TEXTures Notebook

We've got a new challenge for the month of September, to Create a project that includes a book print/text pattern and at least one textural or dimensional (non paper) element. Fun, right!? Today I'm sharing with you my project- an altered notebook full of colour, texture & text print... with a good measure of shimmer & glitter added in :)

I started with a simple composition book and ended up with this! I started with die cut chipboard & canvas to spell 'notes' as a focal point on my book, glued that down and then pulled out a bunch of alphabet stickers (all leftovers from Basic Grey POTM kits!) and applied them around the word. I mostly added "123" and "abc" along with some punctuation and the word 'notes' is on there a couple more times.

Once I was happy with my arrangement, I covered the entire thing with 2 coats of gesso, followed by one coat of tan paint. I knew I wanted to play with Dylusions sprays and that gesso would soften the colours... which is not the look I was going for :) Before spraying with Dylusions, I added some generous swipes of new metallic Distress Stains in Tarnished Brass. I focused on the canvas letters and a few other spots, then sprayed with shades of blue & green Dylusions. I love the way the Metallic Distress Stain mingled with the paints, adding a shimmery dimension to it!

I continued adding more layers of paint, allowing it to mix & drip across the cover. I sprayed a layer through a dot pattern stencil before finishing with a splash of black over the canvas letters. I dried with a heat tool and then stamped some Dylusions stamps with Black Archival ink- the alphabet text print and some leafy vines.

I finished it off by adding some sticky back canvas to the spine (inked with black Dylusions), then sealed my project with a layer of 'Spray & Sparkle' Iridescent Glitter then some 'Spray & Seal' varnish, both by Crafter's Companion.

Here's a couple close ups:

I mopped up a lot of the excess in on my craft sheet onto some tags, which I then glued into the book as dividers. Here's a look at the tags:

and here's a look at the back cover of the book- there are no layers of texture on the back, just paint, sprays & stamping!

Hope you like my project! I had a ton of fun doing it and getting inky! If you decide to do something similar, just remember to seal it all in with a varnish! Dylusions sprays are water based and will get all over your hands every time you pick up your notebook if you don't ;)

Products Used (mostly Ranger):