My New Journal

Hi everyone.

Thought today I would show you some photos of the cover of the new journal I've been working on.

Its still pretty plain because I've been trying to decide whether  I should add anything to it. Its going into my suitcase when I travel to New Mexico, and I am thinking it might be better to wait until I come home to "decorate" it.

(I had decided to stay home for my winter vacation and be fiscally responsible. But my friend Vicky, who I go to visit, really wanted me to come out. And truthfully, I really wanted to go out there too. Vicky kept texting me photos with little notes like "Look where I am" and the sky was always blue and the ground snow free in her photos, and I was sitting home on all these snow days, so last week I finally just decided I might as well go.  I'm excited to have something to break up this winter. And just a little over a week before I go. Yahoo!) 

 I had this big sheet of this cool orange textured paper. I used the cardboard off the back of a pad of paper for as my book boards.

 A little too orange, so I rubbed a brown ink pad over it. I love how the impressions from the red-line tape showed through and gave it a striped effect.

 I thought it needed some sheen, so I rubbed a copper ink pad over it. It gives this light shimmer. You can see where the light hits in the photo below how it has this pretty sheen.

 I decided it would be smart to put an elastic on this so it can be held close. On the front I added this cool metal piece. I needed it to be up off the flat surface of the  cover so I can loop my elastic around it.

 Easy enough by putting a couple of washers between it and cover.

Then I created the spine by using some book mending tape that I ordered off of Amazon.  I like this tape because it a flexible cloth type of tape. It bends really well to make the spine and it comes in lots of colors. I have black and brown and I thought brown would look better than black.

 I used a smaller version top permanently hold the elastic on the back. I did have to wrangle the hair elastic from my daughter.  She tried to get me to use a dark blue or a hot pink  one, but even she agreed this one looked the best. I think she just liked the color on this one and hated to give it up.

But like the good person she is, she agreed it was the best color and let me have it.

You can see my pages inside. They weren't attached at this point, but I have since spent my snowy weekend working to make my plain white watercolor pages a little more interesting. Almost done with that part.

You'll just have to wait to see them until some other day.
Glad you stopped by!