Soft & Cuddly Fabric Covered Journal!

Hello my friends!  It has been a few days since I’ve posted.  What have I been up to?  Thank you for asking!  I’ve been working on a cloth journal – hand made, from start to finish, with the help of Julie Prichard’s awesome online instruction!  I have to admit – this was not an easy book to make.  I think this technique of book-making probably takes a lot of practice.  BUT, I am pretty happy with my final result.  See what you think:

The back cover and spine:

Some inside details:

That’s it for now!  Thank you so much for stopping by. 

I’m working on my “Fabulous Faces” skills now.  Let’s see if my results are blog worthy.

I took 2 of Julie’s online courses – Layer Love, and Super Nova.  She is currently offering a class along with Chris Cozen – they are calling it “Project Deconstruction”.  I would love to take this course!  Take a peek here.  However, I plan on winning it, but you can try if you want.  🙂

Handmade Art Journals!

Hello my fellow Artists!  I am learning how to make my own journals.  I have always wanted to learn bookbinding, and it was one of my goals for 2010 – to learn some new art-related skills.  So, I found Julie Prichard’s online classes, and I am totally LOVING her teaching methods.  The techniques I am learning are so inspirational!  Right now, I am doing her Art Journaling Super Nova class – Part 1.  Part 1 is teaching me how to make 3 homemade art journals.  I have completed 2 of them.

Book 1:

This is actually the back of the journal.   I covered the mat board with some beautiful handmade paper that my hubby gave me for Christmas.  I didn’t plan to have that circle in the centre of the cover, and I don’t really like it there, but it’s okay for the back.  The inside pages are hand stitched, using waxed cotton string.  The pages are 120 lb watercolor paper.  The outside spine is covered with duct tape, which is all I had on hand.

Here’s book 2, which I LOVE!  It is 6″ wide by 11″ tall.  I covered the mat board covers with handmade paper.  The spine is vinyl woven gaffer tape, which I like much more than the duct tape.  The inside pages are made with white cover stock, and every page is collaged.

I have almost completed Julie’s Layer Love.  There are nine lessons within this program.  I am still adding some finishing touches to the 9th lesson, and I will share it once it is complete.

Here are a few of my completed projects.  Keep in mind – the idea of this course (Layer Love) was to learn how to layer Golden Acrylic Fluid paint, and how to use the various Golden mediums with the paints to create a grungy, distressed kind of background.  I plan to use them in my art journal.  The photos do not really show the depth and texture of these pieces.  I absolutely LOVE this look!

This one is actually gray and blue – it looks almost brown/bronze in the photo.  We layered in Ranger Distress Crackle with the various acrylic mediums paint to get this effect.

That’s all for today.  I have lots more to share, so check back tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that 😉