A Little Paint, A Little Glitter, A Little Book

"Finish Me!"

Although I was excited when I saw Linda Ledbetter was sponsoring The Compendium of Curiosity 3 Challenge back in May, I missed the first few challenges. I started the first one. I used a Ranger Inkssentials #12 Craft tag to create a cover using Tim's Paint Marbling technique along with about 4 pages for a little mini album. I went out of town and never got back to my project. When I missed the deadline, I put it aside. I missed the second challenge too. It was Distressed Glitter. I love Distress Glitter but only have 2 colors, Rock Candy and Pumice Stone.

This cover has just been sitting on my desk ever since I returned from my trip saying "Finish Me!". Well I finally have. This weekend I decided to combine both of the first two challenges I missed, get out my "An Altered Journey" DVD and create a mini art journal.

My Signatures!

 I've had "An Altered Journey" for some time. It is 127+ minutes of techniques and instruction with Tim creating some beautiful projects. One of the projects is a Domino Diary. He uses Alcohol Inks on the Domino to create the front and back of the diary. For the inside pages he shows how to bind the pages by hand stitching to create signatures, including how to make a "Kettle Stitch" to hold the binding together. I love the old book feeling binding the pages this way gives. I wanted to give it a try. As usual, Tim's instructions made it easy.

Mirrored!

Once my binding was complete and my cover attached,  I started to decorate it. I die cut an oval out of a piece of  Idea-ology Mirrored with Tim's Alterations Tag & Bookplates die. It fits perfectly into an Idea-ology Ornate Bookplate. Alcohol ink gives the outer edges of the mirror an antique look. I stamped the butterfly with Stayon Opaque Baby Blue. I also made a little pocket for the inside front cover and tucked some Apha Cards inside it.

Inside Front Cover Pocket

The closure is made from some ruffled elastic and a medium size pearl from the Idea-ology line.By punching a small circle in Grungepaper and centering it in a little bit larger circle punch I was able to make 2 reinforced holes that were a little larger than the one that comes on the tag. I painted it with Brass Distress Paint and gently stretch it until the pearl would slip through and hold the cover shut.  I love that the pearls already have the findings. I just had to twist the wire on the drop pearl open to attach it to the bottom of the Ornate Plate.

Painted Marble and Distress Glitter Tag Journal with Ornate Mirror and Pearls

Here is my finished Art Journal. In the spirit of the challenge I haven't given instruction for the Painted Marble or Distress Glitter. You'll have to check out Tim's book for that. Even though the  CC3C #1 & #2 challenges are closed I'm glad I finished my art journal. If you'd like more inspiration for these techniques you can check out Linda's Blog. To make it easy the link for Challenge #1 is here and Challenge #2 is here.

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