Book Covers with a Meaning!

Hello Everyone and welcome! and in particular a warm welcome to those new followers who have joined over the last couple weeks - it is always lovely to have you here and I really appreciate your support and comments.  

And so to business - a new month and a new challenge at Country View Crafts:

Painty Pleasures!

Well it really was a pleasure making this project.  My Tim Holtz stamp set is rapidly increasing and my leather wallet is now full, so I have had the text stamps bundled together on a shelf and felt they needed some book covers.  And here they are:

As you all know I am really enjoying the Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paints but I hadn't tried anything quite so large so far.  

So using the large stamp from WAYS WITH WORDS I attempted these covers.



Be an Individual and take risks:  I was certainly doing that with these covers! - all a bit new to me this.

Be Brave:  I set to and stuck to my grey board lots of texture and bits and pieces that were lying around the desk - builders tape, some netting and some die cuts which were in my "can't throw them away" box.  

Still being Brave I used the Tim Holtz Cargo Mask and a Diamonds Stencil and Paper Artsy Grunge Paste to create some texture on top of these layers.  I must say the Grunge Paste is a delight to work with - whereas in the past gesso has seeped through the mask the GP is very easy to layer with a spatula, doesn't seep and looks fabulous (a minor miracle in my case) when the mask is lifted.

Open mind and heart:  well that was helped by a coat of gesso over the whole lot and then ..... deep breath ...... I painted Sky and Mocha Mousse FP spritzed with water over the boards. There was alot more spritzing with water and mopping up with a baby wipe before I felt reasonably happy.

Then Amazing Myself I dry brushed Snowflake FP here and there.  Amazed as I could never master dry brushing when sitting painting with my mother (well I couldn't master any of it really!) but it does dry fabulously and gives the whole piece a wonderful lift.  

Once it was all dry I stamped some of the stamps which will be in the covers onto some tissue paper and glued them down with Mixed Medium and then gave the whole cover a coat in order to seal it. Quite at home with this part!

We All Make Mistakes:  
I cut a couple of brackets from the Hardware Findings Die and then covered them with Rock Candy Distress Crackle.  After that they got two coats of FP in Mocha and Sky ....... not at all good ......  then some Tarnished Brass Distress Paint ...... still not looking good.  The texture was great but I couldn't get the colour right.  

Then I noticed the little pot of Treasure Gold which so far I had not used and gave them a good covering ......... getting better!  A little bit of  Walnut Stain DI and I finally thought I had got them to something I could live with, although not quite how I imagined them.  But what matters is ........ what we learn from our mistakes!

Then I got quite Fearless! rubbing Treasure Gold over some of the raised areas on the covers and giving the a bit of a burnish.  I am not sure I am getting this right, but again all part of the learning curve! 

So yes I Lived my Life (well made my covers) with purpose and meaning and had great fun in the process.

And I nearly forgot to show you the insides!  Due to a leak in the craft room window (60mph winds for days with torrential rain blasting up the valley) I had to clear out the old dresser and move it and found some embossed cardstock which has quite a plastic sort of finish which I thought would be quite helpful given the inky state my stamps get in. 

Well if you are still with me - well done!  And I do hope you come and join us at Country View Crafts for this months challenge.  Click the link HERE for some fabulous projects from my DT colleagues this month and look out for more as the month progresses.

Thank you for visiting x