Journal Joy

Hello, my Friends!

Today we meet with lovely Linda who performed some true magic with my Mica Powders & Mechanicals...
I don't know about you but my fingers are itching to alter some book cover! ;)

Hi everyone, Linda Cain here for another turn on the Finnabair blog.

I do so love the new Mica Powders and wanted to try them on Mechanicals for a bit of fun. I was really thrilled with the way they worked and had a great time altering this Journal cover with color and sparkle.

1. I’ve had this plain, rather boring journal for several years and have always thought I wanted to gussy-up the cover. So I grabbed my Heavy Black Gesso and set to work painting the entire cover, back, front and inside edges.

2. Then I took out a few elements I liked and base coated them with Heavy White Gesso. I mixed up some Soft Gloss Gel with Purple Mica Powder and painted the pieces with it twice.

While it was still wet, I pushed the pieces into a pile of Copper Micro Beads. Wherever they stuck was just fine with me.

3. When the journal cover was dry, I sprayed it with Perfect Pearl Mists and let them drip. I used Turquoise, Copper and Perfect Pearl. I LOVE how this turned out!!!

4. Then I started to lay things out on the cover. I found some plastic mesh from my stash and cut a piece for the edge near the spine.

This is a close-up of how the gorgeous colors showed up on the Black Gesso. It’s a perfect base for Mica sprays. And see how random the Copper Micro Beads came out on the Clock Face.

5. The Mechanicals Flowers and Vintage Centers are layered onto the book with Gel. I found another metal label in my stash and saw that 3 Bolts and Nuts fit in it perfectly. I was thrilled to see some of the bolts say ART on one side. Cool, eh?

6. I used Mini Paper Flowers and Roman Numerals to fill in some of the spots. And, yes, the Leaves are really, really THAT Purple. The Mica Powder is rather an interference color that turns a blue or a purple color depending on how the light hits them. Gorgeous product!

I used 3D Gloss Gel to glue everything into place. The Facet has a Vintage Photo of a girl glued and trimmed to the back. 

7. After I had it all glued together I added some Inka Gold and Copper to the edges of the book and high points of the metal elements.

8. The 2 layers of trim along the edge holds down the black mesh. And the Joy Bath Knob says exactly how I felt when this cover was all done.

The last thing I did was add drops of black Archival Ink in areas just to add a little more contrast.

So, dig into your stash of Mechanicals and such for some fun pieces to add to the front of an old book or a plain journal, paint and spray it up, and make a Work of Art of your own.

And try your hand at mixing up some Mica Powders with your Soft Gloss Gel. It makes an amazing paint!

Your Friend in ART,
Linda

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