I just take a few simple steps for preparing a book for journaling...
1. I went through the whole book, and tore out every third page. This will make it so the binding doesn't break down as much as I fill the book with paint and stuff.
2. I went through the book a second time, gluing two pages at a time together with a glue stick. I made sure to cover the entire surface all the way to the edges, and then smoothed them out with a brayer to help with wrinkling. It still will be somewhat wrinkly, but I figure that's part of the charm, right?
3. I went through the first ten pages or so and prepped with gesso. You could go through the whole book, but I just do them a few at a time. On some of the pages I used white gesso, and on some of them I used clear gesso. This just makes the page a little stronger and helps to prepare the surface to accept whatever mediums you want to throw at it.
On this page I used a very thin coat of white gesso. I did the writing for June 6th, 7th and 8th with a permanent ink pen. The next step was coloring all the shapes on the page with inktense pencils, and blending them with a waterbrush. I went back and did the final journal entry for the 9th, and lastly, added a few collage elements...
The numbers are filled in with gel pens. With each spread it's fun to decide how much of the atlas image to show/hide. I will probably cover the next page completely, just for variety.
Also, I just wanted to mention that I was at Archiver's over the weekend and saw all of the new Project Life designs! They are all so AWESOME! I stopped by on Friday, and picked up the Midnight Edition, which I have been waiting for forever! I just love the black and white graphic look, and all the handwritten cards. So cool...
and on Saturday I discovered the HONEY Edition, and I just had to have it too! I mean come on, look at the colors and those cute clouds!
My friend Lynn got the Jade Edition (which is also AWESOME), and she and I swapped some cards, so we each will have more variety! I have a renewed sense of enthusiasm for Project Life now! I got all my pages done for April, and I'm working on May. I will share soon!
Have a great week my friends, and I will see you again soon!
Loveeeeeeeeeeee your page!!!! GORGEOUS colors and you always ROCK the journaling!
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle, so happy you have a post today!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE LOVE the map, so cool that your doing art on it. I like how you did the writing on the actually states, so COOL!! Again, you are a natural with colors, so pretty!!
SOOOOOOO EXCITED ABOUT THE PROJECT LIFE!! How funny we both got the Honey one this weekend, the Jade one almost came home with me instead. I LOVE the Midnight one but didn't want a bunch of black/white with my summer pictures. Would love to mix it in later though. Was so cool to see all those pretty white boxes on the shelf.
Did you notice their exclusive SLATE edition kit? I thought it was nice too. Oh and they had the mini SEASONS one too, hoping to get that one soon.
WOW, you have been busy getting PL caught up! WAY TO GO!! I think having the new kits motivates us again.
Have fun playing and painting!
p.s. I'm excited about SOC starting this week, such pretty colors we have. Can't wait to see what you do!
Those road atlas pages are really fantastic :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Julie, Dawn and Poppylocke! Your comments make my day!!!
ReplyDeleteOh just really LOVE LOVE LOVE this atlas..gotta do this :) Thanks so much for sharing your info- I was one of the ones wondering the details so THANKS AGAIN :)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Your atlas journaling is beyond fantastic and creative, Michelle! I LOVE these pages so much! And your PL stuff is amazing, too! Thanks for sharing your talent and creativity with us!!!!!
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