, when the easy lines run out and there’s no reason to open the book. Some people need a little structure to keep at it.

    That’s what The Commonplace Hours is for. You play it with a pen, a notebook you already own and one ordinary deck of playing cards. No dice.

    You catch a line somebody said and turn one card. The suit decides how the line goes on the page: copy it plain, hold it back for the end of the book, answer it, or join it to an entry you already kept. The rank sends you somewhere to find the next line.

    Then you write one word in the margin and add it to the index at the back, just as above.

    How one commonplace book entry works in The Commonplace Hours: catch a line, turn a card, write a head word in the margin

    The three steps of one entry, from The Commonplace Hours product page.

    Every seventh entry is an “Hour”, which sends you back through the lines you already kept instead of asking for a new one. There are eleven of them. Nothing is due on a date, so there’s no streak to break.

    The download is four print-ready PDFs: the 20-page illustrated book, three printable sheets (the reference card, the index and the Hours record) and printer-friendly copies of both. It has a dark academia look, with night skies, moths and a moon. If you want to decorate your pages to match, here are five ways to make dark academia scrapbook pages.

    The Commonplace Hours is also one of the four games in The Game Bundle, and one of the seven in The Seven Game Bundle, if you’d like more than one kind of notebook to come back to.

    FAQ

    What should I put in a commonplace book? Lines somebody really said or wrote: from books, conversations, signs, letters. Add who said it and a one-word heading for what it means to you.

    Can a commonplace book be digital? Yes. A notes app or document works if you keep the same habits: copy the line exactly, note the source, and tag it with a head word. Copying by hand does make you slow down and choose.

    Is a commonplace book the same as a journal? Not quite. A journal is mostly your own thoughts and days. A commonplace book is mostly other people’s words, filed by subject.

    Do I need a special notebook? No. Any notebook you can number works. Leave a few pages free for the index.

    Start your commonplace book today

    Find a notebook, number the first ten pages, and leave two blank for the index. Then copy down the next good line you hear today, with who said it and one word in the margin. If you’d like the cards to keep you going after that, have a look at The Commonplace Hours.

  • Junk Journal Prompts: 52 Easy Ideas You Draw From a Deck

    Junk Journal Prompts: 52 Easy Ideas You Draw From a Deck

    Stuck on what to put on tonight’s page? These junk journal prompts take the choice away: you shuffle an ordinary deck of cards, turn one, and that card tells you what to write and what goes on the page.

    Junk journal prompts from a card deck: Folklore Forest landing page showing turn one card, read what happens, write and make
    A card-draw loop for junk journal prompts: turn one card, read what happens, write and make.

    Why junk journal prompts stall — and why a random draw helps

    A list of 100 junk journal prompts sounds useful until you’re actually looking at it. Then you spend twenty minutes choosing, skip the hard ones, and close the journal. The problem isn’t a shortage of ideas. It’s the choice. A card draw takes the choice away: you turn a card and that’s tonight’s page, done.

    How these junk journal prompts work with a deck

    You need an ordinary deck of 52 playing cards. No jokers, no tarot, nothing to buy. The same idea sits behind many solo diary-style games: one random draw, one clear instruction.

    • The suit is the theme.
      • ♥ Hearts are people.
      • ♦ Diamonds are things.
      • ♣ Clubs are places.
      • ♠ Spades are what’s ending.
    • The rank is the depth.
      • Ace to 10 are quick pages: a few lines and one piece of ephemera.
      • Jack, Queen and King are longer pages: a full spread, several layers, more writing.
    • Each of these junk journal prompts has two halves: something to write, and something to put on the page. Most of the time is in the second half. You don’t need to draw. Cutting, tearing, gluing and writing is plenty.

    Shuffle, turn the top card, find it in the table below, and make the page. Shuffle the card back in or set it aside. If you set it aside, the deck becomes a 52-page journal with a built-in end.

    The 52 junk journal prompts

    These free junk journal prompts are a sampler written for this post. They aren’t taken from any of our games.

    ♥ Hearts: people

    CardWriting promptWhat goes on the page
    AWho did you speak to today? Write one thing they said.A torn scrap with the quote handwritten
    2Name someone you haven’t thought about in years.A blank portrait frame or name label
    3Describe a stranger you noticed this week.A ticket stub
    4Who taught you something useful? What was it?A specimen-style label naming the skill
    5Write about a person whose handwriting you’d recognise.A letter or envelope
    6Who would you call with good news?A tag with their initial
    7Describe a family recipe and who made it.A recipe card or index card
    8Write about a neighbour, past or present.A strip of map from that street
    9Who makes you laugh, and how?A small cut-out photo or doodle
    10Describe a person you’ve lost touch with. What would you ask them?An envelope glued as a pocket
    JWrite a short portrait of a friend: how they walk, talk, dress.A portrait plus three hand-lettered labels
    QWrite a letter to someone you admire. You don’t have to send it.A full letter, folded into a pocket
    KWrite about the person you were ten years ago.An old photo or portrait, layered over a dated ticket

    ♦ Diamonds: things

    CardWriting promptWhat goes on the page
    AWhat’s in your pocket or bag right now?A receipt
    2Describe an object you use every day.A label naming it
    3Name something you’ve kept for no good reason.A tag tied to the page
    4Write about something you bought and never used.A price tag or receipt
    5Describe the oldest thing you own.A dated stamp or ticket
    6What’s on your windowsill?A pressed leaf or flower
    7Write about something broken you haven’t fixed.A torn paper, mended with tape or stitching
    8Describe a gift you remember.Wrapping paper scrap or a gift tag
    9What would you save in a fire?A pocket holding a list
    10Write about a collection, yours or someone else’s.A row of small labels
    JDescribe one object in such detail someone could draw it.A specimen label plus a rough sketch
    QWrite the history of one thing you own: where it’s been, who’s had it.A luggage tag and a map strip
    KWhat will you leave behind? Make a short inventory.An index card list, tucked into an envelope

    ♣ Clubs: places

    CardWriting promptWhat goes on the page
    AWhere are you sitting right now? Describe it in three lines.A torn background strip in the room’s colours
    2Write about a shop that’s gone.A receipt or paper bag scrap
    3Describe your walk to somewhere you go often.A map strip
    4Name a place you’ve only seen in pictures.A postcard
    5Write about a kitchen you remember.A recipe card
    6Describe the view from a window you know well.A frame with nothing in it
    7Where did you go as a child to be alone?A pressed leaf or tag
    8Write about a place that smells a particular way.A label naming the smell
    9Describe a journey that went wrong.A ticket stub
    10Write about somewhere you’d like to go back to.A luggage tag
    JDescribe a room in your house as if you were seeing it for the first time.A floor-plan sketch on graph paper
    QWrite about a town or city you lived in.A map, layered with a ticket and a postcard
    KDescribe the place you’d most like to end up.A full map spread with one marked label

    ♠ Spades: what’s ending

    CardWriting promptWhat goes on the page
    AWhat did you stop doing this year?A crossed-out label
    2Write about the end of a season.A pressed leaf
    3Name a habit you’d like to let go of.A torn tag
    4Describe the last time you did something you won’t do again.A ticket stub
    5Write about a friendship that changed.An envelope, sealed
    6What’s running out in your house?A receipt or shopping list
    7Describe the end of a book or film that stayed with you.A bookplate or library-card style label
    8Write about leaving a job, school or home.A luggage tag
    9What are you ready to finish?A checklist on an index card
    10Write about something you threw away and regret.A scrap of packaging
    JWrite about a goodbye: what was said and what wasn’t.A letter, folded small
    QDescribe a version of your life that didn’t happen.A map with a road crossed out
    KWrite what you’d want said about you at the end of a long life.A portrait frame with your own label

    Turning junk journal prompts into a spread

    Here’s one card, start to finish.

    Say you turn the 4 of Clubs: Name a place you’ve only seen in pictures, with a postcard on the page.

    1. Background. Choose one paper in the colours of that place: blue for the sea, green for a forest.
    2. Write. Three sentences: where it is, what you picture there, and why it stuck with you.
    3. Ephemera. Glue down a postcard (a real one, or a printed one) slightly overlapping the writing.
    4. Focal piece. Add a small label with the place name on it, on top of the postcard’s corner.

    That’s a whole page from one of these junk journal prompts. A Jack, Queen or King card gets the same steps, with more writing and two or three more layers.

    A quick-page card (Ace to 10) is often three sentences and one piece of ephemera. Use a simple layering order: background paper, then the supporting piece, then the thing the eye lands on. If you’re starting from zero, junk journal ideas for beginners covers the basic kit.

    Make junk journal prompts into a game

    Draw junk journal prompts in a row and something odd happens. They start to connect. The person from a Hearts card turns up on a Clubs card, and the thing you kept for no reason ends up in the Spades. That’s the core of a solo journaling game: random prompts that build a story because you keep writing the same world.

    If you want to try that on purpose, what a journaling game is explains the format, and your first 7 nights of a solo journaling game walks through a real first week. If you’re still working out what kind of journaler you are, see types of journaling.

    If you want the full version of these junk journal prompts

    The junk journal prompts above are a free sampler. Our Folklore Forest solo journaling game is the full version of the idea. You play it with your own ordinary deck: the suit chooses the part of the wood, and each card points to an entry in the 60-page game book that gives you something to write and a Make prompt for the page. It runs 52 nights, one card a night, and when the deck runs out the book is finished. Nothing asks you to draw.

    It comes two ways:

    • The game on its own as a PDF, played with whatever papers you already have.
    • The game and paper kit, which adds 36 woodland papers, 9 ephemera sheets and 12 Folk portrait plates, so the piece each Make prompt names is already in the download.

    An Etsy buyer quoted on the Folklore Forest page put it this way: “I am so hooked I have ended up doing a page every night.”

    There are other card-driven games in our solo journaling RPGs collection, including a Victorian murder mystery.

    FAQ about junk journal prompts

    What should I put in a junk journal?
    Your own writing, plus papers and ephemera: tickets, labels, letters, tags, maps, photos, pressed leaves. The right-hand column of the tables above is a list of exactly that. New to it? Start with what a junk journal is.

    How often should I use junk journal prompts?
    As often as you actually will. One card a night works for some people and one card a week for others. With a deck, missing a night doesn’t break anything. The next card is still there.

    Do I need to be good at writing or drawing?
    No. Three plain sentences is a page, and none of these junk journal prompts ask you to draw. If you freeze, just do the right-hand column: put the piece on the page first and write afterwards.

    Can I use these junk journal prompts with tarot or oracle cards instead?
    Yes. Map the four tarot suits to the four themes. You can also use an oracle card as a second layer on top of the prompt.

    Shuffle and try one of these junk journal prompts

    Get a deck out of the drawer, shuffle it and turn one card. Make that page tonight. If you like these junk journal prompts and want a version where the cards tell a whole story, have a look at Folklore Forest.

  • Junk Journal Ephemera: 6 Easy Types and How to Layer Them

    Junk Journal Ephemera: 6 Easy Types and How to Layer Them

    On a junk journal page, the background paper sets the mood and the junk journal ephemera does the talking: a ticket stub, a luggage tag, a label with a few words on it. This guide covers which kinds of ephemera to have, how to print them at the right size, and a simple order for layering them.

    Junk journal ephemera sheets from Folklore Forest: nine printable woodland pieces laid out as a set
    Nine Folklore Forest junk journal ephemera sheets from the Artful Safari bundle product page.

    What junk journal ephemera means

    Ephemera is paper that was never meant to last: tickets, receipts, labels, tags, letters, envelopes, postcards and packaging. It was printed for one use and then thrown away. In a junk journal you use originals or printed copies as the layer that carries the page’s content.

    New to the format? Start with what a junk journal is. If you already keep a scrapbook-style stash, the same scraps often become junk journal ephemera once you treat them as page content rather than decoration alone.

    The 6 kinds of junk journal ephemera worth printing

    Each type of junk journal ephemera does a different job on the page, so a few of each is more useful than a big pile of one kind.

    1. Tickets and stubs. Small, rectangular and often dated. They mark that something happened on a particular day. Tuck one at an angle under a photo or a journaling card.
    2. Labels and specimen tags. A label names something, so it’s the natural place to write. There’s more in specimen labels for a nature journal.
    3. Letters and envelopes. They add text texture, and an envelope glued down on three sides becomes a pocket.
    4. Portraits and cards. A face gives the page a subject. One portrait makes a spread about someone.
    5. Maps. A map strip is busy, so use it as a border or backing layer rather than on top.
    6. Pockets and tags. These hold journaling cards, pressed leaves or notes.
    Victorian junk journal ephemera from The Crimson Parlour: letters, notecards, wax seals, envelopes, foliage, tags and gold frames
    Crimson Parlour junk journal ephemera: letters, notecards, wax seals, envelopes, foliage, tags and gold frames.

    Found vs printable junk journal ephemera

    Found ephemera (a real old ticket, a café receipt, a seed packet) is one of a kind and already worn. That’s its strength, and it’s also why you may not want to glue it down.

    Printable junk journal ephemera is the better choice when you want a set that matches, when you want to reuse a piece across several pages, or when a theme needs something you won’t find in a drawer, such as a Victorian notecard or a wax seal. You can print it again if a page goes wrong.

    How to print junk journal ephemera so it comes out right

    Size. Choose the print setting to suit the goal. Our sizing guide sets this out:

    • Fit keeps the whole design, but the page may get bigger or smaller.
    • Actual size keeps the file’s page size. Use it when a piece has to match a set measurement, such as a card that must fit a pocket.
    • Borderless is a printer setting, and it can enlarge the image and crop the edges.

    Print one test page and measure it before printing the set. The full walkthrough is in how to print junk journal papers so they come out the right size.

    Paper. Test on the paper you mean to use, and check your printer’s paper-weight limit before feeding heavier stock. Paper weight, matte vs glossy and sealing are covered in how to print junk journal papers at home.

    Format. Both Artful Safari kits below come as print-ready PDFs at US Letter and 300 DPI (as stated on the product pages). They print on A4, and they include ink-saver versions.

    Layering junk journal ephemera: a 3-piece order

    When every piece on a page is competing, nothing stands out. This order gives each layer of junk journal ephemera one job:

    1. Background paper. One paper for colour and mood, plus a torn strip of a second if you like.
    2. Ephemera. One or two supporting pieces, such as a ticket, a map strip or a letter. Overlap them slightly so they sit together rather than float.
    3. Focal piece. One thing for the eye to land on, such as a portrait, a written label or a pocket. Put it on top and slightly off-centre.

    Small finishing touches (a stamp, washi tape, a stitched edge) can go on afterwards. If you can’t tell which piece is the focal one, take something away.

    Themed sets of junk journal ephemera

    Junk journal ephemera works best when the pieces belong together.

    Where Artful Safari’s junk journal ephemera fits

    Two of our kits include junk journal ephemera sheets made to match their papers. Contents are as listed on the product pages on 13 Oct 2026.

    • Folklore Forest game and paper kit ($10.74). It has 36 woodland junk journal papers, 9 ephemera sheets and 12 Folk portrait plates. It also includes a 60-page solo journaling game and 13 printable component sheets (cards, tokens and a map). Each Make instruction in the game names a piece that’s in the download.
    • The Crimson Parlour junk journal kit ($10.74). It has 40 Victorian papers at 11 × 8.5 in and 9 ephemera sheets: letters, notecards, wax seals, envelopes, foliage, tags and gold frames. It also includes a 61-page solo murder-mystery game and 13 component sheets.

    The Folklore Forest junk journal ephemera comes as 44 pieces across those 9 sheets:

    • 12 round watercolour journal spots (sheets 1–3), for mounting a find inside one
    • 7 tag and specimen pieces (sheet 4): 3 hanging tags (moss, fern, mushroom), 3 leaf specimens (2 oak, 1 fern) and 1 stag head
    • 4 frames (sheet 5): a twig oval, a twig arch “gate” and 2 deckle-edge rectangles
    • 6 torn-paper journal cards (sheet 6)
    • 7 strips and extra elements (sheet 7): 3 torn-edge strips, 1 fern, 1 skeleton leaf, 1 small twig frame and 1 thin spare frame
    • 8 word tape strips (sheets 8–9), collage tape with words on it

    The set has no tickets, letters or envelopes. It’s built around woodland finds: spots, tags, specimens, frames and cards. If your page needs a ticket or a letter, use a found one or one from another set of junk journal ephemera.

    Contact sheet of 44 Folklore Forest junk journal ephemera pieces: watercolour spots, hanging tags, leaf specimens, frames, journal cards and word tape
    All 44 Folklore Forest junk journal ephemera pieces across nine sheets.

    FAQ about junk journal ephemera

    Can you make your own junk journal ephemera?
    Yes. Keep real tickets and receipts, write your own tags and labels, or cut cards from paper you’ve aged with tea or ink. Printables give you a matched set without the hunting.

    What paper weight should I use for ephemera?
    It depends on the piece and on your printer’s limits. Check the printer’s maximum paper weight, then test one sheet. How to print junk journal papers at home covers the options.

    Is junk journal ephemera the same as embellishments?
    Not quite. Ephemera is paper that carries information, such as tickets, labels and letters. Embellishments are decoration, such as lace, buttons, charms and washi tape. Most pages use both.

    What should I put in a junk journal besides ephemera?
    Background papers, your own writing, photos, pressed flowers, fabric scraps, envelopes and pockets. See what a junk journal is.

    Make your first page with junk journal ephemera

    Choose one background paper, two pieces of junk journal ephemera and one focal piece, and make a single page. If you want a set where every piece already matches, and a reason to make a page each time, start with the Folklore Forest game and paper kit. For Victorian pieces, choose The Crimson Parlour kit.

  • How Does Digital Scrapbook Paper Work? Files, Sizes and How to Open Them

    How Does Digital Scrapbook Paper Work? Files, Sizes and How to Open Them

    A digital scrapbook or junk journal paper is an image file, not a sheet of paper. You download it, open it like a photo, and then either place it in an app as the background of a page or print it at home. Ours come as JPG files at 300 DPI, and the matching elements come as transparent PNGs.

    That is most of the answer. The rest of this guide covers what is actually in the download, how to open the files on a computer, iPad or phone, and what to do when something looks wrong.

    What is digital scrapbook paper?

    It is a high-resolution picture of a paper design: a texture, a pattern or a painted background. Because it is a file, you can use the same paper as many times as you like, on screen or in print.

    In an Artful Safari kit the files split into two types:

    • Papers are JPG files. They are solid rectangles with no transparency, because a background does not need any.
    • Elements, frames and alphabets are transparent PNG files. The see-through areas let you lay a frame or a leaf over a paper without a white box around it.

    What size are the papers?

    Two sizes, depending on the kit:

    • Digital scrapbook papers are 12 x 12 inches. At 300 DPI that is 3600 x 3600 pixels.
    • Junk journal papers are 11 x 8.5 inches, which is US Letter. At 300 DPI that is 3300 x 2550 pixels.

    Elements vary in size, because a torn strip and a full frame are not the same shape. Everything is 300 DPI, which is the usual resolution for printing at full size without blur.

    Grid of sixteen Folklore Forest junk journal papers: dark botanical patterns with mushrooms, ferns and moths, misty pine forests and teal bokeh backgrounds, labelled 11 x 8.5 inches, prints edge to edge on US Letter
    Folklore Forest junk journal papers. Each one is a JPG sized to US Letter.

    How the download works

    Nothing is posted to you. You pay on the site, and your download links are on the order confirmation page and in your email straight away. On some listings the file you get first is a short PDF with the link inside it: open the PDF, click the link, and the papers are there. Each product page says which.

    Save the files somewhere you will find them again, such as a folder named after the kit. If your computer shows them as a single compressed folder, unzip (extract) it first. Apps can’t see images that are still inside a compressed folder.

    How to open JPG scrapbook paper files

    A JPG is the same format your phone uses for photos, so you don’t need special software to look at one.

    • Windows: double-click the file. It opens in the Photos app. To use it on a page, open it from inside the app you design in instead.
    • Mac: double-click to open it in Preview.
    • iPad or iPhone: save the files to the Files app first, then import them into Procreate or GoodNotes the same way you would add any other image.

    Opening a paper only lets you look at it. To make a page, you bring it into a design app or print it.

    Using the papers in an app

    The files work in Procreate, Photoshop, Canva and GoodNotes, and in anything else that opens JPG and PNG. The method is the same everywhere:

    1. Start with one paper as the background layer.
    2. Add your photo on top, keeping the centre clear for it.
    3. Add a frame around the photo and one or two PNG elements. Repeat two or three motifs across a spread instead of using everything at once.

    For app-specific steps, see making your first page in Canva, layering papers in Procreate and how to make a digital junk journal.

    Printing the papers for a paper journal

    You don’t have to print anything, but the junk journal papers are sized to print edge to edge on US Letter. Print at 100% scale with “fit to page” turned off, on a matte paper. The full settings, including paper weight and A4 sizing, are in how to print junk journal papers at home. If a page comes out the wrong size, see printing junk journal papers at the size you need.

    When something looks wrong

    • A PNG element has a white or chequered box around it. A checkerboard in a preview just means “transparent”. It disappears once the element is placed on a paper. A solid white box usually means the app flattened the image on import. Try importing it as an image or photo, not as a background.
    • The paper looks blurry. Check that you opened the downloaded file and not a preview thumbnail. A 12 x 12 paper should read 3600 x 3600 pixels in the file info.
    • The app can’t find the files. They are probably still in your Downloads folder or still compressed. Extract them and move them into a folder the app can reach, such as Files on an iPad.

    Where to start

    If you want papers and elements that already match, the Folklore Forest Botanical Junk Journal Bundle has coordinated papers as JPG and elements, frames and letters as transparent PNG, all in one palette. The rest of the collection is in Folklore Forest. The same woodland is also a solo game: the Folklore Forest solo journaling game is played with an ordinary deck of playing cards and a journal you already own. For other themes, browse the digital papers and junk journal collections.

    Common questions

    Can I use the papers commercially?

    Yes, for small-business use. You can sell finished products made with the art, such as cards, prints and stickers. You can’t resell or share the files themselves.

    Do I need Photoshop?

    No. Canva, Procreate and GoodNotes all work, and so does any app that opens JPG and PNG.

    Can I use the same paper more than once?

    Yes. It is a file, so it doesn’t get used up. Use it on as many of your own pages as you like.

  • Specimen Labels: 6 Easy Ways to Use Them in a Nature Journal

    Specimen Labels: 6 Easy Ways to Use Them in a Nature Journal

    Specimen labels are the small cards that sit beside a pressed plant or a pinned beetle in a museum drawer. They say what the thing is, where it was found and who found it. On a journal page they do the same job, and they make a spread look like a collection instead of a pile of photos.

    This guide covers six ways to use specimen labels in a nature journal or a digital scrapbook layout. It starts with what a good label says, then moves to placement, pairing and the small details that make a page look finished.

    What specimen labels actually record

    A real specimen label is short. Collectors wrote the name, the place, the date and the habitat, and usually nothing else. Reading a few of them is the quickest way to learn the format, and the herbarium entry on Wikipedia shows how plant collections are mounted and labelled.

    You can borrow that structure for your own pages. A line for what you saw, a line for where, and a line for the day is enough. Specimen labels work because they are brief, so resist the urge to write a paragraph on one.

    Thirty-three aged specimen labels with fern borders from the Small Wild Things Word Art kit
    A set of 33 specimen labels in two shapes, scalloped and notched, three of them left blank.

    1. Use specimen labels as captions under photos

    The easiest placement is directly under a photograph, slightly overlapping the bottom edge. The overlap ties the two together so the label reads as part of the picture. Keep the label narrower than the photo so it does not compete.

    Pick wording that adds something the photo cannot show. “Found near the fern line” tells the reader where, which the image rarely does. A plain “mushroom” adds nothing.

    2. Group specimen labels into a collection page

    Real collections are lined up in rows, and a page of specimen labels borrows that look. Choose one object type, such as leaves, stones or feathers, and give each item its own label. The repetition is what makes it feel like a study.

    Vary the label shapes a little if you have more than one. Two shapes on one page add rhythm. Four start to look chaotic.

    3. Write your own specimen labels for what you did not photograph

    Some of the best moments of a walk never get a picture. A label with a short line of your own handwriting or typed text can hold the sound of a creek or the smell of wet bark. Blank plates are useful here, because the words are yours and not a pre-written phrase.

    Keep the entry to a single line. A field notebook is a record of observations, and the field notes article is a good reminder that the format has always favoured short, dated entries over long prose.

    4. Layer specimen labels over paper texture

    A label placed on a flat white background looks pasted on. The same label on a foxed or fibrous paper looks like it belongs there. Choose a background in a similar tone, cream on cream or sage on cream, so the edge of the specimen label stays visible without a heavy shadow.

    If you are working digitally, a soft drop shadow of a few pixels is enough. Anything stronger makes the label float above the page and breaks the illusion of card stock.

    5. Pair specimen labels with a real find

    Pressed leaves, a feather or a ticket stub all look better with a label beside them. The label turns an object into an exhibit. In a digital layout, cut the object out and set it next to the label at a similar scale.

    If you want a starting point for the pages around them, our guides to nature journal pages and to mushroom journal page ideas both show layouts where a label does the captioning work.

    6. Keep a running series of specimen labels

    One label is a caption. Ten labels across a season become a record. Number them, or date them, and use the same style throughout so the pages read as a set.

    The wording can change while the look stays the same. A season of walks might include “observed in the wild” in spring and “kept for the record” in autumn, and the pages still match.

    Choosing words for your specimen labels

    The wording does most of the work, so it is worth a minute of thought. Museum labels are plain and factual. Journal labels can be a little warmer, as long as they stay short.

    Three kinds of line tend to work. A place line says where you were, such as “just off the trail”. A moment line says what happened, such as “found with muddy shoes”. A record line sounds official, such as “observation no.” followed by a number you write in yourself.

    Mixing the three across a spread keeps a page of specimen labels from sounding repetitive. Use one of each and the page reads like a small story.

    Common mistakes with specimen labels

    The first mistake is size. A label that is larger than the thing it describes pulls the eye away from your photo or find, so scale it down until the object leads.

    The second is crowding. Six specimen labels on one page, each with a different shape and colour, look like a sticker sheet. Pick two shapes and keep the colours in one family.

    The third is perfect alignment. Real labels were tucked in by hand and sat a little crooked. A slight tilt of a degree or two makes digital specimen labels feel handled, and a ruler-straight row can look stiff.

    Putting it together with a ready-made set

    If you would rather not make every label from scratch, the Small Wild Things Word Art kit is one worked example. It is a set of 33 specimen labels as transparent PNG files, with thirty carrying phrases such as “field study in progress” and “the trail held secrets”, and three left blank for your own words.

    The labels come in two shapes, a scalloped plate and a notched tag, with fern and rust-coloured foliage in the corners. They sit on a cream card that reads as aged paper, so they pair easily with the earthy backgrounds in the same set. Because the files are cut out around the edge, each of the specimen labels drops onto a page without a white box.

    Try one page first. Place a photo, add a single label under it, and see whether the page needs anything more. Usually it does not.

    Small details that finish a page of specimen labels

    • Match the label size to the object. A tiny leaf with a huge label looks off.
    • Leave empty space around specimen labels so each one can be read on its own.
    • Use the same two or three label shapes across a spread.
    • Keep the text on a label to one line where you can.
    • Line up the baseline of neighbouring labels so rows look intentional.

    A simple way to begin

    You do not need a full collection to start. Take one photo from your last walk, write a single line about where you were, and set it on a label. Once the first page works, the rest of the specimen labels follow the same pattern.

  • Journaling Quotes: 5 Easy Ways to Put Them on a Page

    Journaling Quotes: 5 Easy Ways to Put Them on a Page

    Journaling quotes get collected far more often than they get used. A line copied into a notes app or saved from a book sits there, and the page it was meant for stays blank. The fix is mostly practical: decide where a quote goes, how big it is and what it sits next to.

    This guide covers five ways to put journaling quotes on a digital page so they read as part of the layout. The examples come from nature journal and scrapbook spreads, but the same moves work for any theme.

    Why journaling quotes work best as a small, deliberate line

    People have been copying lines they like into notebooks for centuries. The old name for the habit is the commonplace book, a private collection of passages kept for later. A quote on a journal page does the same job: it records what stuck with you that day.

    The difference on a page is scale. A quote that fills a third of the page competes with your photos and your own writing. A short line set small, with room around it, lets the page do the talking.

    So the first rule for journaling quotes is to keep them shorter than your own words on the same page. Your notes are the main text. The quote is a label or a margin note.

    Stamped journaling quotes in worn brown and charcoal ink on a Small Wild Things nature journal cover
    Stamped journaling quotes from the Small Wild Things kit, set in cracked brown and charcoal ink.

    1. Pick journaling quotes that match what is on the page

    A quote about noticing small things belongs next to a photo of a snail on a fence post. The same line next to a birthday cake photo reads as filler.

    Before you place anything, write down what the page is about in one sentence. Then choose the quote that answers it, or sits slightly to one side of it.

    Field notes tend to suit short, observational lines. Phrases like “found along the way” or “just off the trail” work because they describe how the photo was taken. That makes them journaling quotes with a reason to be there.

    2. Give each quote its own patch of space

    Clutter around a quote makes it harder to read, and it makes the page look as if nobody decided where things go. Leave a margin of plain paper on at least two sides of every stamped or typed line.

    A textured background helps here, because the paper itself adds interest and you do not need to fill every corner. If you are choosing paper for a quote page, the guide to textured background paper covers which surfaces stay quiet behind text.

    Keep the line near an edge or a corner rather than dead centre. Off-centre placement looks like a note someone added later, which is the feel most journal pages are after.

    3. Match the type to the mood of your journaling quotes

    Typeface carries as much meaning as the words. A neat serif says tidy and printed. A worn rubber-stamp look says the line was pressed onto the page by hand, slightly crooked, with the ink uneven.

    For nature and field journals, stamped type is a good fit because it looks like a label from a field notebook. The rubber stamp has a long history as a quick way to mark paper, and the cracked, partial ink is part of the appeal.

    Pick one style of type for your journaling quotes across a spread and stay with it. Mixing three fonts on two pages makes the quotes look like they came from different books.

    4. Layer the quote with one or two real elements

    A quote on bare paper can look lonely, but a quote buried under ten stickers is lost. One or two small elements beside it is usually enough.

    Try a feather tucked under the corner of the line, or a pressed fern behind it. If you want more ideas for filling a page with natural materials, the nature journal pages post walks through several layouts, and the mushroom journal post shows how misty forest papers carry a quote.

    Colour matters too. Brown and charcoal ink sits well on cream, grey and pale blue papers. If your paper is already busy, set the quote on a plain strip so the ink does not disappear into the pattern.

    5. Use journaling quotes as page titles and section breaks

    The easiest job for a quote is to act as the title. A line like “notes from the field” at the top of a page tells you what the spread is for before you have written anything.

    You can also use quotes to split a long journal into sections. A line at the start of each month or each trip gives the book a rhythm, and it makes flicking back through it more pleasant.

    For a scrapbook, the same trick works as a caption under a photo. Keep it to a single line and let the picture do the work.

    Putting it together with a stamped quote kit

    To see all five moves on one page, take a pale textured paper, a single photo and one stamped line. Place the photo off to the left, set the line below it near the margin, and add a feather or fern beside the photo. That is a finished page.

    The Small Wild Things Stamped Words kit is built for exactly this. It has 20 stamped phrases as transparent PNGs, each an arched headline in cracked brown or charcoal ink with a smaller line underneath. You drop one onto a page and the ink sits on the paper like a real stamp.

    Because the files are transparent, you can resize a phrase to suit the page or tuck it behind a photo edge. That flexibility makes the journaling quotes easy to reuse across a whole book without any two pages looking the same.

    Common mistakes with journaling quotes

    Most problems come down to size and quantity. The first is going too large, so the quote overpowers the photo. The second is using a quote on every page until none of them feel special.

    Another is picking a line only because it sounds good. If you cannot say why it belongs on that page, leave it for a different one.

    The last is forgetting to credit. If a line comes from a book or a person, note the name in small type underneath, which also helps you find the source later.

    A simple way to start

    Choose one page you have already half made. Add a single short line from your collection of journaling quotes, set it small, and leave space around it.

    If it feels right, repeat on the next page. If it feels crowded, make it smaller or move it nearer the edge.

    Most journals only need a handful of journaling quotes spread across the book. The rest of the work is your photos, your notes and the things you noticed on the way.

  • How to return to a solo journaling game after a break

    How to return to a solo journaling game after a break

    To return to a solo journaling game after a break, open your last entry and find the last step you finished. Check the game’s rules before you draw a new card or roll again. If you stopped partway through a prompt, start with the unfinished step.

    Try the bookmark below to save your place. You need your game, your journal and a pen. Write the note on a loose scrap, or on the next blank page in a bound notebook. It is a suggested way to keep notes, not a new rule for your game.

    Find where you stopped

    Read your last entry with the game open beside it. Look for the prompt you used. Check its steps against what you wrote or made. Mark the next step that still needs doing.

    Separate the story from the game record. The story is what your character saw, said or did. The game record is any card, roll, score or choice the rules ask you to keep. Check both before you move on.

    For example, a page may have all its writing but still need the paper piece the prompt asks for. Or you may have drawn a card and stopped before answering its question. Note that point instead of treating the whole entry as finished.

    If the entry is complete, use the rules to find the next step. Keep your cards and other pieces as the game directs. Do not mix used cards back into the deck just because you have been away.

    Copy a pause bookmark

    Write these labels on your scrap or blank page. Fill in each line from your journal and game. Use “none” where there is nothing left to do and “not sure” where the record is missing.

    • Last entry: the page number or title, plus the card or prompt if there is one.
    • Finished: the last step you completed.
    • Still to do: any writing, making or rule step left in that entry.
    • Game record: where to find any scores, used cards or choices you must keep.
    • Next action: the first thing to do when you open the game again.

    Keep “Next action” small and clear. “Answer the last question on page 8” tells you where to begin. “Get back into the story” leaves you with another choice to make.

    Put a loose bookmark beside the entry. If you wrote the note in a bound journal, mark that page with a scrap of paper. You do not need to cut out or move any journal pages.

    A filled-in example

    This is an invented example for this guide, not a player’s journal or an excerpt from a game. Imagine a prompt that asks you to write about a lost key, then add a paper tag to the page.

    Last entry: page 8, “The key by the gate.”

    Finished: wrote where I found the key and who I think lost it.

    Still to do: add the paper tag the prompt asks for.

    Game record: no score or card to track in this made-up example.

    Next action: open page 8 and add the tag.

    On returning, you would add the tag, then check the game for what comes next. You would not need to rewrite the entry before doing that step.

    For your own bookmark, use the task your prompt gives you. If the writing is unfinished, name the question you still need to answer. If only extra decoration is left, label it “optional” so you can tell it apart from a rule step.

    If you cannot remember what happened

    Look back for the missing detail in earlier entries, on the game sheet or among the pieces you kept. Write down what you can confirm.

    For a missing rule detail, such as a score or a used card, check whether the game gives a way to recover it. If it does not, ask the game’s creator before guessing. This bookmark cannot recover a deck order or score that was never saved.

    For a story detail that the rules leave to you, such as a name you invented, you can choose a name now. Add a short note beside the old entry so both pages agree.

    If you would rather start a new story, keep the old pages and mark where it ends. Follow the game’s setup rules for the new start. Give the new journal section a title so the two stories stay separate.

    Pausing Folklore Forest

    Folklore Forest is our solo journaling game about a wood that is forgetting itself. It uses ordinary playing cards across 52 game nights. You draw a card, write an entry and make the page.

    Those nights do not have to be consecutive dates. The product’s “What if I miss a night?” answer states that there is no streak or schedule. Keep your place in the game rather than adding entries for each date you were away.

    Use the bookmark to note which entry you reached and which step comes next. Follow your copy of the rules for the deck and anything you need to track. The bookmark is an optional note, not an extra game component.

    If you are choosing a game, see Folklore Forest’s game and kit options. These are digital downloads for you to print, not a physical journal. The game-only option lets you use your own papers; the bundle adds the matching printable papers and cut-outs.

    For now, open your last entry and write one line: “Next time, I will…” Finish it with the next action you can point to on the page.

  • Textured Background Paper: 5 Easy Ways to Use It on Pages

    Textured Background Paper: 5 Easy Ways to Use It on Pages

    Textured background paper does one job well: it gives a page colour and grain without adding a pattern. A plain sheet with a soft watercolour texture sits under photos, mats and cut-outs and lets them do the talking.

    This guide covers five ways to use textured background paper on scrapbook, junk journal and nature journal pages. It works the same in a digital layout or a printed spread.

    What textured background paper is, and why it helps

    Textured background paper is a paper image with a visible surface, usually the tooth of cold-pressed watercolour stock, and sometimes a wash where the pigment pooled. It has no motifs, no borders and no print to compete with.

    That plainness is the point. A busy patterned sheet fights a photo, while a quiet textured background paper holds it up. If you want the longer argument, our guide on choosing a background paper for your photo goes through it step by step.

    For the material behind the look, the Wikipedia page on watercolour painting explains how pigment settles into paper grain. It is the same effect you see in a good textured background paper.

    1. Use textured background paper as the quiet layer under a busy page

    Start with the page you already have. If it has a patterned paper, a frame and three cut-outs, slip a plain sheet underneath the pattern and let a strip of it show at the edge.

    The visible strip gives the eye somewhere to rest. A slate or sage textured background paper works best here because it reads as neutral next to almost any print.

    Rust terracotta textured background paper with a cold-pressed grain
    A rust terracotta textured background paper, shown at full width so the grain is visible.

    2. Put a photo cluster on a textured background paper

    A cluster of three or four photos looks tidier on a single flat colour. Pick a tone that already appears in the photos, such as the green of a hedge or the tan of a path.

    Matching the paper to the picture makes the group read as one object. Leave a margin of at least a thumb’s width on every side so the textured background paper frames the cluster.

    Choosing the colour

    Look for the second most common colour in your photo, not the first. If the photo is mostly green with a rust door, the rust paper brings the door forward.

    3. Build a colour story across a spread

    A two-page spread holds together when the two backgrounds are related but not identical. Try a warm tan on the left and an ochre on the right, or a sage and a dove grey.

    Each textured background paper in a set of ten gives you a different temperature to pair. Our post on sage green colour pairings shows which neighbours work best with a green base.

    For the theory underneath, the Wikipedia page on colour theory covers warm and cool pairings in plain terms.

    4. Cut a textured background paper into mats and tags

    The sheet does not have to be the base of the page. Crop a section of a textured background paper to make a mat under a photo, a journaling strip or a label.

    Because the grain carries through the crop, the small piece looks like a torn scrap of real paper. A slate mat under a tan photo cluster is one of the quickest ways to add depth.

    5. Give a nature journal page a plain ground

    Pressed ferns, feathers and pinecones need a quiet surface or they turn to noise. A cream or ivory textured background paper behind them looks like a page from a field notebook.

    We use this approach in our nature journal pages guide, where the plain sheet holds a small collection of finds. The same idea works for the mushroom spreads in our mushroom journal guide.

    Which colour of textured background paper goes where

    Not every colour does every job. A rough guide helps when you are staring at ten options and a half-built page.

    • Cream, ivory and buttermilk suit pages with lots of small elements, because they stay out of the way.
    • Slate, denim and dove grey suit cool photos such as sea, sky and winter walks.
    • Rust and ochre suit autumn pages, brick, spice and anything with warm light.
    • Sage suits gardens, hedgerows and any page with leaves in it.

    If you are unsure, hold the photo next to each textured background paper and pick the one that makes the photo look slightly more like itself. The right colour usually shows up in the first few seconds.

    Common mistakes with textured background paper

    The first mistake is choosing a textured background paper that is too close to the main subject. A tan paper under a tan dog makes the dog vanish.

    The second is stacking several textured sheets of similar value, so the layers blur into one flat block. Change the lightness a step or two between layers and the edges show up again.

    The third is shrinking the paper until the grain disappears. If you scale a sheet down to fit a small mat, check that the texture still reads, and crop a section at full size instead.

    How to keep a textured background paper from looking flat

    Plain does not have to mean dull. Three small habits stop a textured background paper looking like a blank screen.

    • Layer a shadow under every photo and mat so the page has depth.
    • Let one element overlap the edge of the page, such as a leaf or a tag.
    • Pick a paper with a wash or a soft band, so the colour is not completely even.

    Check how the paper looks at full size before you commit. Grain that looks right on a thumbnail can vanish when the page is exported, so zoom to 100% and look at a corner.

    Digital or printed, both work

    A square 12 x 12 in textured background paper suits a digital scrapbook page, a journal cover or a planner background. If you print one, set the paper size to 12 in. It will not fit a Letter or A4 sheet without trimming.

    For printing, a matte or lightly textured stock keeps the grain looking like paper. Glossy stock tends to flatten it.

    Putting it together with one set

    As a worked example, Small Wild Things Papers 3 is a set of ten of these sheets in slate, denim, rust, ochre, sage, tan, buttermilk, ivory and two greys. The colours were pulled from the other kits in the family, so each one sits under them without a clash. You can see the full set on the Small Wild Things textured paper page.

    Ten textured background paper colours in the Small Wild Things Papers 3 set
    The ten textured background paper colours in Small Wild Things Papers 3.

    Whichever set you use, the method is the same. Pick the colour from the photo, keep the surface plain and let the grain do the quiet work.

    A simple way to begin

    Take a page you already finished and swap its background for a textured background paper. Compare the two versions side by side.

    If the new one makes your photos stand out, you have your answer. Keep a few plain sheets in every project folder and the next page will start faster.

  • Mushroom Journal: 6 Easy Page Ideas for Misty Forest Papers

    Mushroom Journal: 6 Easy Page Ideas for Misty Forest Papers

    A mushroom journal is a page-a-day or page-a-find notebook built around fungi: the caps, the gills, the damp places they grow. You do not need to know a single species to start one. You need a few good backgrounds and a reason to look down on your next walk.

    This guide covers six ways to build a mushroom journal in a digital or printed notebook. Each one works with soft, foggy forest papers, because a quiet background lets small subjects stand out.

    What a mushroom journal actually holds

    Most people picture a field guide, but a mushroom journal is closer to a diary with a subject. You record what you saw, where you saw it and how the light looked. The facts matter less than the habit of noticing.

    If you want the botanical cousin of this idea, our guide to nature journal pages covers ferns, feathers and leaves in the same spirit. A mushroom journal narrows that down to one subject, which makes it easier to finish.

    For reference on names and structure, the Wikipedia entry on mushrooms explains cap, gills, stem and spore in plain terms. It is a handy page to keep open while you label things.

    1. Start with a misty background page

    The first page of a mushroom journal sets the tone for every page after it. Pick a background with fog or soft colour washes so the rest of the page has room to breathe.

    Pale blue-grey papers with a few dried fern fronds at the edge work well. They read as forest floor without competing with a photo or a cut-out cap in the middle.

    Misty blue paper with dried grasses, a quiet background for a mushroom journal page
    A foggy meadow paper leaves the top half of a mushroom journal page empty for a title.

    2. Give each find its own spread

    One mushroom, one spread. Put the photo on the left and your notes on the right, then leave the margins alone.

    A mushroom journal gets crowded fast if every page tries to hold three finds. Separate spreads also make the journal easy to flip through months later.

    What to write beside the photo

    • The date and the place, as specific as you can make it.
    • The ground it grew from: leaf litter, a stump, a lawn edge.
    • Colour of the cap and the underside, since both change as it ages.
    • One line on the weather that week.

    3. Layer ferns and cones around the edges

    Forest papers with printed pine cones, oak leaves and ferns already have texture in the corners. Keep your photo or cut-out centred and let the printed edge frame it.

    If you are building a mushroom journal digitally, nudge the photo off-centre by a small amount. A perfectly centred subject on a busy corner looks stiff, and an offset one looks placed.

    4. Keep a colour key for caps

    Mushroom caps come in tan, rust, cream, grey and the occasional startling red. A small colour key at the back of your mushroom journal turns scattered pages into a record you can compare.

    Pick a swatch from the paper itself, so the key matches the pages it describes. Warm tans against cool blue-grey is the pairing that shows up most in these papers.

    5. Add a pressed-botanical page between finds

    Not every day gives you a mushroom. When it does not, a page of pressed ferns, feathers or dried seed heads keeps the journal moving without forcing an entry.

    These pages also give a mushroom journal some rhythm. A busy spread, then a quiet one, then a busy one again. An old herbarium works on the same principle, and the Wikipedia page on herbaria shows how pressed plants have been filed and labelled for centuries.

    6. Close with a wide landscape page

    End the journal, or each season of it, with a page of the whole woodland rather than a single find. A wide foggy paper with a few small marks across the bottom says the season is done.

    It also gives your mushroom journal a clear last page, which is the part most notebooks never get.

    Photograph it so the page works later

    A mushroom journal page is only as good as the photo you bring home. Take one shot from above, one from the side at ground level and one of the underside if you can do it without picking anything.

    Shoot against the ground you found it on. A cut-out looks tidy on a page, but the context is what you will want to remember in a year.

    Light matters more than the camera. Overcast days flatten the shadows and bring out the colour in the cap, which is exactly what a soft background wants to sit beside.

    A note on naming what you find

    Writing “unknown, tan cap, found under oak” is a perfectly good entry. Many fungi look alike, and a confident wrong label is worse than leaving the name blank.

    Treat your mushroom journal as a record of sightings, not a guide to eating. If you want a name, check it against a local field guide or a regional fungi group, and never eat anything on the strength of a journal page.

    Digital or printed, both work

    A digital mushroom journal is easy to rearrange. You can drop a photo onto a background, resize it, add a text box for notes and export the page as an image to share.

    If you prefer paper, print the backgrounds you like and glue your photos in. Either way, keep a consistent page size so the journal sits together as a set.

    Putting it together with one paper pack

    If you would like all of these backgrounds in one place, our misty forest scrapbook papers are a set of 30 woodland backgrounds with ferns, cones, feathers and a few tall mushrooms in soft blue and tan. They are made as 12 x 12 inch digital papers for a mushroom journal or a scrapbook layout.

    Small Wild Things Paper 2 cover showing thirty misty forest papers for a mushroom journal
    The 30 papers in Small Wild Things Paper 2, the worked example for this mushroom journal guide.

    Any quiet background will do the job. What matters is that the paper is softer than the subject you place on it, a point we cover in choosing a background paper that does not fight your photograph.

    A simple way to begin

    Open one misty page, add the date, and go outside with your phone. When you find your first cap, photograph it and come back to the page.

    That is a complete first entry. The rest of a mushroom journal is the same step repeated whenever you pass a log or a lawn edge worth a second look.