Yellow Monochrome Junk Journal with Vintage Ephemera

This yellow monochromatic handmade junk journal was created as an exploration of colour, texture, and vintage ephemera. Limiting a journal to a single colour palette is one of my favourite ways to slow down and work intuitively, allowing paper, pattern, and detail to take centre stage.

This journal is filled with vintage sewing book pages, botanical imagery, ledger cards, maps, florals, and soft textile elements—all carefully layered in shades of yellow, cream, and warm neutrals.

Why I Love Creating Monochromatic Junk Journals:

I thought it would be fun to create a yellow journal because it is January and even though I am a big fan of long winter nights, snow storms and cozy nights on the couch, a little bit of cheery yellow paper would be a welcomed sight :)

My original intent was to create a yellow monochromatic junk journal that had only yellow and shades of yellow papers, ephemera and fabric trims. I started out by gathering yellow papers and looked around my studio for yellow ephemera of all kinds. It soon became apparent that sticking to strictly yellow was going to be a challenge and one I wasn’t sure I could adhere to.

As I compiled and arranged my papers I realized that I actually enjoyed putting together the various hues and tones of yellows, golds and some oranges with whites, creams and for obvious reasons, greens.

Materials Used in This Yellow Junk Journal

• vintage sewing and tailoring book pages

• calendar pages, vintage recipe cards, playing cards

• floral illustrations, old planner pages, cookbook pages

• maps and ledger cards

• fabric tabs, lace, and cotton scraps

• tags, clips, and layered ephemera

Inside the Yellow Journal Pages

As per usual, what I thought I wanted in theory did not match what I wanted in reality once I got started LOL! This journal took about a week to complete and as I went through the process of creating it, it was fun to challenge my original monochromatic idea and spend time considering what colour combinations I enjoyed with the various yellow hues and tones.

If you would like to watch a YouTube video of me putting this journal together and a flip thru of the finished pages click the button below.

I decided that one way I could create and included interesting yellow pages was to paint and stamp over vintage book pages. This worked like a charm and was better than using up a ton of printer ink printing out a bunch of yellow digitals. I used yellow acrylic paint and my ink blending tool/dabber to create large polka dots on these old dictionary pages. Fast, simple and very effective. In my quest to use more of what I already have in my studio, this was an added bonus because I wasn’t tempted to order or buy more paper.

(well, I was but this solution meant I didn’t buy any hahah!)

For me, it isn’t a finished journal without a photo of some pasta or potatoes lOL!

The more I worked in this journal, the more enjoyed the idea of working with a limited palette and seeing what kinds of layering I could create that was interesting and not repetitive in nature.

This is one of my favourite journals to date and I have to admit that working with these yellows pages really did give my mood a lift during these very cold January days that were -20 degrees C!! Brrr!!!

This journal ended up to be WAY more chunky and bulky then I had originally wanted but like almost every other journal i make, I have no self control and just keep shoving ephemera in LOL!

These two pages might be my favourites.

Creating monochromatic junk journals is a gentle reminder that limitation can actually open up creativity. Working in yellow allowed this journal to feel cohesive, playful, and nostalgic—perfect for documenting small moments, memories, or creative ideas.

Hope you enjoyed the post and found something here useful and inspirational!
Thanks for being here, take care, Lisa :)