Swap Journal

It's been a long time since I've posted something/anything. Partially it's because the muse had left me, partially because I've been making, but not finishing anything, partially because I just don't like all that photo editing. And this post and all the pictures to follow reminded me just how much I don't like it. But, it had to be done.
I joined a couple of junk journal groups of Facebook and after lots of YouTube video watching and playing with paper, I finally took a big breath and signed up for my first swap. Not a completed journal, but a "flowish" journal. These are based on Flow Magazine/Book - something for paper lovers, meant to be taken apart and reused in a handmade journal.
The swap is for a "baby" journal which refers to the size (4.5 - 5" square) and I opted to have an international partner which meant only 15 sheets and even that is a lot in such a small journal. I agonized over the cover, but had a lot of fun with the inside, going through my embarrassingly large stash of papers all over the house.
Apologies in advance for the many, many photos. Most of the women in my group do videos, but that's something I haven't learned (yet), not sure I will. 
So, here is what I came up with:

I used a vintage fabric for the outside of the cover and while I originally wanted to quilt it in a rather contemporary style, the fabric let me know otherwise. So, I appliqued a bit of lace to it and used some sari ribbon for the tie. This cover is loose, so it can be used for something else, not really part of the requirements for the swap.

This is the real cover, a file folder cut down to size, a bit of lace to hold the pages in - they are meant to be removable - and a lot of seam binding - coffee dyed - to hold the folder closed.

The inside pages - scrap booking paper.

More scrap booking paper, this one cut up into small sizes.

From left to right: scrap booking paper, guest checks (I have a mild obsession with office forms) and some folded up gift wrap.

Gift wrap on left, some digital images printed on vellum.

Again from left to right: more digital images on Vellum and a menu from my favorite Indian restaurant.

An envelope folded in half (pink) and more office forms.

A folded up page from a very old Sears catalog and a folded up form for a gardener - I think.

On the left a page from a Chinese language learning book and more images on Vellum.

A page, folded up, from a Chinese children's book.

A rather old page of scrap booking paper.

And in the very center - a folded up glassine envelope.
I did not photograph the other half of the journal pages, pretty much the same as the first side. I also cheated a bit when putting all this together. I simply could not bring myself to cut a lot of the pages to size and just folded them to the correct dimensions.

Some of the things I included in the journal are small bags and envelopes (here is a selection) filled with cut outs, ephemera etc. And some mini file folders I made. There's a little bit more, a sheet of handmade paper, coffee dyed doilies etc. that I did not take pictures of. I might, but at this point I am all photographed out and, besides, it's time to get started on dinner and celebrating my wedding anniversary. Many, many years today.