Second Journal Continued

So I finished my journal, listed it on Etsy, and it was gone in less than an hour! So, since I've already prepped it for mailing, I guess I better post the pictures of how made the cover.

This is the finished product, but it started out like this, lots of crumpled up paper bag pieces.

I then deco paged the crumpled pieces onto a cereal box cut to the size I needed to fit over the paper. I made it purposely a close fit, and allowed a bit of over hang because this is a journal that is supposed to look like it was put together with scraps and pieces found over time.

 

After I covered the whole front of the box, I covered it with wax paper, then placed it under a weight (a case of diapers) and allowed it to dry over night. The next day, it looked like this.

I think folded the paper bag pieces over the edges of the cover, and deco paged over them, covered the back side in wax paper and allowed it to dry over night.
I dry brushed some brown acrylic paints in different shades, and then wiped them off with a dry paper towel.  After everything was dry I went over the edges of the spine and around the edge with a finger nail file just to rough it up a bit and make it look a bit faded. A final inspection of any bag pieces that might have lifted around the edge, and the cover was done. All I had to do was glue my text block to the cover and Tada!  Zombie Apocalypse Journal.



Update on the journal

So here's a little update on my second journal project. I will eventually get back to the first one, but I want to go to Hobby Lobby and get some embellishments, and the nearest Hobby Lobby isn't open for business yet, I have to wait until next month for that, or I have to go to a store farther away, much farther away.

Okay so I started out by aging 25 sheets of printer paper. The reason I used printer paper instead of a higher quality paper is because when aging you generally use liquid, and the paper swells.  Also I didn't want to have a lot of money involved in a project I wasn't sure would turn out. I don't have pictures of the aging process, but it's so simple. You can use tea, coffee, or balsamic vinegar to get that aged look. I used all three. Some sheets got drenched, some were lightly coated using a paper towel dipped in which ever liquid I wanted to use. I dried mine in the oven at 300 for a few minutes. About 3 I think. I did flip them over half way so they would dry evenly. You can use a blow dryer or even hang them on a line. Fair warning though, if you do age them by getting them saturated the pages will not be flat unless you iron them, even then I can't guarantee they will be as flat as before. I also noted some shrinkage on some of the pages after drying in the oven.  While aging some of the pages I decided to let my kids each have one and they drew their own treasure maps.

 

I then took a few and went around the edge with a lighter. I advise you to do this over your sink or a metal pan, and have some water on hand because I might have set one on fire and had to put it out with water.

 

After I distressed all of the pages to my liking, I folded them in half  as best as I could considering the pages were a bit wonky from their baths.  I then used this video tutorial to make a text block.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGQ5P8QVHSg

 

This is what my text block looks like finished.  Here are some pictures of the inside. I threw in some odd pieces of paper, and a couple of envelopes as tuck spots for event tickets and things one would like to keep.

I love this last picture with the whole burned through, it is one of my favorites. I wanted this journal to look as if it were put together with found papers, but if I wanted to give it to someone or sell it I couldn't really use papers with addresses and phone numbers. Maybe next time I make one of these I will print some pages with some false headers and  use some script stamps to liven things up a bit. This is only my third journal, and only my second case bound one.  (BTW, yes, I know my desk is quite a mess. I need to take the time to clean it off. )
So this is my journal's text block. I'm still working on the cover. I only get a few minutes each day to work, so the process is slow. I still have to put the finish on the faux leather and let it dry then seal it.
If you have any questions please feel free to post them. I'll do my best to answer. If you have any ideas, suggestions or whatever, please post away. I welcome the feed back.

 





Too many ideas, not enough time!!

This weekend I plan on finishing up my altered composition notebook and sharing the pictures. While I don't have much time for crafting during the day with  little man crawling around and chasing the rabbit, and homeschooling the girls, I do have time to crumple paper. Tonight while I'm waiting on the hubster to get home, I'm crumpling up some paper grocery sacks. We try to use paper as often as possible, not only is it better for the environment, but we use them until they are quite literally falling apart, then I reuse them for something else.
This time I am using them to try to make a faux leather journal cover. I aged some papers and need to sew them into a text block. Then I want to make an aged faux leather cover to go with it. I have it all planned out in my head. How it will look when I get done, only time will tell. As of right now I'm wondering if I should just apply it straight to the book board, or should I back it with fabric or paper. Any input? If you've tried this please share with me how you did it. :)

 





 

 

Altered Composition Journal

So I've tried three times to get this posted. Between life, and winter storms knocking the power out, I've not managed it until now.
I know I promised I would keep my page current. I'm trying I tells ya! Ha ha. Seriously though. I'm teaching a knitting class on Tuesday nights. Wednesday nights are church nights for my oldest two. The rest of the week features my vain attempts at keeping up with housework and Laundry. Sunday mornings are church and visiting. Excuses! I give you excuses! I am working on being better at time management, but hey, I've heard it said that creative people are horrible time keepers. With all of that blather said, on to what I do have finished!

As for items I used, first off you of course need your Composition notebook. I just used a basic 88 cent one from Wal-Mart.
Secondly you need some pretty papers. I used scrapbooking papers, but you can use wrapping paper, pretty napkins, construction paper, whatever your little heart desires. Just remember that it must be opaque enough to cover the pattern on your notebook.
You also need some sort of adhesive. I used regular old clear school glue, and spread it thinly with a paint brush.
I also used a pencil for marking, and a ruler to help smooth things out. Go gently with it though or you'll tear your paper.
I haven't embellished or covered the front inside cover yet. When I get that done I'll add pictures and some details of what I did.

First I gathered my materials, then I decided which papers I wanted where. After that I traced out the covers on the white side of the papers and cut them out.

Next, I lightly spread some glue onto the cover.

Then I spread it all over using a paint brush.

I only did one side at a time. I placed a paper towel under it so when I weighted it down to absorb any glue. I should have used waxed paper, but my kids have used it all for playing with play-dough.... Yeah, so, anyway.

I used this giant box of crayons to weight it down. If  you are using book binding adhesive, or double sided tape you won't have to add weight while it dries because it isn't a wet adhesive.
These are the front and back cover that I have done. I have the back inside cover, covered in green and white polka dot paper which I will share in my next installment.  I hope this shows you just how easy it is to make a custom journal! :)

Stretchy Button Bracelet

So today I was playing around with the idea of making a bracelet of buttons. I wanted it to be stretchy so anyone could wear it. Here is what I used: an assortment of buttons. I got mine from an estate sale in a big box of buttons.

 Size 6/0 seed beads in your color of choice. (I recommend coordinating them with your buttons.

 I used about 12 inches of the clear plastic cord from the bottom of this pack. Not sure what the size is.

 This is the first stack of buttons I used. I went up from under the bottom up through the two buttons, then put a seed bead on, then went back down through the two buttons.

 Next I chose another of the smaller buttons and came up through the bottom, and then down through the other hole. I did the diagonals on 4 hole buttons.

 Continue on doing stacks and singles until you get your bracelet the length you want. I did mine about 7 1/2 inches long, then I slightly pushed all the buttons closer together. I then did 3 over hand knots and put a drop of super glue over all of  the knot. Trim the excess cord, let dry and ta-da! you have a gorgeous bracelet!

DIY watercolors

So, my kids are always wanting to paint. I do think that I have a couple of budding artists in my girls.  The problem with that is that art supplies can be expensive. I usually try to buy extra when the school sales are on, but it's never enough!  I ran out of watercolors, and was wondering if I could do it myself. I found lots and lots of recipes, but they're all pretty much the same. We tried it and they work pretty good for a child's palate. I'm not sure how long they will last, or how colorfast they are, but the kids loved them and that's what matters.

 

 

So here's the recipe I used, and it filled up two ice cube trays.  More than enough for 2 girls to paint with.

Watercolors:
1 cup baking soda
3/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons corn syrup (I didn't have any so I used pancake syrup, and it worked fine.)
1 cup of corn starch
food coloring (powder or gel work better.)

In a medium mixing bowl pour in the baking soda, and mix in the vinegar 1/4 cup at a time. This will fizz, so watch out for it. When the fizzing stops and the mixture is smooth, add in the corn syrup and corn starch.(now would be a good time for a corny joke, ha ha! ) Mixing will become pretty tough. I bent a metal soup spoon and had to switch to a wooden mixing spoon. Once the mixture is thoroughly combined you can start adding it to the ice cube tray or what ever little pods you're going to store your colors in.  I did this using a measuring spoon, and put about a tablespoon and a half of mixture in each well.  After that you get to add your food coloring to each one and mix it in well. After that it's just a matter of letting them dry. Well I guess you wouldn't have to let them dry, you could use them immediately if you wanted to.

This is my oldest daughter's first try at using the paints. She tried mixing a bit, but it would work much better on watercolor paper. This was construction paper, and it worked okay, but it was colored so the watercolor's true colors didn't pop as well.

If you try this recipe, leave a comment and tell me how you think it worked!  Hopefully by next week I will have my DIY Journal done and I will take pictures to show you how I did it.

I'm back!

Hey every one! I know, YEARS since I've posted. To be honest, I've had another baby, started and ended a business, changed emails, and lost my account info. I usually keep everything in my handy dandy notebook, but something happened to that. :( 
Well anyway, I'm back, I'm going to do better. I've decided that I will have to do better.  I need to keep myself going. After having child number three, we've also decided to do homeschooling. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into when I chose to homeschool my girls ages 11 and 5. You have to know how to engage your child. For my oldest that isn't that hard. My youngest however still wants to play, play, play.  So we've devised ways to keep her going without her realizing she's being taught.
My first new project is simple, Word Bingo.  We are using a phonics based reading program that allows you to move at your child's pace. Each unit has a list of words that the child is learning. I took the words from all of the units that she has finished and made a list. From this list I randomly wrote nine of them on 3X3 grid I marked on a 4X4 square of paper.  I did this until I had used all of the words at least twice.   Then I wrote the words again on smaller squares of paper to call from like Bingo Balls. For markers I just cut squares of construction paper big enough to cover each word.
This game allows reinforcement of her beginning reading, and she loves it. If she's having a particularly hard day wanting to homeschool, I just pull this game out, and she's ready to go.