Painting

Creating a Book Binding Kit

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Creating a Book Binding Kit

Today I am sharing a completed project from one of my What I’m Working on Wednesday posts. This idea came to me when I ordered a few supplies for my journal making. I have always used a pokey tool for making holes in my journals and since I have plans to make a lot more of them I decided to purchase an awl and a few other materials.

Of course then I thought how nice it would be to have a little wooden box to house them all in and the project you see before you what born!

I will put a list of the materials I used in the resource section below but I started off with a plain wooden craft box and gave it 2 coats of purple paint and then I decided I wanted to try out my paper mosaic kit. I received this for Christmas last year and haven’t tried it out. I thought putting a tile look on the top of the box would be really unique so I gave it a shot. The only thing I didn’t like was there is a yellow tinge to the tile. I’m not sure if I did something wrong, if it’s a result of the products I used underneath or maybe it’s just old. I am going to give it a try on another project and I will let you know how it goes.

I then added the grout which is the first step for the paper mosaic tile kit and when that was dry I added ripped pieces of a gelli print I made. I loved the look of these and the brightness of the colors. Once they were all glued down I decided to use my mini paper punches and cut out hearts and stars to glue to the top. I then added the silver foil to the top. It has a really nice effect but the foil is hard to give a full cover to so you may want to try it on some scrap paper before using it on your project.

Lastly I sealed the whole project with the last step of the paper mosaic kit. Overall the box looks good but I think I would have been happier if I left it painted and just wrote on the top but I do like how unique this makes the piece which is fun too.

If you would like to watch a little process video I have that down below for you. You can also view the resource section below that to see all the products that I used. If you have any questions please do comment below I would love to hear from you! I hope you are having a beautiful day!

Resource section

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint in the Color Grape Jam

Tim Holtz Distress® Paper Mosaic Kit

Mini Heart & Star Paper Punches came from Stampin’ Up!

Video Music by Joystock – https://www.joystock.org

This post shared as part of Friendship Friday Blog Hop

What I’m Working on Wednesday

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Week of March 29, 2021

Hello everyone I hope this post is finding you happily covered in paint (or your choice of creative medium). I thought it would be fun to share with you once a week what I am getting up to in my little creative corner. Some weeks I might include a video but in the interest of just getting on with sharing here on my site I decided to just write a little and include some photos. I do very much love videos and plan on making a lot to share here on the site but today after filming one I wasn’t very happy with I decided to change plan rather than delay the work.

Do you find as a creative that you do that a lot as well? I feel it’s one of the biggest perks of being creative is the ability to look at what you planned to do versus what you actually did and go, “well how do we make this work?”

I am drawn to the eclectic and the whimsical and my favorite art teachers are no exception. I am currently taking a class from Juliette Crane: Whimsical Animals and made a really fun page in my art journal. The colors were inspired by a class Tamara LaPorte did on painting an owl but the shape of the owl I feel was more what I learned in Juliette’s class. I am planning on making more of these little guys along with other woodland animals as I continue through the course and as I find my style within it I am planning some fun collage sheets that I can’t wait to share with you.

I also took a class from Tamara LaPorte called Sacred Trees. I have been seeing an image of a magical forest in my mind and was wondering how to go about creating it. Should it be done in acryllics? Watercolors? Pencil? Mixed Media? Also the biggest challenge is I wanted to include little fairies and couldn’t see how I was going to accomplish that in a way I would be happy with. I was feeling a little unsure and when I saw this class it was just the inspiration I needed to get over the hump. I created the piece from the class then right after created my magical woodland and in the process of creating that scene the way to make the fairies just came to me and I couldn’t be happier!

My finished piece from Tamara LaPorte’s class “Sacred Trees”

Do you find when you are creating you need to take a step back sometimes? I find when I have an idea for something and then I want to make it I usually have to think about it a lot. It reminds me of a quote by Burton Rascoe that said, “…a writer is writing when…staring out the window.” I know that when I sit down to create with no clear idea but just start gluing, painting or doodling I can create without requiring much preparation. However in the instance of the woodland painting I saw it in my mind and those creations take a lot longer for me to bring to fruition usually.

In addition to the painting I also worked on 2 cut out stickers. The artwork is mine and they cut out fine but I didn’t love them on regular sticker paper so I ordered some vinyl sticker sheets. I am hoping to offer a mixture of tangible products as well as digital here on the site and stickers are ones I am really excited about. Well, stickers and washi tape. I love using both and use them almost daily in my Studio Journal. I love a sticker sheet and am planning to make quite a few since I love using them. Plus I like to collect them so it sounds like a lot of fun.

Of course another, obvious, project is this site. I have decided to just get going and to start sharing here without feeling things have to be perfect. To, much like my painting, let the layers add and the process to evolve as it does. In the end it will be amazing.

I hope you are finding time for creativity. Please do comment below I would love to hear from you. Or you can join my creative community. As another aspect of my creative journal I am planning on offering regular crafting tutorials, challenges and lots of creative sharing.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante