A hand-made Journal

Hi Everybody!

Today I am sharing a journal (8"x 6") I made for a change instead of a journal page.  I made several of these journals a couple of years back, mostly with Halloween decorations. The covers have been made from cardboard from the back of a pad of painting paper, which has been covered with crumpled tissue paper using mod podge, and pushing the paper with the fingers to produce the folds and patterns. This is a rather sticky job. When it is dry, it needs a second coat of mod podge and then gesso. When it was finished I glued on the other parts - scraps of cardboard, textile flowers and leaves, a small head made in a mould, metal chain, scraps of paper doilies, lace and  cloth etc. Then it was coloured with Viva Inka gold in gold, copper and gunmetal grey.  I tried to give it a worn and aged look. It sounds more complicated than it is. I usually make one large piece and cut it into the necessary sizes, but you need to cut it before gluing on things like the head and chain. The finished journal was bound with my BIA and decorated.
I am linking to Stamps and Stencils,  make it 3D

and to Country view crafts, add some texture

The front cover:

The back cover:

The Inside front cover was painted with Viva rust, and then given extra colour with Inka gold in various colours. The leaf is a real one, embossed with Utee gold, and the whole side has been varnished to protect the leaf.

Inside back cover

I stamped a small image onto the bottom right hand corner of each page using Stazon in green  and/or brown:

I don't want to show all the pages, so here are the images I used:

This is the mould for the heads, and I use a mix of alabaster and plaster of paris, mixed with water to fill the forms. It dries quickly and is light.

A few photos taken in our little town at a time when the weather was better:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!