Altered Journal cover for Rhedd's Creative Spirit DT

Today I'm sharing my second Design Team piece for Rhedd's Creative Spirit :o)

I've decided I really need to commit some time to journaling; firstly because it just looks Amazing!! and secondly because it will help with some of the self-confidence issues that still come up with me from time to time.

So, if I'm going to journal, I need a journal, right?!?  I bought a great 6 x 6 scrapbook from Hobbycraft during their sale (£2.50 - can't go wrong at that!) it had nice sturdy inner pages and a ribbon tie fastening.  Only thing is the covers were just plain white, and boring!!  I decided to change that!

These are the plain covers, removed and ready for action!

The first thing I did was to cover them in gesso, to give a nice surface to work on.  Once that was dry I reached for some stencils and some texture paste.

Hopefully you will just about see the hexaganol pattern in the top right corner, and may be able to pick out some of the other bits - it was clear texture paste though so I tilted them under the light to try and catch them.

Next step was to go a little crazy with the embellishments!  I used a variety of pieces, some Finnabair ones (obviously!) some paper roses, strips of lace and some wooden bits from That Craft Place - that's where I got the 'Dream' word from - I think I might need to buy another - I love it!!

Once the embellishments were all stuck where I wanted them, and the glue had dried, I went back over it all with the gesso again, to give a nice even surface.

Then, out came my ink sprays!  I think I may have too many (if that's possible!?), they only just fit in their box, and that's only after a lot of shuffling about!  This effect was achieved using a mixture of both glimmer sprays and some ink sprays from Dylusions, spraying one, letting it dry and then moving on to the next.  I also sprayed plain water on to dilute them a little more so that they would run and cover the whole area.  The final step was to take some copper acrylic paint and touch up the raised areas.

I am so pleased with the result, and the covers really have a sparkle all their own due to the glitter sprays and the copper paint, although it doesn't fully show in the pictures.  I think I may need another trip to Hobbycraft to see if they've any scrapbooks left!

Don't forget to pop over to Rhedd's Creative Spirit to see what the other team members have created.

Thanks for reading :o)
Steffi xx

I would like to enter this into the Sparkle and Shine challenge at Finnabair's blog - here - http://tworzysko.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/sparkle-shine-blog-hop-challenge.html