- Baker Street Pages
- Study and Clues Pages
- London Streets Pages
- Characters and Clues Pages
- Moor and Falls Pages
- Background Papers
- Lined Writing Pages
- Frequently Asked Questions
This sherlock holmes junk journal kit pulls its pages straight from Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories rather than any screen version: the gas lamp outside 221B Baker Street, a magnifying glass over a muddy footprint, a fireplace with two armchairs waiting for an evening of deduction. The set holds 23 scene pages, 5 seamless background papers and 5 lined writing pages, enough to fill a full journal of fog, clues and Victorian London.
Print everything on heavyweight paper, matte or lightly textured works best for the washed colours here, and set your printer to its highest quality so the fine pencil lines under the paint stay crisp. Trim close to the edge if you want the pages to butt right up against each other once they are glued in.
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.
Baker Street Pages
The lamp outside the door is a good spot for a ticket stub or a tiny tag that reads ‘case accepted’, tucked into a slit cut just under the knocker.
Pair this page with the houndstooth background a few pages on: use the pattern as a facing page or cut a strip of it for a pocket tucked behind the armchair.
Tear the bottom edge of this page roughly before gluing it in, so the muddy footprints seem to trail off the paper itself and onto the next page.
A single line is enough here: write where the cab is headed, who is inside, or what was left on the seat, right along the bottom margin.
Study and Clues Pages
The usual mistake with a desk page like this is leaving it too tidy, so let a few papers hang off the edge and a pipe roll slightly out of place for a lived-in feel.
Good page for a confident crafter: fold a small flap over one bottle so a lifted corner reveals a scribbled label, like a hidden formula.
Write the start of a case here: a client’s name, the date, the first odd detail noticed, laid out like the opening line of a story.
Set a chess board into the quiet corner of a journal spread beside the violin page, as if both sit in the same sitting room on the same evening.
Leave this page for last if you are short on time: tuck a strip of paper under the watch chain to stand in for the telegram and skip painting the text in.
Two empty armchairs by a fire make a natural spot for a short dialogue: write one line of conversation on each side of the page, as if two people are speaking across it.
A single detail carries this whole page: a slipper stuffed with tobacco sits above the fire, with a pipe rack and an old clock close by, and a dim study wall painted in behind it all.
London Streets Pages
Use this page as the hub of a spread: glue small torn labels or thread between pinned points if you want the map to look truly worked over.
Big Ben rises half hidden by fog over the river, with a lamp post and a few huddled figures below, and a slate grey sky washed in behind the whole scene.
Fits well on a right hand page facing the train compartment scene later in the set: keep the same steam colour on both for a connected feel across the spread.
Shadows gather along a narrow lamplit alley between brick walls, with a stray cat, a dropped glove and a crate of bottles tucked near a doorway, fog rolling in behind.
Good page for a question prompt: ask what mystery might be hiding under the bridge, and leave a few lines of space beneath the scene for the answer.
Characters and Clues Pages
Tea-stain just the strap and buckle of this bag before gluing it in, so the leather looks properly worn against the cleaner paint of the background.
This page suits a friend who loves a quiet mystery more than a loud one: a veiled visitor waiting at a half open door says everything without a single extra detail.
Hang a small paper tag from the hat stand hook, as a luggage label often does, and write a visitor’s name or the time of their call on it.
Cut a slit along the top of the trunk lid before printing is finished and this becomes a working pocket, perfect for tucking in a folded clue or a small photograph.
Picture the window beside the seat as a small frame: paint or leave it pale and glue a tiny photograph of your own journal page behind it later.
Moor and Falls Pages
Place this page opposite a quieter one, since the hound rising out of mist on open moorland carries enough weight on its own without a busy facing page competing for attention.
Rushing water falls through heavy mist between steep rock walls, with a narrow path and a single figure far off at the edge, cold grey light washed in behind everything.
Background Papers
This classic houndstooth repeat works well under a photograph of your own writing desk, as a lining for an inside pocket, or wrapped around a simple journal cover.
Use this damask repeat behind a mounted photograph, as the inside lining of a pocket page, or as a quiet cover for the whole journal.
Small scattered magnifying glasses and pipes make a fun lining for a pocket, a backing for a cut-out silhouette, or a playful journal cover on its own.
Faint overlapping street map lines suit a page behind a travel photograph, a pocket lining for tickets, or a base layer under a glued-on clue.
This narrow pinstripe repeat works as a cover wrap, a pocket lining, or a simple backing behind a mounted photograph of a handwritten letter.
Lined Writing Pages
Small gas lamps line the border here, leaving the middle free for a gift list, a packing list for a weekend away, or a short letter to next year’s self.
A deerstalker hat tucked into one corner frames space enough for a case list, a short letter, or notes on a mystery novel just finished.
A narrow band of violin and sheet music motifs runs down one side, leaving room in the middle for a favourite quote, a menu, or a letter never meant to be sent.
A faint London skyline frames the top of the page, perfect for a travel list, a short reading log, or a few lines about a favourite rainy afternoon.
Small footprints and a magnifying glass trail along the bottom border, good for a list of clues noticed that day, a gift list, or a letter to next year.
What to Do Next
Print the pages in order, work through the Baker Street and study sections first, and let the fog and lamplight settle the mood before you glue in a single page. For more printable sets to mix in, try the Pride and Prejudice junk journal pages, the Alice in Wonderland junk journal pages, or the winter junk journal pages for a foggier season ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for a Sherlock Holmes junk journal kit?
Heavyweight matte paper around 32lb works best, since it holds the washed colours without curling. Cardstock suits the background pages if you plan to use them as covers or pocket linings.
What printer settings give the best results?
Set your printer to its highest quality or photo setting on plain or matte paper to keep the soft watercolour edges crisp. Draft settings often wash out the muted palette and lose the pencil detail underneath.
What size should I print these pages at?
Standard A4 or US letter suits most home journals and binds easily. Print at full page size, then trim narrow margins afterward if you want the scenes to butt edge to edge once glued in.
Do I need to colour or add anything to these pages?
No colouring is needed since every page prints in full colour already. You can still add tea-staining along the edges, torn corners, or small glued-on clues like tags and ticket stubs for extra texture.
What glue or tools work best for assembling the journal?
A simple acid-free glue stick holds pages in flat and smooth without wrinkling. Small craft scissors help with trimming edges and cutting slits for pockets tucked behind the trunk or desk pages.