I Started Making Masterboards… Then This Happened! #10daysofbitsandpieces2026

☕️ Buy me a coffee to support my channel: https://ko-fi.com/hilltopviewjournals 📷 Instagram: @hilltop_view_journals 🤖 Facebook:   / hilltopviewjournals   Inky Mia Instagram:   / inky.mia   In this video I’m making a scrappy little sample journal from my masterboards — and, as is often the case in my craft room, it turns into something slightly different from what I originally had in mind! This journal is being created as my personal idea and sample book for the 10 Days of Bits and Pieces Challenge 2026, which I’m hosting with Inky Mia. During the challenge I’ll be making different projects from scraps, leftovers, ephemera and bits and pieces, and I’ll be adding the finished makes to this journal so I have a visual reference of the techniques and ideas I’ve used. I’m using the beautiful Sweet Pea Curiosities digital kit, together with old book pages, scraps, gel prints, fabric, lace, embroidery pieces and plenty of loose threads. I’ve deliberately kept the journal scrappy, grungy and imperfect — lots of messy stitching, distressed edges and pieces that don’t necessarily match perfectly. I also show how I make several masterboards and, importantly, how I use them afterwards. Rather than leaving your masterboards sitting safely in your craft room because they’re “too nice to cut up”, I’m cutting mine into journal pages, covers, frames, pockets and embellishments. The journal is deliberately simple and flexible. I’ve used rings for now so that I can add, remove and rearrange pages as the challenge develops, but I also show a simple hemp-cord binding option. The finished journal is essentially an idea book for collage and junk journaling — somewhere I can experiment without worrying about making every page perfect. 10 Days of Bits and Pieces Challenge 2026 The challenge starts on 1 October 2026 and runs for 10 days, with one prompt each day. You don’t have to complete the prompts within the 10 days — you can work through them at your own pace, use one prompt or all ten, and then spend the rest of October playing with what you’ve created. The challenge is hosted by Hilltop View Journals and Inky Mia, with videos and inspiration being shared on YouTube and Instagram. Follow along using: #10daysofbitsandpieces2026 Chapters 00:00 Introduction & the idea behind the sample journal 01:00 Choosing materials & getting started 01:48 Making the first masterboards 04:46 A simple way to overcome masterboard intimidation 06:38 Gluing the masterboard together 08:12 Using gel prints as a masterboard base 11:26 Creating a template for the journal pages 12:03 Cutting the journal pages 15:28 Choosing a temporary binding 16:08 Ideas for using a loose-leaf collage journal 17:01 Looking through previous sample journals 21:33 Rings, thread and binding options 21:55 Making the front and back covers 26:17 Creating the masterboard cover embellishments 29:27 Using leftover masterboard scraps 32:10 Creating a tuck spot 33:18 Binding the finished journal 36:53 Finished sample journal flip-through 39:03 Preparing for the 10 Days of Bits and Pieces Challenge 40:07 Challenge details & how to join us Materials I used: Sweet Pea Curiosities digital kit Old book pages Scraps of paper Gel prints Wrapping paper Fabric and muslin Lace and textile scraps Embroidery embellishments Black thread Hemp cord Loose-leaf book rings Distress ink Cardboard for the template Sewing machine Sweet Pea Curiosities Links: Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SweetPea... YouTube Channel:    / @sweetpeacuriosities   AMAZON Junk Journal Books: amazon.com/author/sweetpeacuriosities Instagram: instagram.com/sweetpeacuriosities Facebook: facebook.com/sweetpeacuriosities TikTok: tiktok.com/@sweetpeacuriosities Pinterest: pinterest.com/sweetpeacuriosities KOFI: ko-fi.com/sweetpeacuriosities Moments Pressed in Time Digital Kit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/43417122... Other Sweet Pea Curiosities Digital Kits I am using for this series: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/11899... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/18822... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/10836... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/11414... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/10907... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/43236... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/18832... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/14959... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/11137... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/10887...