Journal Cover Part Deux!

Okay, so here the the journal cover I decorated the other day. I wish there were more details, feel free to click for full view but I have a feeling its going to be a bit blurry. I wanted to share what I did here, in case it inspires you to try something out yourself along these lines

Materials Used:
-Journal (duh)
-Cardboard
-Scrapbook paper scrap
-Rubber stamps/stamp pad
-Glitter glue
-Acrylic paint
-Gesso
-Glue
-Spackle (ha ha)

1. First what I did was I decided that I wanted there to be some sort of a window, or an indentation. I took the cardboard (it was flat and hard, not like the corregated kind but I dont think it matters) I cut up 4 long strips and 4 small strips, taped them together to make a frame (two pieces thick) I then taped that in the middle of my cover.

2. I took the spackle (I know, random- I saw something like this using modeling paste which makes more sense but I had this stuff laying around after patching a hole in the wall so decided I'd give it a shot) I took the putty knife and liberally smoothed it over the entire cover, I avoided the area where the cover bent to open and shut because if that was too thick it wouldn't open. I didn't want it to look perfect I wanted it to be bumpy and awkward so I just stuck it on there. I let it dry overnight.

3. Next I took a piece of patterned paper and cut it to the size of the window, as sort of a frame backing. I glued it down.

4. I took white gesso and painted the entire thing. The spackle was a bit crumbly so I was hoping to bind it together a bit before adding the acrylic colors.

5. After it dried I painted the cover to my liking, leaving the paper unpainted for the most part.

6. I took some leftover pieces of cardboard and made some simple chipboard hearts. I then painted them black and added some silver glitter glue.

7. I took my letter stamps and wrote love, added the bird stamp and then added some glitter glue to the actual cover itself.

TADAH! Not so hard. You should definitely try working with something like this it's messy but fun and you get some awesome looks out of it. If you have spackle or caulking laying around use that! Don't spring for unnecessary supplies, if you don't then get some modeling paste. It's definitely a great time!