DIY: Collage-covered diary

I've always been slightly obsessed with notebooks, journals, diaries and scrapbooks since I was a child. I have also long-loved the haphazard look of collage, so spent one sleepy Sunday beautifying my academic year-planner in preparation for going back to uni in September. Hopefully if it looks pretty then I'll be more inclined to actually use it...

I started with a plain black diary from WHSmiths. It's quite chunky as it's a day-by-day one.

I had a browse through my stupidly large magazine collection and tore out a few pages.

I then cut lots of pieces out before deciding on which ones I wanted to use.

I began arranging the pieces in the cover...and then had a brainwave.

RED PAPER! I covered the diary in vibrant red paper. Sometimes you get ideas as you go along, and that's what I love about making things - you never know what the outcome is going to be because inspiration strikes unexpectedly!

I drafted a quick handwritten sign but decided to go with the collage theme and use cut-out letters instead. 

Here's the front:

And the back:

I laminated the whole thing to secure the pieces and prevent the corners from wearing away. I'm really pleased with it :)