Junk journaling is a popular craft focused on creating personalized books from recycled materials, ephemera, and mixed media elements. The master board technique is a foundational piece of collage work created on a large scale for later use in these projects. This method allows crafters to efficiently prepare large, cohesive sheets of decorated material.
Understanding the Master Board Concept
The master board is defined by its purpose: transforming miscellaneous scraps and leftover media into a unified, reusable surface. Journalers adopt this technique primarily for efficiency, streamlining the often time-consuming process of decorating individual small pieces. It allows for the creation of cohesive background elements rapidly, maximizing the use of materials that might otherwise be discarded.
Typically, the foundation of a master board is a sturdy, flat substrate, such as a piece of manila folder, heavy cardstock, or a large sheet of plain packaging paper. The size often corresponds to standard paper dimensions, like 8.5 by 11 inches or A4, because these sizes are easy to handle and store. The underlying structure does not require expensive or specialty paper, as its strength comes from the layers applied during the decoration process.
Preparing a large surface area allows the artist to focus on broad strokes of color and texture without worrying about precise edges or the final shape. This approach ensures a unified aesthetic when the sheet is ultimately disassembled into multiple smaller pieces for journal assembly. The resulting large, decorated sheet is explicitly intended to be cut down into smaller, functional elements later in the process.
Step-by-Step Creation Techniques
Building a master board begins with preparing the substrate and gathering a wide assortment of decorating materials. Crafters often start with a light coat of gesso or white acrylic paint, which seals the surface and provides a uniform ground for subsequent layers of media application. This initial step prevents highly absorbent materials like cardboard from warping excessively once wet mediums are introduced.
The first decorative layer typically consists of paper scraps, often applied using a collage technique where small pieces are adhered randomly across the entire surface. These scraps might include printed text, newspaper clippings, old book pages, or patterned tissue paper, secured with a matte adhesive like PVA glue or a decoupage medium. This initial layer establishes a base texture and visual interest while ensuring complete coverage of the underlying substrate.
Following the collage, color is introduced through various wet media, such as acrylic washes, dye-based inks, or highly pigmented spray mists. Application methods like stenciling and stamping are employed to add repeating patterns and graphic elements over the paper layers. Using a large, open stencil allows for applying color across a significant area, linking disparate sections visually while maintaining transparency. Applying translucent layers of color, such as distress oxide inks, adds complexity without completely obscuring the text or patterns underneath.
Texture building is further enhanced by introducing elements like cheesecloth, thread, or modeling paste applied through stencils for a raised effect. Once the wet layers are dry, additional details are added using permanent black ink for doodling, or rubbing alcohol to reactivate and lift certain inks for a distressed effect. The process is complete when the entire surface feels rich with detail and the original substrate is no longer visible beneath the cohesive layers of media.
Uniform coverage is important because every square inch will eventually become a finished component. This guarantees that each resulting small element maintains the same layered complexity and design quality. The finished master board is then set aside to cure fully before moving on to the final stage of transformation.
Transforming the Board into Journal Elements
Once the master board is cured, the process transitions from mixed media creation to practical application through careful cutting and sizing. The large, decorated sheet is cut down, with the chosen dimensions dictated by the specific needs of the journal project. Crafters often use a paper trimmer or rotary cutter to achieve clean, precise lines, maximizing the usable surface area.
One common application is cutting the board into small rectangles or squares, which serve as backing for journal cards or small embellishments. These pieces provide a sturdy, decorative frame for handwritten notes or photographs that will be tucked into pockets. Longer, thinner sections of the board are trimmed into decorative strips, which are then used as borders for journal pages or layered embellishments along a page edge.
For dimensional elements, the board can be cut into shapes suitable for folding, such as pockets designed to hold ephemera or envelopes glued directly onto a journal page. The inherent thickness and layered structure of the completed board provide the necessary rigidity for these functional components. Using a decorative edge punch or specialized corner rounder adds a finished, professional appearance to the otherwise straight-cut pieces.
The benefit of this technique lies in the resulting uniformity across multiple small elements derived from a single source. Since every tag, pocket, and border strip originated from the same master sheet, they share an identical palette, texture, and layering style. This ensures a cohesive visual language throughout an entire journal signature, lending a sophisticated, organized aesthetic to the finished project.
Even small off-cuts and irregular remnants are often saved. These pieces can be used as tiny collaged accents or tabs extending from the edge of a page.