- Paris Street Scenes
- Provence Countryside
- Patisserie and Market Pages
- Still Life and Keepsakes
- Background Papers
- Lined Writing Pages
- Frequently Asked Questions
These french junk journal ideas give you a full set of printable pages built around one trip through France, from a dusk view of the Eiffel Tower to a lavender field in Provence and a patisserie window full of macarons. The kit holds 19 scene pages, 4 seamless background pages and 4 lined writing pages, so you can build whole spreads without hunting for extra paper or clip art.
Print the set on matte cardstock heavy enough to take glue without curling, at the printer’s best or photo quality so the washes stay soft. Trim each sheet to the journal size you want before gluing, and keep a little white border if you plan to deckle the edges by hand afterward.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Paris Street Scenes
Paris street at dusk, the Eiffel Tower lit faintly against a fading sky, with a lamppost, a row of balconied buildings and a bicycle leaned against a wall below.
Write the date of a visit or an imagined one, a line about the weather, or the name of a bridge along one of its stone arches.
The scene shows a bridge over the Seine with a couple strolling, a bookseller’s stall of green boxes, and the river reflecting the buildings beyond.
Pair this page with the Fleur-de-Lis and Script Pattern background: glue the cafe scene onto a strip of the pattern paper for a framed border effect.
Rooftops of Montmartre climb toward a white domed church, with chimney pots, a cat on a windowsill and washing lines strung between buildings.
The usual mistake with a grand facade page is making the building so large it swallows the sheet. Leave a soft painted sky above the towers and a quiet square of cobblestones below so the page still breathes.
This design works well for readers who love Parisian building paintings and want that same mood inside a journal.
Provence Countryside
Rows of lavender stretch toward a stone farmhouse under a wide afternoon sky, with a wooden gate and a few scattered poppies at the edge.
This page is for the gift journal made for someone who dreams of a slow trip south, the kind of page she would turn to first.
A dirt path cuts through a field of sunflowers turned toward the light, with a weathered fence post and a distant line of cypress trees.
Tear the top edge of this sheet before gluing it in, so the field seems to fade into the page beside it rather than stop at a hard line.
What would the grape harvest smell like, and who would you want standing beside you in the rows: write that answer along the base of the vines.
Patisserie and Market Pages
A patisserie window glows with stacked macarons in soft colours, a tiered cake stand, striped boxes tied with ribbon and a gold lettered sign above.
Glue in a torn ticket, a handwritten grocery list or the name of a favourite loaf along the lower edge, where the shelf meets the counter.
Buckets of roses, peonies and tulips crowd a riverside market stall, with a striped awning overhead and a cat curled asleep on a wooden crate.
Readers who enjoy food themed pages might also like the easy watercolor food ideas for another set of still life subjects.
A cheese stall displays wheels and wedges on straw mats, with a hand scale, a basket of walnuts and a chalkboard listing the day’s names.
The five minute version of this page is simple: glue it in flat, write one line of a memory or wish along the bottom margin, and move on to the next spread.
Still Life and Keepsakes
Three glass perfume bottles with gold stoppers sit on a lace cloth beside a pressed lavender sprig and an old hand mirror.
Pair this page with the Script and Fleur-de-Lis Pattern background by gluing the letter scene onto a strip of it, leaving a border of pattern on three sides.
A shelf holds a small Eiffel Tower figurine, a stack of postcards tied with string, a beret and a jar of dried lavender.
This works as a companion to a travel junk journal spread, placed opposite a map or ticket page from an actual trip.
Write the flavours you would choose for a tasting box, a short poem about sweetness, or the name of a friend to share them with.
A wrought iron garden gate stands half open under climbing roses, with a stone path, a watering can and a bee hovering near the blooms.
Background Papers
Place this page beside the Vineyard At Harvest scene in a spread, so the turret of the chateau lines up near the cottage roofline on the facing sheet.
Small fleur-de-lis shapes alternate with lines of looping French script across the sheet, useful under a photo, as a cover sheet, or torn into strips for borders in this set’s palette.
Scattered lavender sprigs repeat edge to edge, soft enough to sit behind a photo, line the inside of a cover, or back a pocket page without competing with it.
Narrow striped bands echo a cafe awning and run the full sheet, good as a cover paper, a divider between sections, or a backing behind a market scene page.
Lined Writing Pages
Small croissants and teacups scatter in a loose repeating toss, suited to lining a food themed pocket, backing a patisserie page, or filling a title sheet.
A thin border of coffee cups and pastry sprigs frames faint ruled lines, ready for a cafe menu copied from memory, a list of pastries tried, or a note to a future self about a meal.
Lavender sprigs trail down one side of the sheet beside faint ruled lines, suited to a letter to next year, a short poem about the countryside, or a gift list for someone who loves Provence.
Small fleur-de-lis sprays mark each corner around faint ruled lines, good for a packing list before a trip, a recipe for pastry, or a line about a street you want to walk down.
What to Do Next
Print the set, trim each sheet to size, and start gluing from the Eiffel Tower page forward so the journal reads like one slow walk through France.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for these french junk journal pages?
Matte cardstock around 65 to 90 lb holds the watercolour washes without curling or letting ink bleed through. Plain printer paper feels thin against glue and can wrinkle once it dries, so cardstock gives sturdier pages that sit well in a finished journal.
What printer settings give the best colour on these pages?
Choose the best or photo quality setting on your printer, with the paper type set to matte or cardstock rather than plain paper. This slows the print slightly but keeps the soft colour blends true instead of streaky or faded along the edges.
What size should I print the pages for a junk journal?
Standard letter or A4 size suits most handmade journals and lets you trim down to smaller pages as needed. Print at full page, no scaling, then trim after printing so you control the exact finished size for your covers and binding.
Can I color or add to these pages by hand?
Yes, a thin wash of watercolour or a fine pen line can add a personal touch once a page is trimmed. Keep additions light since the printed scene is already complete, and test any wet media on a scrap first so the paper does not buckle.
Do I need special glue to add these pages into a journal?
A standard acid free glue stick works well and dries flat without wrinkling the cardstock. Avoid wet liquid glue for full sheets since it can warp the paper, and save liquid glue for small embellishments only.