Vintage 1939 French Marie Claire upcycled coasters mini-journal/album

I thought I would share with you this little vintage, shabby-look mini-journal/album I made. It is made from paper and images taken from a French issue of Marie-Claire magazine dated 3 March 1939. The images on the front and back covers are originals, not copies that I varnished for added shine and protection.

The covers are made from upcycled vintage look coasters and are ring bound. I like rings for journals and albums, they're so flexible. You can add or delete papers, rearrange, stick in bits and pieces of other papers, photos, etc.

There's a variety of distressed papers too: plain white note paper, original magazine paper, heavy bond for sketches or photos and patterned pages.

The paperclip bookmark also sports an image from the magazine. In keeping with the vintage theme, I dipped into my stash of vintage Swiss ribbons I guard preciously and used some lovely faded pink to decorate the rings.  It needed some pockets, so I sewed up two of those. It's the perfect size for this beige Artemio felt bag. I added a pin made with an image of the magazine and decorated with pearl paint drops.

If you've got some coasters lying around the house unused, or you see some on sale, they're worth picking up and giving new life to as mini-journals or albums. Their flat surface makes them a breeze to work with and they're much less expensive than the plain, ready-to-decorate, chipboard album kits you buy in the craft department. I just punched holes with my Crop-a-dile, added rings, and there you go.