- Castles and Highland Views
- Travel and Journeys
- Cozy Interiors
- Islands and Coast
- Highland Wilds
- Highland Wilds
- Background Papers
- Lined Writing Pages
- Frequently Asked Questions
This scotland junk journal kit gathers the whole country onto one page set: highland castles on still lochs, misty moors, tartan plaids and little stone cottages with red doors. There are 23 scene pages to glue in as finished entries, 5 seamless background papers for covers and pockets, and 5 lined writing pages for the diary part of the journal.
Print everything on heavyweight paper, at the best quality your printer offers, so the washes of colour stay soft instead of streaky. Trim close to the edge if you want the pages to sit flush against each other, and leave a small margin if you plan to stitch or tape the spine.
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.
Castles and Highland Views
Opens the journal with a quiet highland castle sitting low on the water, mountains rising behind it in layers of grey-blue.
Pair this one with the heather and fern background paper later in the set, tucking a strip of it behind the meadow as a visible border before gluing the page in.
The thistles stay the main subject, with a far-off hill and a strip of sky doing the quiet work behind them.
The usual mistake with this page is making the cow too neat and smooth. Keep the fringe shaggy and let the heather around it stay loose and unfinished so the two textures sit apart.
Pictures a small whitewashed cottage on Skye, its red door bright against stone walls, a garden and hills filling the rest of the page.
Travel and Journeys
Glue a train ticket stub or a torn luggage tag onto the corner of this page before you add it to the journal, right where the viaduct curves away.
The steam trail and the valley below give plenty of room for a short note about any train trip, real or imagined.
Sets a white lighthouse on a cluster of rocks, waves breaking below and gulls circling above, the whole sky painted in soft storm-grey.
For a five-minute version of this page, paint only the castle on its hill and a simple line of rooftops below, skipping the smaller chimney and window details.
Confident painters can add more: a church spire, a close or two, strings of small windows lit warm against the grey stone.
Cozy Interiors
Settles a tartan wool blanket and a steaming teacup on a windowsill, rain streaking the glass and hills just visible outside.
This page suits anyone making a gift journal for a friend who loves baking or a proper afternoon tea, tartan plate and all.
A small jar of jam and a folded napkin sit beside the shortbread, with the whole tabletop painted in soft warm light rather than left blank.
Places a lone piper on a hill wrapped in thin mist, tartan sash catching what light there is against the soft grey hillside.
Islands and Coast
Carries a small ferry across choppy water toward a distant island, gulls trailing behind and hills rising pale on the horizon.
A quick prompt for the entry on this page: write down the loudest or quietest moment from a coastal walk, real or imagined, right beside the cliff.
The puffins cluster on a grassy ledge, with the sea stretching out below in soft layered blue.
Warms the page with a stone pub fireplace, a pint glass and a tartan-cushioned bench pulled close to the flames.
Highland Wilds
Place this page in a spread next to the standing stone circle later in the set: one opens to soft green water and ferns, the other to pale dawn stone, a gentle contrast across the fold.
Small waterfalls tumble through mossy rocks and ferns, with a soft green light painted over the whole glen.
Stands a red deer stag in open heather moorland, antlers catching the low light against a wide painted sky.
Lines up a row of painted harbor houses in soft blues, pinks and yellows, fishing boats bobbing in the water below them.
Highland Wilds
Rises the old stones in a circle on open moorland, the sky behind them washed in soft early pink and gold.
The usual mistake with a lone building like this is leaving the valley around it blank. Wash the whole hillside in soft green and grey so the little hut sits inside a real place, not floating on white paper.
For the five-minute version, paint only the loch, the rowboat and a simple hill line, leaving out the reeds and the far shore detail.
With more time, add reeds along the near bank and a soft reflection of the hills in the still water.
Sends a sheepdog low and quick around a scattered flock, the hillside rolling away behind them under a wide painted sky.
Covers the whole hillside in blooming purple heather, a single stone cairn marking the rise against a soft lavender sky.
Who is this page for in a gift journal: anyone who always orders the cream tea first and asks about the scones before the menu arrives.
A split scone sits piled with jam and cream, a small teapot and a linen napkin arranged beside it on a soft painted table.
Closes the scene pages on the coast: pale turquoise water meeting white sand, with sea grass and a scatter of shells along the tideline.
Tuck a pressed flower or a small shell sketch into the corner of this page once it is glued in, right where the sea grass meets the sand.
Background Papers
Works under a photo of a highland trip, as a pocket lining for keeping tickets, or folded into a simple cover in deep red and cream tartan.
Suits a cover page, a pocket lining for pressed flowers, or a backing sheet behind the thistle meadow scene earlier in the set.
Good under a photo of a moorland walk, as a pocket lining, or paired with the heather corner lined page for a matching spread.
Fits a cover in deep woodland tones, a pocket lining for the cozy pub or cottage pages, or a frame behind a photo from a highland walk.
Works well as a cover page, a pocket lining for keepsakes, or a backing sheet behind the standing stone circle scene earlier in the kit.
Lined Writing Pages
Leaves room for a packing list before a highland trip, a short letter to next year about a place you want to see, or a note about a favourite walk.
Good for a gift list for someone who loves Scotland, a simple menu for a tartan-themed supper, or a few lines about a castle visit.
Fits a gift list, a short letter to next year about a goal, or a few lines describing the colour of a moor at sunset.
Suits a recipe for shortbread, a letter to next year about a trip still being planned, or a short list of castles still to visit.
Works for a gift list, a menu for a cozy supper by the fire, or a letter to next year about returning to a favourite island.
What to Do Next
Print the full set, trim what needs trimming, and start gluing the scene pages in first so the backgrounds and lined pages have somewhere to settle around them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for printing a scotland junk journal?
Heavyweight matte paper around 28 to 32 lb works best, since it takes watercolour-style washes without buckling. Cardstock also works for sturdier pages like covers and pocket linings.
What printer settings give the softest colours?
Choose the best or photo quality setting on your printer rather than draft or normal. This slows the print slightly but keeps the washes soft instead of banded or streaky.
What size should the pages be printed at?
Standard US letter or A4 suits most home printers and journal covers without extra trimming. Shrink pages slightly on a smaller journal, or trim the edges down after printing.
What glue or tools work best for assembling the pages?
A glue stick keeps pages flat without wrinkling, while craft scissors give clean edges for torn or straight cuts. Fine tip pens work well for journaling directly onto the lined pages.
Can these pages be colored in or altered after printing?
Yes, the pages print in full colour already, but colored pencils or light watercolour touches can deepen shadows or add highlights. Washi tape also works well along torn or deckled edges.