- Along The Grand Canal
- Masks And Masquerade
- Piazza And Rooftops
- Along The Grand Canal
- Piazza And Rooftops
- Background Papers
- Lined Writing Pages
- Frequently Asked Questions
This venice junk journal kit gathers the city in soft daylight: gondolas resting on green canals, stone bridges dressed in geraniums, carnival masks on velvet and pastel palazzo windows catching the morning light. Nineteen scene pages carry the story, four seamless background papers give you canals and damask for covers and pockets, and four lined writing pages hold space for your own notes from the trip, real or imagined.
Print the set on matte cardstock heavy enough to take glue without curling, somewhere around 170 to 200gsm, and set your printer to its best or photo quality so the washes stay clean. Trim each sheet to your journal’s page size before you start gluing, and keep a few edges deckled or torn if you want that well-travelled look.
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.
Along The Grand Canal
Give this one a short caption below the flower boxes, something like the name of the fondamenta or the hour the photo was taken, so it reads like a real mooring rather than a postcard.
Tea-stain just the bottom edge of this bridge page before you glue it in, so the stone looks weathered by canal damp while the geraniums and hanging laundry stay bright above it.
Tuck a real café receipt or a hand-written biscotti recipe under the lace curtain corner here, so the page doubles as a little pocket for a kept souvenir.
Masks And Masquerade
Pair this page with the Venetian Carnival Mask Toss background from later in this set, using the pattern as a pocket lining behind the cushion so a second mask can peek out when the pocket opens.
The usual mistake with a dock page like this is leaving the wood looking flat and new. Add a few darker plank lines with a fine pen after printing, and let the rope coil cast a soft shadow so the hat feels set down rather than stuck on.
Piazza And Rooftops
Best kept for a page about arriving in the city, since the domed basilica and the open arches behind the pigeons give a sense of first stepping into the square.
If you like a bit of sparkle in a journal, glue a few tiny glass beads onto the painted vases once the page is dry, just at the rims, for the smallest hint of real Murano glass catching the light.
Place this balcony page opposite the Gondola at the Striped Poles page from earlier in the set, so one spread shows the view up from the water and the view down onto it, roses on one side and striped poles on the other.
Ask yourself, or whoever the journal is for, what flavour they would choose first, and write the answer in tiny letters along the bridge rail beside the cones.
This page suits a reader who loves colour more than any other in the set, since the candy-bright houses give her the boldest palette to copy into her own sketches later.
Drape a scrap of real lace or ribbon over the top edge of this page once it is glued in, letting it trail slightly past the paper, to echo the gown’s own trim in something you can actually touch.
Glue this one in as a five-minute page when you are short on time: print it, trim it, and go straight to gluing with no extra staining or layering, since the blooms already carry the whole page on their own.
Venetian lace making pillow, with wooden bobbins strung across it and a finished lace collar laid beside the pillow, a work basket and a window with canal light painted in behind the scene.
Along The Grand Canal
Fold this page in half down the middle before gluing only one side into the journal, so the doorway opens like a real door onto whatever you write or glue on the hidden inside half.
Keep this sunset page for the end of a spread or the end of the whole journal, since the domes fading into pink and gold light make it feel like a closing page rather than an opening one.
Stationery lovers in a gift journal will reach for this page first, since it gives them a quill, a wax seal and sheets of marbled paper to admire before they even start writing their own letter.
Piazza And Rooftops
Leave a line or two of open sky above the bell tower free of ink, since that quiet painted space gives your eye somewhere to rest before it reaches the next busy page in the spread.
Wondering what to pair this one with, try the Italy junk journal pages if you are building a wider trip journal, since the shuttered window style echoes across both sets without repeating a single page.
Finish this spread with a question for the page: what would you pack into a basket like this one for a slow afternoon on the water, and who would you share it with.
Background Papers
Use this all-over wave pattern under a travel photo, as the lining inside a pocket page, or wrapped around a plain journal cover for a quick, finished look in lagoon aqua and soft gold.
This scattered mask pattern works well behind the carnival pages earlier in the set, as a pocket lining, or cut into strips for a border along the spine of the cover.
Reach for this bead mosaic page under glassware photos, as a cover wrap for a smaller travel notebook, or as the inside lining of an envelope pocket holding ticket stubs.
Keep this damask sheet for a journal cover or title page, since the formal repeating scrollwork reads as elegant backing paper rather than as a scene in its own right.
Lined Writing Pages
Use the ruled lines here for a packing list before the trip, a short letter to your future self about the city, or a record of the first meal eaten after landing.
Write a short note to whoever receives this as a gift journal, a list of canals or bridges to look for, or a simple daily log of where the gondola took you that day.
Good for a costume list ahead of a masquerade night, a few lines about a favourite mask seen in a shop window, or a short description of the music heard that evening.
Reserve this one for a menu copied from a favourite café, a short poem about the bridges, or a quiet entry about watching boats pass underneath at the end of the day.
What to Do Next
Print the set, trim the sheets to your journal’s size, and start gluing with the gondola pages first so the canal carries you straight into the masks and the markets that follow.
Frequently Asked Questions
What paper works best for a venice junk journal kit like this one?
Matte cardstock around 170 to 200gsm holds the washes cleanly without curling or letting glue show through. Lighter paper works too if you plan to tea-stain the edges, since thinner sheets take a stain faster and dry flatter.
What printer settings keep the colours looking right?
Set the printer to its best or photo quality and choose matte or plain paper in the settings menu, not glossy photo paper. This keeps the pastel washes soft and prevents the ink from pooling along the fine outlines.
What size should I print the pages at?
Most home journals use A5 or a standard 6 by 8 inch page, so print at that size or scale to fit your own journal’s trim. Print one test page first and measure it against a blank sheet before running the full set.
Do I need anything beyond paper and glue to finish these pages?
A glue stick and small scissors cover most of the set, with fine tip pens handy for adding your own notes or extra shading. Keep tea or coffee on hand too if you want to age any of the bridge or dock edges.
Can I mix these pages with other travel journal kits?
Yes, the pastel palazzo colours sit comfortably beside other Italy-themed sets without clashing. Try pairing a few pages from the Italy junk journal kit for a wider trip journal covering more than one city.