Journalling club looking for folks up for a scrap

On any given Monday evening this summer, Katie Borgfjord could be found scrapping and yapping with friends and strangers alike, building community one collage at a time.

Borgfjord is the creative force behind Scrap and Yap, a local journalling club that hosts workshops and drop-in events that launched in January. This summer, she set up shop at the weekly Riverview Community Centre’s Monday Markets, inviting visitors of all ages to pull up a chair and get crafty for a while.

“We have magazines, stickers, scrap paper, glue, scissors, stamps, anything you might want to just let your creativity out,” Borgfjord, 26, says.

“It’s different every time. Usually a few people will drop in, some will stay the whole time. My favourite is when people just drop in who have never heard of us before. I hope that it helps spark some creativity.”

Despite gusting winds on Aug. 24, at least a half dozen youngsters visited the booth to spend some time crafting while their caregivers perused the market. A smattering of adults also participated.

Kyra Silman and her daughter Charlotte were among the first visitors of the evening.

“We do craft a lot (at home), so when we saw this setting up, we thought it looked like fun. It’s kind of like junk journalling,” Silman said.

Junk journalling is a creative hobby akin to scrapbooking, but messier, often incorporating scraps from daily life, such as receipts, business cards, stickers, photo or festival wristbands, says Borgfjord, who grew up in Stony Mountain watching her mother scrapbook.

“This is a more casual way to do it daily and be creative. I honestly put everything in my journal. It’s kind of anything you want, that you want a memory of,” she says.

“I like the aspect that you can make something imperfect,” says Anna Slyker, who stopped by the Scrap and Yap booth with her own junk journal in tow after seeing a post on Instagram about the weekly drop-in.

“You can use bits and pieces of your day-to-day life, things that are meaningful for whatever reason. It’s a fun way to memorialize little moments while doing something creative and tangible.”

“I think it’s a cool way to get a few people together,” says Ellis Cunningham, Riverview Community Centre’s market co-ordinator, who invited Borgfjord to table each week after coming across her work online.

“It really is a way for anybody to express what they’re feeling. It’s good for all ages, from five to 95. It’s a skill you can always use.”

“It’s a great way to reduce waste as well, so it’s eco-friendly, a light footprint,” adds Borgfjord, who moved to Winnipeg three years ago and works as the digital marketing co-ordinator for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Manitoba chapter.

Borgfjord decided to launch Scrap and Yap after hosting a workshop on junk journalling for CPAWS in December. She started the Instagram account @scrapandyapwpg and held her first workshop at Riverview Community Centre in January.

“I started this just because I love doing crafts and I like talking to new people and coming to events like this, but I couldn’t find any events specifically like this that I was interested in. I work at a computer all day, so it’s nice to be able to do something with my hands,” she says.

“I feel like the hobby era is coming back. People want to do things off their phones. I feel people are yearning to do stuff with their hands.”

“I learned how to cross-stitch this summer,” Silman agrees with a laugh.

While the weekly drop-in format will wrap up with the community centres Monday Market season on Aug. 31, Borgfjord is looking forward to hosting more workshops in the fall.

“Doing workshops are really fun. Usually it’s people who like to do daily journalling, but they’ve never maybe done the creative (collage) side of it,” she says.

“When you meet new people, it can be awkward, but when you’re sitting down and working on something, it takes away that awkward edge. People are very open when they’re crafting, which I love to see. It’s great to see people connect at events, building a bit of community.”

Regardless, Borgfjord plans to continue journalling as she has for the past five years, sharing that passion with others when opportunity knocks.

“I’m trying to be very free-form about this, without any real goals or expectations,” she says. “To just enjoy it in the moment and see where it takes me.”

sheldon.birnie@winnipegfreepress.com