The crafty renaissance appears to have taken the internet by storm, with the major rise of junk journaling — a form of scrapbooking and physical memory collecting that encourages you to create with ‘trash’ and mementos you already have. For many, this looks like using materials like travel tickets, movie stubs, receipts, napkins, packaging or business cards to create one-of-a-kind journal spreads.

I had the opportunity to ask the internet’s resident queen of craft and expert on all things junk journaling, Martina Calvi (@martinamartian), about her experience as a creative, both off and online. Much of her inspiration stems from her childhood, 2000s rom coms, Tumblr, Sofia Coppola, art and craft books, and “objects of the past” found in flea markets and vintage stores. I discovered her profile through photos of her zine, “The Other Italy,” and her flow of sentimental and whimsical creations and kind personality have kept me following along. She has inspired me to get back in touch with my hobby of scrapbooking, and pouring into my creativity has been incredibly fulfilling.

Martina is excited by the rise of offline creative hobbies and notes how junk journaling encourages everyone to “[embrace] imperfection, spontaneity, and memory collecting in a way that resonates with people right now. We’re all craving something a little messier, slower, and more human.” The act of slowing down and creating something physical has been calming for me, and many of my friends, who I’ve roped into junk journaling.

Martina has always been passionate about print, as her father worked in newspapers for four decades. “I’ve always grown up hearing about the rise and fall of the print industry. I grew up collecting Frankie Magazine and picking up free copies of Vice, making zines and keeping stacks of books by my bed,” she says. 

Martina is a staunch believer that print will never die. “If anything, it’s becoming more of a nostalgic novelty to us, a place for slow and considered storytelling to live,” she argues. “Print media asks us to pause and get offline, which is something we’re all craving more and more.” 

Last year, Martina also published her first book, The Art of Memory Collecting. This was her “childhood dream come true” as a girl who always maxed out the library loan limit and wrote novels on her family’s computer. Her book is dedicated to “all the crafty, creative and sentimental people” and stands as a love letter to handmade projects and preserving memories. Sharing her junk journaling spreads on an Instagram reel led to her first international book deal, and she was soon offered another after The Art of Memory Collecting sold out almost immediately after her launch. Her next book, A Year of Junk Journaling, will dive into a year’s worth of pages from her personal journal. The success of her first book allowed Martina to approach this book with far more confidence; “I was much firmer on some design choices and including more tiny details for my readers to discover, that I didn’t feel brave enough to push for last time,” she notes. Her success is also a testament to the rising popularity of this genre and how alive-and-well physical media is.

Earlier this year, Martina launched her own print magazine, Tiny Zine. She wanted the magazine to feel like it was made by your crafty best friends: “Playful, 100 percent human made, and authentic.” It champions analogue creativity, spotlights artists and writers from their community, and is “like Rookie Mag meets your pen pal’s collage meets Interview Magazine.” Their first edition was carefully hand-designed, and stars Lola Young. It stands as a reminder of the cultural relevance that can be found in independent publishing, and the fun, collectible nature of print.

Balancing an online presence with offline creation is not always easy for anyone, even Martina. But this has just pushed her to protect some of her creative moments even more, keeping some of her journal private. “My internet presence has definitely amplified my work, which I’m so grateful for, but it’s also made me more intentional about carving out time to make things just for me.” 

For anyone looking to start junk journaling, Martina recommends you “start with what you already have. A receipt, a bus ticket, a piece of packaging you like. Creativity doesn’t have to be loud or perfect — just create for you.” She insists that “junk journaling is not something to be ‘good’ at. Just start collecting little souvenirs of your life. That’s where the magic is.”

Moving forward, Martina hopes for more in-real-life crafty community events. “Craft clubs, junk journaling meetups, crafternoons with your friends. I want the crafty community to keep growing into something joyful and real, where people feel connected through creating and playing with paper together.” She has even been sponsoring craft clubs with her small business, Martina’s Tiny Store, to support the ‘crafty renaissance’. I have found it particularly fun to junk journal alongside friends, as a sort of creative parallel play. There is so much delight to be found in creating with people who are just as passionate about a hobby you adore. It really is “a kind of gentle rebellion against the digital noise.”

In a world moving online at a dizzying speed, with AI becoming more prevalent in everyday life, carving out the time to create something with your hands has never been more satisfying and important. As a Martina-converted-crafter, I can testify to the level of gratification creativity can bring to your everyday life. I guarantee you would be surprised by how much you’d like whatever you dream up.