This is the first time I’ve designed my own papers to make a journal. It’s an idea I’ve played around with before, but then I see what other crafters create and I’d lose my nerve.

After looking over journals I’ve made before, I realised, even though I love the look of elaborate, heavily embellished journals I see others make, my personal preference for journals I use is for something simpler.

With that in mind, I set out to design my papers. As I have a good selection of castle photos, I decided that would be a good place to start, and the ones I chose are:

Bath Cathedral… I know its not a castle but it looks good!

The photo editing tool I use is Pixlr.

After choosing a simple background, I added the castle photo and turned up the transparency. On the lined pages, I kept some plain and added flourishes and embellishments on others. I wanted to have as much writing space as possible.

I also added pockets and tuck-spots for notecards.

Most of the paper I used is heavyweight, 200g paper with a few sheets of normal copy paper.

Whereas I usually use a single cereal box for the cover, this time I glued two cereal boxes together for extra sturdiness.

I copied bits of each castle’s history onto the heavier weight paper and used that to decorate the inside of the cover.

I found some neat little castle-themed charms on ebay. There are a couple on the inside and, also, on the outside, hanging against the spine, attached with thread and fibres. I also used some jewel-like beads from an old bracelet I no longer use, and also a little key.

The closure is fabric but looks like leather. I attached it and the little D-ring to the cover with a brad (basically a split-pin) and glued it on the inside.

Charms attached to thread and fibres on the outside of Castle Journal

Fleur-de-lys charm on the inside of the first signature

Sword charm on the inside of the second signature

For the first time, I finished off the cover with metal edges on the corners.

As always, there’s a stamped image of my favourite Anna Griffin stamp on the back.

I admit to a couple of harried moments when I was sewing the signatures onto the cover and was ready to just ditch the whole thing. But I’m glad I persevered as, I have to say, I’m really pleased with the end result.

If you’d like to see what the full journal looks like, here’s a quick flip-through…

My Own Design of A Castle-Themed Journal