Magical Moon Journal Cover

Hello Fellow Lovers of Paper Art!

I am so excited to share the project I made for the Design Team Kall over at the Kraaft Shaak. I am also a bit apprehensive because I have never submitted my work for a design team before. But this project was fun and creative, so no matter what happens it was worth it!
As those of you who follow me know...I have been doing A LOT of art journaling lately. I have pages and books strewn everywhere in my studio! But none of them have beautifully decorated covers! I think of all the color pages inside..then see the plain ickyness of the outside and say..nooooo! So I decided to decorate one :)


I started out with a mixed media spiral bound book from Canson that I purchased at Walmart. I have been using it to do my moon journaling pages in. I made a sketch right over the cover using a white Stabilo pencil so that I could see where to put my next layer. A black pencil would have blended into the graphics on the cover too much.


I wanted my journal cover to be really dimensional so next I added a product called Creative Paperclay. This is an air dry clay that is made from paper pulp mixed with some binder. It is easy to sculpt and can be softened and blended to a smooth edge with water. To make my sculpture I made 'snakes' of clay, rolling them between my hands, and then applying them to the cover. I blended the edges down to the cardboard with my finger dipped into water. Then I left the finished piece out to dry for a day.


Once it was dry...I started to paint it. I used Liquitex Basics acrylic paint in Burnt Umber for the tree and then I used Prima Heavy Gesso in white to cover over the blue & black background.


I really wanted my scene to seem as if the moon was shining over a magical forest of trees never seen before...so I made the logical conclusion that I should use my Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals powders. I decided to blend these rich pigment powders into Liquitex Gloss Medium because I didn't want a matte binder to dull down the shimmery effect of the Magicals. Excited to try this out, I blended some Catttail Copper Brown from the Autumn Leaves set into the gloss medium and then dry brushed it over the texture on my tree. Then I did the same with a bit of the Red Hot Poker Orange from the same set. I LOVE the result!


Next I painted the background. I was going for a dreamy sunset look. I used a aquabrush dipped into my pallet of Liquitex Basics paint. The colors used were Cerulean Blue Hue, Medium Magenta, Cadmium Red Light Hue, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue, and Deep Green Permanent. Using a aquabrush with acrylic paint gives almost a watercolor effect.


Now I wanted to deepen and blend my background more, so I went in with some similar colors of water soluble crayons over my acrylic and then blended them out with my Aquabrush and some Titanium White Liquitex Basics paint. The crayons I used...I don't love...but they are what I have. I HIGHLY recommend that if you buy water soluble crayons that you get Caran d'Ache Neocolor II. I have these in a few colors and they are very full of pigment and not waxy or crumbly like the ones I used on this project.


For the next step...I got so involved and excited...I forgot to take decent pictures! I blended more Magicals powders from my Autumn Leaves set into gloss medium and painted them over the top of my sunset to create this shimmery glow. It also deepened the colors some making it look even more like sunset in my magical forest! The colors I used were Ponderosa Pine Olive, Tibetian Poppy Teal, Red Hot Poker Orange, and Autumn Maple Crimson. One magical color I didn't have was a real yellow gold to go over the yellow area of my sunset...so I substituted Pebeo Studio Acrylic Paint in Iridescent Precious Gold...then went over that with my gloss medium to make it as shiny as the rest.

I knew I wanted to create leaves for my tree as well..so I tore some text from a book and used the extra mixed magicals on them. I dragged the color over the pages using a used up itunes card to make a shimmery translucent color.


Once everything was dry again. I folded my colored text paper into an accordion and cut out leaf shapes.I used tweezers to pick up each leaf and dip it in gloss medium before placing it on the cover. Then I used my finger dipped into the gloss medium to smooth down the leaves. Once I was happy with all my leaf placement...I used Tim Holtz Alterations die called Typeset to cut out some letters from my leftover colored text paper. I stuck these down with gloss medium for the title of my book.


I hope you have enjoyed the step out of my journal cover and are inspired to make your own! Here are some close ups of the magical dimension this process created :) 
<3 Shel


Products Used:
Creative Paperclay

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint

Aquabrush

Prima Art Basics Heavy Gesso


Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals in Autumn Leaves

Liquitex Gloss Medium

Pebeo Iridescent Gold

Water Soluble Crayons



Comments

  1. That tree is amazing! Nicely done Shel.

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    1. Thank you so much Nanette for commenting on the blog :)

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  2. Wow! What an awesome tree! I especially like the knot in the trunk. :) I bet this project looks great with the shimmery look. So creative, Ms Shel!

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  3. Nice tutorial and cover! I have a package, but as usual, haven't used it yet! Gonna one of these days!

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    1. Thank you Vicki :) We hoard..and we buy more..and we hoard that too..LOL

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  4. This is a really fabulous journal cover Shel! I think I need one just like it! lol

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  5. Amazing! I love the textures and color. I want one too. C

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    1. Hehe..I can teach you to make it next time you are over!

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  6. Oh, Shel this is awesome!!! It's really exciting to see the mundane journal cover transformed into this work of art. It was fun to follow each step that you shared and absorbing to realize just how much creativity and work went into this creation from beginning to end. Love it. :)

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    1. Thanks so much Nannie. The hardest part of making it was waiting for it to dry! I have no patience :)

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  7. That whole cover. What an awesome way to make the tree and then color it. Did each of those leaves take forever? So gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you so much Dana :) The leaves were a fast cut out because I folded the paper and cut alot at one time...but putting them in took awhile LOL

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  8. Wow, amazing attention to detail! Love the texture you achieved with the paper clay. Must try, must try, must try!

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    1. Thank you Zsuzsa :) Yes, get some paperclay and give it a whirl..it is fun stuff!

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  9. Absolutely gorgeous. What a great idea. I have seen people create covers for journals out of Polymer clay but I never thought to use paper clay. How fantastic.

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    1. Thank you so much Tanya :) Funny I would never think to use polymer clay for it..lol I have had paperclay around since my stamping days and it seemed the logical choice since it air dries. I wonder how they bake their journals? Now I must go to youtube and find out lol

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  10. Wow, its stunning!!! Love all the texture and the shimmery effect is brilliant. You're going to love your journal more than ever now!

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  11. I just love this! You know I am a sucker for trees anyway, but this one and all it's dimension and all that shine! YUM MAY!
    I am super honored you chose to submit your art to the DT Kall, this is just gorgeous!!

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    1. Thank you Heather :) of course I would want to be on
      Kraaft Sharks DT! There is no better place around!

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  12. This is so beautiful Shel, I want to make one for my mixed media journal now :) I love your submission :)

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    1. Thank you Clemencia :) yes make one... It will be awesome!

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  13. I love this cover! Such wonderful dimensional work. Thanks so much for all the step by step instruction.

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  14. Outstanding Shel! Beautiful piece of artwork for sure. Thanks for sharing your huge talent with all of us.
    Big Hugs!!
    Reeah.

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