Good morning all! Martina
here with a post explaining how I made one of the journals shown in some of the
last Imagination Crafts' Hochanda shows.
I started with one of the
Journal/Planners in its ‘raw’ form and removed the front and back covers by gently
prising the spine apart. Remembering to
arrange the covers in the right positions, (facing each other) I tore up some
old linen-type fabric I had in my ‘odds’ drawer. I was not careful about this,
leaving any ‘straggly’ bits to join in along the way as they appeared! I glued
all the pieces in a random pattern across the covers with Magi-Bond Glue.
Next, I decided I
wanted to build up the background texture layers of my covers a little more, so
I reached for the fabulous Structure Paste and the Butterfly Stars stencil. I masked off the
areas of the stencil that I wanted to use and then applied the paste. It did
not matter that some parts were uneven – it all added to the effect.
I decided I wanted to
add some more ‘base’ texture, so I used some die-cut elements cut from thick
card and some skeleton leaves. I then gave the whole lot two coats of Gesso, so
that the colour differences were evened out.
Wanting to add some
texture to some of the flowers, I painted some with Blanc Rusty Patina and put
to one side.
With my embellishments
all drying, I started adding some colour to my journal canvases. I mixed some
Magi-Paint Glaze to my Starlight Paints and then painted different areas of my
covers with each colour. The paints blend really well, so there was no need to
be too artistic!
Once the covers were
all painted and dry, I went back to fiddling with my layout (there was a lot of
this ‘fiddling’ going on!) Looking at placement, I decided which areas needed
more of which colour and added this to the white pieces as necessary. I coated
my metal cogs with Blanc Rusty Patina and then decided that I actually wanted
the Rustique colour, so I went over them again (I warned you there was a lot of
fiddling; my excuse is I wanted to add two layers anyway for added texture!).
Deciding I liked the
brown tones with the Starlight colours I had chosen, I wanted to bring these
into the covers themselves. Having a bit of an experiment, I lightly
dry-brushed some of the Rustique Patina from the edges inwards on all sides of
the canvases. This really made the base elements pop and show beautifully.
On the back of the
journal this was where I finished, as I wanted to be able to write inside it
without crushing anything (plus all the base layers looked cool on their own
anyway!)
Thank you for
reading! I hope you like it; now I think about it there are lots of elements I
would change/alter, but it is always a learning curve! Do you spend lots of
time fiddling or just staring at bits wondering what to do? I hope so and that
it is not just me that does this; I am sure if I counted all that time up it
would amount to a lot of hours of procrastination!
I will see you again
very soon, maybe at Ally Pally, if you’re going on the 8th of April? I
know BJ Crafts will be there with lots of Imagination Crafts' products, so I am
saving my pennies for a ‘re-stock’!
Love,
Martina
xxx
