Journal Cover {with Fresco Chalk Acrylics by Emma Godfrey}

Hi everyone.   Emma here.   It’ll be 2015 before we know it, so tonight I have some journal covers that I’ve decorated to make into a little book for next year.  

For the last couple of years my New Years resolution has been to try to do something new or go somewhere different once a month … and I like to keep the details of those events somewhere … this little book will be perfect for tickets, photos and a few words of journaling each month.

To start, I painted the edges of two pieces of 6”x6” greyboard (on both sides) with Fresco Finish Little Black Dress paint – approx ½” all around.   I then cut two pieces of black cardstock 5¾”x5¾” and stuck them on one side of each piece.

To make the front and back decorative pieces, I cut two bits of Smoothy card 5¾”x5¾”.   I painted these with Autumn Fire, Inky Pool, Claret and Charteuse with a big wet brush.   All these paint colours are translucent, and using a wet brush gives you a nice watercolour effect.   Once dry I added a thin watery layer of Old Gold using the same wet brush, then dried the pieces of card thoroughly.

In places I then rubbed Coffee Archival Ink Pad through the Crafters Workshop stencil Harlequin Circles with a piece of Cut’n’Dry Foam.   I stamped MN62 using the same ink pad randomly over the backgrounds.

On a craft sheet I mixed Grunge Paste with small drops of Little Black Dress, French Roast and Inky Pool paints until I got a nice dark colour (try to add as little paint as possible, otherwise the Grunge Paste will get too runny).   I then smoothed the coloured Grunge Paste through another Crafters Workshop stencil – this time Chicken WireReversed.

I used a paint brush to splatter some Little Black Dress paint over the backgrounds.

When everything was dry, I rubbed a Tombow glue stick around some of the edges of my background pieces.  When it was slightly tacky I pressed down a Foil Transfer sheet (mine was pale blue) on top, and then pulled it quickly off.   You can keep repeating this step until you’re happy with the effect.   It will leave you with a random gilded border.

To finish the backgrounds I then ran a Jet Black Archival Ink Pad around all the edges (so that when it lays on the black grey board pieces, you won’t see any white edges), and then followed that with some touches of White Fire Treasure Gold (you can never have too much bling!)

I used Glossy Accents to create some little random circles over the front and back covers, and a Sharpie Extra Fine White Pen to add some dots to lighten it up.

When everything was dry I then glued the backgrounds to the uncovered sides of the grey board pieces, and decided which was going to be the front and back.

To decorate the front cover, I painted two paper flowers - one with Charteuse and the other with Inky Pool.   When they were dry I stamped the larger flower with MN62 and the Coffee ink pad.  The brad I wanted to use was silver, so I brushed over it with some of the Treasure Gold, and also used this to highlight the flower petals.  I put the brad through the flowers and then stuck them to the cover.  With the white Sharpie pen I added some dots to the flowers.  I used the Treasure Gold to change the colour of a silver metal corner, and glued that to the cover with Glossy Accents.  

Using the numbers from the Words 2 stamp set and a Versamark Ink Pad, I stamped the year onto black card.  I then embossed these with Gold Embossing Powder, before cutting them out into individual squares.   I glued these onto the cover, and also added a Prima Marketing Black Street Sign.

When I looked at it, I felt that it still needed something else on the cover (I’m terrible at knowing when to stop!), so I diecut some flourishes from black cardstock, and glued them so that they come out from behind the flower.

To finish the journal, I cut up twelve pages from black cardstock (5¾”x5¾”) for the inside of my book, and then punched holes in the covers and pages using a binding machine. I bound them with a small piece of gold binding.  If you don’t have a binding machine, then you could easily use book rings instead.

I hope you love the layers and textures in this project as much as I do.   It's really easy to do when you break it down, and I love the luminosity of the translucent paints with the gold glaze over the top.  Until next time ... Happy New Year!
Emma.

A huge thanks to Emma from PaperArtsy for this feast of inspiration. So much to look at,ao many layers to peek through and discover new elements. Those colours, ,although translucent, are so juicy and vibrant and the little dots of glossy accents is a genius touch. 

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