Hi, I’m Rachael.

A dedicated, happy-go-lucky book geek and creative, I announced at the age of five that I wanted to be an artist. For years, I denied that side of myself and pursued a side career writing fiction. I’ve published two novels, The Flight of the White Crow and A Possibility of Magic, both of which I’m very proud, but writing books was always a hard slog that was more about having it done than enjoying the process.

In 2020, I discovered bullet journaling and began creating small scrapbook-style mixed media collages in my bullet journal. I had always loved binding books by hand and had taken some classes and had a small not-much-used stash of paper and tools devoted to it. After getting into bullet journaling, I took up binding books again and reawakened a long-lost love, at which point I discovered my one true creative love: junk journaling, art journaling, making junk journals… call it what you like. I can make and make and make all day long and never get tired of it.

These days, I happily, joyously, never-endingly make handmade junk journals for sale. I make my own physical junk journals out of file folders, envelopes, junk mail, Amazon boxes, whatever is handy, and I also design digital collages and ephemera for printables to be used in making junk journals.

What is a junk journal? You may be asking, if you’re not familiar with this wonderful craft. And it’s not terribly easy to define… junk journals are homemade, handmade books made from paper, book board, junk mail, envelopes, cardboard boxes, and really any form of paper or board that takes your fancy into a book or small folder that is filled with pages, pockets, ephemera, tags, tickets, flaps, bookmarks, hidden paperclips, journal cards, and more. People use them to journal, to scrapbook, or to just to wonder over. It’s a great way to use up old junk or paper ephemera… or to make beautiful things from new, beautifully designed papers.

I have WAY less difficulty staying motivated; if I’m not crafting, I want to be, and usually I am anyway, in every spare minute I can get for it, just because it brings me so much joy. You can find my junk journals and printables for sale in my Etsy shop as well as at craft fairs and markets around Central Texas. I teach classes and sell my work in a booth at Crafter’s Convention and hope to soon have an online course for sale as well.

You can reach me at rachael@spunkymisfitgirl.com.