- Letters and Envelopes
- Post Office Scenes
- On the Mail Route
- Gardens and Cottages
- Small Treasures
- Background Papers
- Lined Writing Pages
- Frequently Asked Questions
A postal junk journal brings back a slower kind of mail: sealed envelopes, brass scales, pigeonhole walls and postboxes dusted with garden roses. This kit gives you 20 scene pages full of post office counters and writing desks, 4 seamless background papers of stamps and envelopes, and 4 lined writing pages bordered with wax seals and airmail stripes, so you can build a whole journal around letters that were never written.
Print the set on matte cardstock heavy enough to take glue without buckling, run your printer on its best photo or high quality setting, and trim close to the edge so the color runs right to the border. From there it is just scissors, glue and a cup of tea while you decide what to tuck into each page.
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.
Letters and Envelopes
Tuck a real pressed flower, a snip of ribbon or a tiny paper tag under the top envelope before you glue this page down, so it sits half hidden the way a kept letter would.
Pair this page with the Airmail Stripe Envelopes Pattern from this set: trim a strip of the pattern into a thin border and glue it along the bottom edge like a desk drawer front.
The usual mistake here is gluing the lace flat all the way round, which flattens the whole page and traps air bubbles under the paper.
Glue only the top edge of the lace trim and the corners of the envelope flap instead, leaving the pressed flower looking tucked rather than stuck, so the page keeps a little lift and shadow when the journal is closed.
Give the five minute version a go: skip the tweezers and extra loose stamps, just paint or print the open album with its rows of flower stamps and glue it straight onto a left hand page.
This one suits the reader who journals every evening, the friend who always has a cup going cold beside her notebook. Set it near the front of the journal as a quiet opening page before the busier post office scenes begin.
Post Office Scenes
A brass scale, a stack of brown parcels and a ball of string along the counter make this one sentence: a complete post office counter scene, ready to anchor a two page spread on its own.
Place this page facing the Post Office Interior page later in this set: the arched windows there will seem to light this wall of cubbies from the side, making the two feel like one room split across the spread.
Arched windows and brass grilles fill this quiet post office interior, lit softly from outside, with no customer in sight, just the hush of a room built for sending letters.
Write a short packing list on a tag and glue it to the string of the front parcel, the kind of note that says what is inside without ever showing a letter.
A spinning rack like this one is made for seaside and flower view postcards fanned out in rows, with a few propped forward as if just chosen, painted against the shop wall behind it.
On the Mail Route
Cut this page down the middle of the road and fold it as a gentle fold-out, so the bicycle and its leather satchel open to reveal a second small scene of parcels waiting behind it.
Glue a small paper wheel or a folded map corner near the coach wheels, something with texture that breaks up the flat print and catches the light when the page is turned.
Ask the page a short question as you glue it in: what letter would you most like to find waiting in that satchel, and who would it be from.
One corner of the page curls up on its own if you tea-stain just the edge nearest the postbox, giving the whole scene a weathered look without touching the painted color underneath.
Gardens and Cottages
This page suits the reader building a garden themed journal section, the one who already has roses and trellises tucked throughout her pages. Set it beside a background paper from this set to give that section a matching lining.
A small bluebird carries a sealed envelope by its ribbon over a cottage garden, the kind of quiet image that works as well on a card as inside a journal spread.
Keep the usual mistake in mind here: too much blue paint around the door flattens the whole scene, so leave pale wall visible either side to let the door read as a door.
Small Treasures
Pair this page with the Picture Postage Stamps Pattern background later in the set, trimming a narrow strip of the pattern to run along one edge as a printed stamp border.
Write the start of a greeting across the top of this page before gluing it down, just a word or two, since the wax tools here are shown exactly as a letter writer would leave them, mid-task.
A canvas mail bag tips onto a wooden floor, its envelopes spilling out in a loose fan, with a few stray stamps and a ball of twine scattered where they landed.
Background Papers
For the five minute version, leave out the tray and candle and just glue the scale and a small cluster of stamps onto a plain background page from earlier in this set.
Line the inside cover of your journal with this one, or cut it down for pocket linings behind a pigeonhole or satchel page, letting the small stamp motifs show through any die cut window.
Run this under a travel photo, use it as a pocket lining behind the mail coach or bicycle page, or wrap it round a journal cover for a crisp, orderly finish against the softer scene pages.
Use this behind the wax seal stamp page for a matching spread, as a pocket lining for tucked letters, or as a soft cover wrap for the whole journal.
Lined Writing Pages
Set this behind the writing desk page, line a pocket meant to hold loose postcards, or use it as endpapers at the very front and back of the finished journal.
Use this page for a gift list of who gets a letter this season, a short note to next year’s self, or a simple record of books read, framed by a border of small stamps.
Good for a travel log, a packing list before a trip, or a letter written to a friend far away, this page keeps its red and blue stripe band down one side while the lines stay open and plain.
Try it for a short gratitude list, a recipe passed down in the family, or a letter you never plan to send, with a small envelope and wax seal spray tucked into one corner.
What to Do Next
Print the pages in order, let the scenes dry if you add any wash of your own, then start gluing from the Letters and Envelopes section forward so your postal journal builds the way this kit was laid out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for a postal junk journal kit like this one?
Matte cardstock between 65lb and 110lb works best, since it takes glue and tape without buckling or showing through. Lighter paper curls and warps once you add ribbon, wax or pressed flowers to these pages.
What printer settings give the clearest results?
Set your printer to its best or photo quality setting and choose matte or cardstock as the paper type if that option exists. This keeps the fine ink outlines crisp and stops the pastel washes from printing patchy.
What size should I print these pages?
Standard US letter or A4 both work well, since every page is designed edge to edge and scales cleanly to either size. Trim close to the printed border so no white edge shows once it sits in the journal.
What glue is safe for layering envelopes, lace and ribbon onto these pages?
A fine tip glue pen or a thin layer of matte decoupage medium both hold well without soaking through the cardstock. Avoid wet liquid glue near lace or ribbon, since it can seep through and darken the paper underneath.
Can I color or add to these pages by hand?
Yes, a light wash of watercolor or a few strokes of colored pencil along the painted edges adds extra texture without fighting the printed palette. Keep any added color pale so it blends with the soft pastel tones already on the page.