DIY Borders For Journal Pages

My country doesn't have fancy spiral bound notebooks with colored page-borders as subject dividers, so I thought 'hey I just make it myself then!' Not only can I now make regular borders, I can also add decorative elements to it. The acrylic paint puffs the pages a lot though. This medium probably wouldn't work that well in a hardcovered notebook as I can see the spine crack as multiple layers of paint get applied. Here I think I'd personally choose (not too soft) colored pencils for the project.

Painting borders on the pages is something I really got into in my current personal journal (which is just a plain spiral bound notebook). So far I like it, and I will definitely repeat it in future notebooks. 

This is how some of the borders looked like before I started writing on the page. 

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My Notebooks

I have loved notebooks for as long as I remember. Ironically, most of my life it was a struggle to use them and if I did they were mostly thrown out. That was until 3½ years ago. Let's just say my notebooks were all I had left after a failed attempt at turning my life in a positive direction. It wasn't until I stood with a massive pile of bound empty pages that I realized how worthless they are without content. But most of all it hit me with a gut crushing blow how I had treated these books as if they were more precious than the people and pets I love but now have lost. Memories of them could have been on these pages, but instead there's only emptiness. I can only change it to limited extend by writing down the memories my mind allows me access to. 

Never leave a notebook unused because you are afraid it will get ruined by your writing or drawings. What matters is that you will have a place to pull out otherwise forgotten memories of what you have loved, smile at the crazy idea you had ages ago, and maybe even look back at how many things you have achieved even though they in that moment seemed impossible!

My notebooks also serve as a playground for art and storytelling as well as documenting random things I appreciate. One has been dedicated entirely to my favorite song lyrics, another is now a quote journal because it's so difficult to properly write in, there's 3 sketchbooks of various sizes, a small movie-journal, and I have two for story ideas and writing prompts. All of the notebooks mentioned here are in the WIP-pile, but I'll show them another day.  

I don't have a brand or type preference, except I like them cheap and simple so it's not the end of the world if I drop a notebook into my acrylic paint palette and ruin its cover. Since I'm very interested in bookbinding there are also several handmade notebooks in my collection. 

To end this intro post, I'll show you a picture of the notebooks that are either filled or put on hold indefinitely. More entries containing images and hopefully also videos will be posted asap.

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