Blank Page Muse Blog

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Create a Mini DIY Journal

Hello! Welcome back to the BPM blog. Blank Page Muse just released a new printable paper digital download set, the Summer Citrus Digital Papers, Ephemera, Pockets & Tags Printables. I am featuring these printables on my projects this month. This is my second post using these printables.

There are several advantages in using a digital print download. One of the advantages is that it can be resized depending on your project. For my project, I resized the top most print out sheet on the photo above. My initial plan is to make the image with the green design a card front. I thought I resized it to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" but after I trimmed it, it was not. I can make this into an odd shaped card but I had a light bulb moment while I was working with this digital print.

I don't know about you but I have several trimmers which includes a guillotine trimmer. I trimmed the white edges off the image.

To make sure I trimmed it flushed on the edge of the printed image, I used a Post-It Note as a guide. I lined it to the edge of the print out. I positioned the Post-It Note with the digital print on the trimmer. I made sure that the edge of the Post-It Note is aligned to the blade of the trimmer.

I scored this digital print at the center using the image's center line as a guide. This is when the idea of creating a mini journal went into play.

I looked through my stash and pulled out the excess sheets of my sons' school notebooks. I made pencil marks with the edges of the print out as guide. These marks will guide me on where to trim these sheets.

I wanted some variety on my journal so I also repeated the above steps on several sheets of typing paper. Just like the lined paper, I trimmed the sheets using the pencil marks as a guide. I used a rotary trimmer this time to cut the sheets.

I folded the sheets on the center. I reinforced the fold with a bone folder.

Even if the size of the paper inserts and the print out are all the same when laid flat, the inserts tend to be longer when folded. I trimmed a sliver off the open edge, trimming by batch, around 2 folded sheets at a time.

Once the paper inserts and the cover are equal in length, I punched the outer corners for both the printed cover and the inserts just to follow the design of the image.

I used a clip to keep the sheets together while I poke the holes on the center. I used a template as a guide to where to poke the holes. I wished I made the holes farther apart. I used a poking tool to poke the hole through all the pages. I poked the paper twice before stitching to reinforce the holes.

I used a DMC embroidery floss in stitching. I used 4 strands.

I started stitching from the center. moving towards the side, then moving back to the center ending the stitching there.

I fussy cut the collage image included in the set. I left a slim white border around the image.

I fussy cut a tag from the collection. This time, I cut it on the line.

I punched a hole on the tag & the collage print out. I placed the collage image on the back of the tag so both are aligned with each other when I punched a hole on it.

While I was creating the mini journal, I thought of adding a pocket to my art journal to put the mini journal in. I trimmed one of the pocket printouts included in the collection. I also go through different scissors when I craft. With this image, I used a long scissors so I can cut it straight. If I used a smaller scissor, I would have to move the paper towards the scissors which might not guarantee a straight cut. I used a small sharp tip scissors when I fussy cut.

I scored the tabs of the pocket following the design of the print out. I marked one of the grooves on the score board with a red marker. This line guides me in aligning the part of the paper that I want to score.

After folding the tabs on the score, I inked the edges of the pocket to give it a vintage look.

I added strong double sided adhesive tape to the tabs. I added the tape to the inside of the top tab to adhere this tab to the body of the pocket. You can trim this off but I feel this will keep the top edge of the pocket smooth and add strength to the pocket.

I removed the release paper from the double adhesive tape with a craft knife.

I adhered the pocket to the page next to the interactive art journal page.

This is how the mini journal looks with the cover open. Do you know that another advantage of digital prints is that you can print the design on both sides of the paper creating a double sided pattern paper?

I inserted a page of the journal in between the tag and ephemera like a book mark.

This is how the mini journal looks when out of the pocket.

I slipped the mini journal inside the pocket. Now, I have a double paged layout in my art journal.

I hope you like today's project and give this design a try.

Visit our social media sites for more stamping fun!

-https://ibrakeforstamps.com/

- https://blankpagemuse.com/

FB Fan Page- https://www.facebook.com/groups/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Shop- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Blog- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuseblog/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/BlankPageMuse

Pinterest- https://www.pinterest.com/blankpagemuse/boards/

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

of Maria Giselle's Creative Cuts

BPM is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store. Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out. Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

I am yours by Cathy N

Good morning, Cathy here with a fun card for you today.

Stamps Used:

Lady with butterfly wings

Pair of birds fancy border

Stencil Used:

Bedazzled diamonds

* Start by making the background with distress tea dye ink.

* Stamp Pair of birds fancy border in the same color all over the background.

* Add stenciling with the same ink color around the front.

* Stamp and cut out Lady with butterfly wings.

* Add some ephemera

Visit our social media sites for more stamping fun!

-https://ibrakeforstamps.com/

- https://blankpagemuse.com/

FB Fan Page- https://www.facebook.com/groups/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Shop- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuse/

Instagram Blog- https://www.instagram.com/blankpagemuseblog/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/BlankPageMuse

Pinterest- https://www.pinterest.com/blankpagemuse/boards/

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Partners in Crime Card by Julia

Hi!

I am back with some inspiration for Blank Page Muse shop.

Had such an awesome time using Just Us Girls Line Figure Art Rubber Stamp Sheet by Terri Sproul SC73.

I made a card and had so much fun making it.

Hope you like today's project.

You can find me here at Paper and Scraps Creations By Julia.

You are invited to visit our social media sites for more inspiration:

Julia

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Digital Prints on Art Journal

Hello! Welcome back to the BPM blog. Blank Page Muse just released a new printable paper digital download set, the BPM Summer Citrus Digital Papers, Ephemera, Pockets & Tags Printables. For this month, I am going to use the downloads to showcase a couple of ways to encorporate this to your craft.

The images come in .png format. After downloading it, I saved it as a .jpg format so I can add the images to the Micrsoft Word. It is usually the full sheet of digital downloads that get added to MS Word. From here, you can alter the sheet of images. Make it larger, smaller or crop the image/s that you want to use. For this project, I printed the full sheet of images. I printed it on an 8.5" x 11" Hammermill Premium Color Copy Cover Stock. I resized one of the images incorrectly which you can see on the topmost sheet on the above photo. I got so focused on getting the right size for the other image on the same sheet since I plan to use it on a project for this month.

But it's alright. I was still able to use this printed image on this project. Nobody will know that it is an incomplete print out. I trimmed it to size and cut it on the middle.

I folded the digital print leaving a tab on the bottom on three of the four digital prints. I folded the fourth piece halfway since this will be flushed on the edge of the journal. You can use a bone folder to score before folding. I did not. I used the bone folder to press on the fold for a crisp look.

I inked the edges of all the digital prints after it was cut out to give it a vintage look.

I always try to add some stitching on my projects since I really love to stitch. I pulled out from my craft treasure box an old We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Stitch Piercer to add holes on the journal paper. This tool has a newer version, in case you are interested.

I sew near the fold of the folded journal panel. I sew it to the tab of another journal panel. I used a poking tool to add holes to the tab area using the holes of the poked journal panel as a guide.

I did not have enough journal sheets printed from the collection. I used some leftover digital prints from my stash. This print is from the BPM Frosty Night Christmas Printable Papers, Ephemera Digital Download. Who said that you can only use a paper from a Holiday collection during Christmas?

I did a running stitch using 6 strands of DMC embroidery floss.

The two stitches on each end attached this journal to the tab of the journal behind it. Sort of like book binding but with a waterfall look. The rest of the stitching is just decorative stitching.

I fussy cut the tags and most of the ephemera. I was planning to use my Cricut machine to do the cutting but my printer ran out of ink.

One thing I love about tags is adding hole reinforcers. I have a die that cuts a hole reinforcer but this is very easy to make. Just die cut or punch a small circle then die cut or punch a smaller circle on the center.

Another thing I like about tags is adding ribbons or trims to it. The one I used frays. Instead of using a lighter to melt the edge, I used my heat tool. This melted the tip to stop it from fraying.

These are the tag inserts I will add to the pocket journal.

I adhered the folded journals to my art journal. I only applied adhesive to the sides so it does not interfere with the pockets.

This digital sheet includes washi tape images. To make it look like a true washi tape, I ripped the edges using a washi tape cutter.

I added some embossing to these washi tape print outs to add some interest although I wished I kept some without embossing.

I embossed one of the washi tape prints with a sentiment using an embossing folder. I inked the embossed impression to make the sentiment pop. You can stamp or write on it instead.

I fussy cut one of the prints on the sheet. I cut it leaving a slim border around it. There are some intricate parts on this image that I think it will be difficult to cut the image on the line.

I adhered some of the washi tape prints to the folds. I tucked the tags in the pocket. I also was able to tuck one of the washi tapes and the fussy cut print out on the sides of this waterfall journal.

This is how the journal pockets look when opened. It is kept closed by the tags. The one on the bottom has a tendency to open. I plan to keep it close with a decorative paper clip.