Creating a Hand-Made Journal for a Diary or Life Story using Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner (Step 1)

Yesterday I went around my home with my Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner in hand. I was looking for patterns. Patterns can be found anywhere - in floor tiles, couch fabric, sofa cushions, carpets, wallpaper, drapes, wall tiles, kitchen and bathroom counters, etc.

I wanted to scan patterns to create pages for a journal I want to make. I want this hand-made journal for my Life Story that I plan to write. It's an offshoot of my weekly Sharing Memories blog posts here on Olive Tree Genealogy. Right now it's an idea glimmering in my brain. It's not well thought out, but I do have a sort-of kind-of plan on how I plan on creating my journal with beautiful hand-made pages which I will make.

Usually when I do project like this, I create the entire thing first, then I share it here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog. But this time I thought it would be fun if others joined me! Of course you can use your journal for anything you want! As a diary. As a Life Story book. As a Sharing Memories book. Those are just a few ideas for a hand-made journal.

So if you have a Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner, and you'd like to create your own journal (for yourself or for gifts), why not grab it and find some patterns in your home that you might be able to use. (If you don't have a Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner you really should get one)

It will also be really helpful for us to share our ideas -what works and what doesn't work, as we go along. You might figure out the solution to a problem as we create our journals. Or you might find a great pattern that others can duplicate. For instance I know that my white lace tablecloth makes an amazing pattern but I forgot to scan it so I'll pull it out and get that done before I make any final decisions on which of my scanned patterns I will use for my journal pages.

I've already scanned over 40 patterns (32 are shown below) and I've printed off about 10 that I like for the pages of my journal. Take a peek at the patterns below and let me share with you a few of the ones I really like for my pages. 

Some of the patterns I scanned are too dark to use as pages I can write on. I might use them as borders on other pages or as the inside covers or even the outside cover of my journal. I'm not sure yet. And while I love that blue-purple Kleenex box scan, I don't have anything that I feel matches or complements it to be able to use in my Journal creation.

Oh, and where you see the word "REDO" as part of the file name, it means I didn't notice the dog hair or crumbs or specks of dirt and dust until I'd finished scanning! So I have to rescan after I do a little cleanup. So I can already give you a tiny word of advice - be sure what you are scanning is free of dust, dirt, lint, pet hair and so on! Unless you like the abstract and real feeling to your pages if you've scanned in some cat or dog hair, then by all means keep it natural.

If it weren't winter in Canada I'd have gone outside looking for more patterns to scan - the gravel in my garden, an old pot, the wrought iron patio table, the welcome mat, the birch tree bark... I bet I could find lots! I'll be interested to know what my readers find outside if you choose to accept my challenge to join me on this project.

I've decided to create pages using light beige and white patterns. Some of the patterns above are too small for you to see the great designs on them so I'm going to show you a few below as larger images.

Wooden Closet Door painted cream

Stucco Ceiling

Bedroom Wallpaper

See how pretty those patterns are when enlarged? They're going to make beautiful paper if I decide to use them for my journal pages.

How to Scan Patterns with Your Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner

Take the lid off your scanner. It pops off very easily. Then find a pattern you want to scan and put your scanner over it so that the object you are scanning is against the flat bed.

Here I am scanning the patterned fabric of an antique parlour chair in my living room.

Cover the other side of the glass (it will be facing up or out towards you) loosely with the scanner lid or the Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner black cleaning cloth. Hold the scanner very steady if you are scanning a wall or ceiling.

You can see the end result of the scan in the first image of the thumbnail patterns at the start of this blog post. It is called ChairYellowPattern.jpg and is in the second row, first on the left.

Don't worry about anything else right now except finding and scanning patterns. These will be the basis of your journal pages. You might do more than just print them off later as pages so keep an eye out for darker patterns and different patterns that you might add as borders to your scanned pages. I've got that part figured out in my head (sort of) so we can play around with that idea later.

This is going to be fun! I hope you'll join me for this project. As soon as I create my pages, I'll be posting again.