2019 #15 Coral: Midori Tags Notebook with Hot Picks {by Ellie Knol}

2019 Topic 15: Coral

I love this idea, crackle glaze and gel printing, sounds like fun! Looks Like fun! Amazing results so it must have been fun!!! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Ellie Knol from PAPER-STAMPS-COLOR with you today, and I'd like to share with you the making of a Midori Notebook... 

I've been thinking of making a junk journal some or other time and decided I would make one for this post. In the end I decided to go with blank paper for the inserts to be able to stamp some script on the pages. A real junk journal will have to wait.  

Thinking of the color 'coral' we surely think of the coral we can find in the sea... that's why I chose blue colors with the orange-y ones. 

I wanted to use mainly coral for the cover.  I painted the cover (recycled from a book with poems) with white gesso, then with Coral Fresco Finish, dry-brushing the color on, adding Crackle Glaze here and there was what I thought would work with what I wanted to achieve, and it did! 

I wanted to use all the colors, shown on the photograph, on the cover in vertical lines, but didn't want a linear background as such. The colors and mediums are: Smoked Paprika, Cherry Red, Peachy Keen, Coral, Blueberry, Glass Blue, Southern Skies, China, Satin Glaze and Crackle Glaze Fresco Finish. Not on the photograph: Snowflake Fresco Finish For stockists of the NEW Fresco colours See here.

I had to put my thinking cap on first..
Gel plate? Yes... 
How to apply the paints ?
...with a brush.. NO... the paints will dry too quick...
...with a brayer ? no.. that will mix the colors too much...
...with a palette knife .. yes! 

I put a drop of each color (coral too!) along the top edge of the gel plate (8x10 inch); I kept the color ranges of oranges and blues next to each other, first some blues, then some oranges, then more blues, then more oranges, and ending with some blues. I used a palette knife with rather a long blade, so I could swipe the colors downwards over the plate without cleaning it in between. I printed straight onto the cover; the crackles appeared in seconds.
When dry, I covered it with a layer of Satin Glaze for protection. 

Leftover paint on the gelliplate always make for beautiful prints! I left it to dry and pulled a print with the use of a thin layer of white Snowflake Fresco Finish. 

 

A close-up of the print.... I love it and will be using it for the cover of one of the inserts. 

There was still a little paint left over; I pulled a print with a thin layer of China Fresco Finish, and it also pulled dried up paints from the plate; they were on the plate from an earlier session of printing. This print will cover the second insert. 

From yet two other prints I made four two-sided tags to go in the inserts.
To attach to the tags, I coloured whitish thread with Coral Fresco Finish. An easy way to do that is to add a drop into a zip lock baggy, mist it with a little water, add the thread, close the bag, and smoosh the color onto the thread. I added some pieces of shells to the threads to add some interest.

The inside of the cover has been covered with a print made with Coral Fresco Finish and this pull also grabbed some leftover dried-up paints from the plate. 

Note that the paper was cut from a roll of paper, and will have to be pressed with a bookpress for some time.

So, here it is: two inserts and four tags in a cover from a recycled book, bound with two elastic bands.  

The color of the light blue cover of this insert is very subtle; I sponged over the beautiful PS139 stencil by JOFY with a coral color of distress Oxide and stamped script on the edges too; with the coral hue and with a dark brown.

 Insert One. 

Insert Two.
The stamps used on both inserts are from the HP1111 stamp set. The flowers were colored with watered down Coral Fresco Finish.

I sponged some patterns on the edges of the tags with the same stencil mentioned earlier. As a last detail I stamped script (from various HP stamp sets) onto the bottom right hand side of the pages and onto the tags. 

I came to the conclusion that I really love this (Coral) color! It would also be nice to use in combination with greens (or purples) for a totally different look, I am sure!!
Making this type of booklets is a time-consuming job, but such a joyous one, and makes for a perfect gift for whomever likes to write or journal.. or just as a keepsake.
I will certainly make more of this type of book!!

I am happy you joined me today and hope you got inspired to get crafting.. ENJOY!

A comment is very much appreciated!! Thanks... 

Ellie Knol

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