WOYWW #430: Junk Journal Flip-Through

Happy WOYWW #430 and Welcome to the Flip-Through of my August Challenge Junk Journal.

If you'd like to find out more about Julia Dunnit's fun weekly Wednesday blog hop, please visit her excellent blog HERE. I may get behind in responding to comments as well as visiting the whole list early enough. Please forgive any lateness. I should be able to manage it eventually, even if I get behind. I am an irregular, sporadic desker, so you may not see me for a few weeks.

So what is on my particular workdesk this time around? A finished Junk Journal. I'm offering a "tour" of its many pages here. My guests are welcome to view as few or as many as they wish. I actually did not think that there would be enough time to finish it, but once I'd rediscovered the ease and quickness of wrap style bookbinding, I knew that I'd soon have the whole thing done and ready to be played with. This is a long post, so I will leave the rest to the photo "slide show" below. For more on the earliest stages of this project, guests may wish to follow the link HERE.

I can hardly wait to see what my fellow deskers are up to this week!

I've Gone Wacky for Customized Trim!

It is nearing the end of August, and so I have a Junk journal challenge to finish - it's a mad dash!

I am still uncertain whether or not I'll to be able to do everything I've thought of doing for that challenge, one that was issued by Kerry of Kerrymay Makes. Please go HERE for more about that challenge.

I've finished preparing a number of pages for the new journal, but keep needing to make a few changes. For one thing, I dislike overstuffed books, as they do not store easily on my already overcrowded selves.  I mention this due to the fact that I've had to edit out an entire signature. But more on that for the next post when I'll (hopefully) be done binding the book.

Meantime, I wanted to trim things, yet found supplies somewhat lacking in certain areas, especially with the color ways I've chosen for the book. Kerry's challenge mentions using what we have, and so when inspiration finally struck me, I created my own custom trim.

Allow me to introduce you to my weird and wild version of washi tape that I call my "Wacky Tape." Lolz. I've outlined my process using photos with captions below.

My mad dash continues once a few bits of housework get taken care of! I hope to post the finished book for tomorrow's WOYWW.

Wish me luck!

WOYWW #429: 2 Experiments

For me, this is a special treat, to be allowed by something unexpected to join in again this week.

If you'd like to find out more about Julia Dunnit's fun weekly Wednesday blog hop, please visit her celebratory blog HERE.

So what is on my particular workdesk this time around? Two experiments, one that worked out and one that needs redoing. Let's start with the one that needs some redoing, and end with the one that really turned out better than I'd expected.

At last, it's time to outline my small but helpful success. Ink jet printer ink is notorious for smearing if ever dampened. I wanted to use some of my own Plush Possum Studio ephemera in my new Junk Journal (please see last post). After all, why not use what a lot of others keep using? Ink jet ink was my stumbling block - till today, that is! Now I know that an evenly applied layer of Liquitex Heavy Matte Gel Medium on a gel plate is my answer! 

I learned in my first experiment (also luckily successful) how to gauge when the paper would have to be removed from the gel plate before serious wrinkling could occur. Next, I want to seal the back of my Ephemera page and allow it to dry completely before cutting out what I am using.

Note: Always do a cleanup pull using scrap paper such as deli paper following sealing using this new method. I've found that sometimes even day old pages can leave traces of printer ink in the gel medium residue left on the gel plate's surface. I also highly recommend a cool water bath with some mild detergent for the gel plate. This is the best way I know to remove all of the gel medium residue.

And now you can see my results! Not one bit of smearing.

Happy WOYWW everyone! I can hardly wait to see what my fellow deskers have to share today.

WOYWW #427: A New Junk Journal

Happy WOYWW #427! If you'd like to learn about this fun blog hop, you may follow this link HERE. I can hardly wait to see what my fellow deskers have been up to this week. I may be a bit late in responding to some, as it is quite late for me here in the U.S. at this moment. I hope you'll bear with me.

Kerry of Kerrymay Makes recently issued a Junk Journal Challenge for the month of August at G+ and at Instagram. That Instagram page may be found by following this link HERE. Kerry's blog may be found by following this second link HERE. 

(How come Blogger is making all of the letters of the links suddenly so oversized?)

Anyway, as fools really will rush in even when there are a million and one other things to attend to, I've decided to blog along as time permits and then post in the G+ group entitled All Things Mixed Media Art. I've also broken my one time a month WOYWW rule by joining in this time. As time permits, I will be answering any comments left here by anyone interested.

Kerry asks that we mention our chosen materials. This post is about making the starting point for my Junk Journal, so here are a few notes and photos of it in progress, including my materials used thus far.

I started by removing the text block from a used hard cover book that had a sewn binding. I then altered the cover, both outside and inside. I began with the outside first, as I knew it would be messier.

Once the wrinkled tissue paper had adhered to the used book cover, I covered it using some Liquitex Brown Gesso, a chocolate-y, lovely way to begin. Then I switched to Mod Podge for a medium rather than the Liquitex Heavy Matte Gel Medium I'd already used as a glue. To make small batches of shimmery spatter color, I chose a formula of either Perfect Pearls Copper Metallic or Winsor and Newton Iridescent Watercolor Medium with a bit of perfect Pearls Pearl color powder. This last pairing of materials is what gave me the bright metallic white you see here:

The coral/orange splatters are a mixture of Iridescent Watercolor Medium + Daniel Smith Pyrrol (sp?) Orange Watercolor paint. As already mentioned in an earlier blogpost, I'm giving myself permission to make messier art than usual for the entire year. I'm beginning to relax into this now, and am wondering whether or not to continue forward into 2018 with the same attitude.

Top coat following some drying time: gloss original Mod Podge mixed with a bit of water and some Perfect Pearls Metallic Copper powder. After this had all dried, I coated it lightly using Microglaze by Judikins. Then, I lined the inside side using some old scrapbooking papers I'd been keeping without using for about 10 years. (I know - I'm a bit of a packrat!) 

And here is what it looks like standing up on one of the 2 scrapbook paper collection books I've been keeping since forever. No "innards" for it when the picture was taken.

And here are some of the pages I've chosen to make the book ready for use. Note the older scrapbook papers and the "oops!" prints, all destined at one point or another for the waste basket. Note: I am still debating which kind of binding to use, but that will be for a later post.

My thanks to Kerry of Kerrymay Makes for this fun August challenge! And Happy WOYWW #427 to my fellow deskers !!!

WOYWW #425

Well it's the final Wednesday of the month, so it's time for me to join the WOYWW fun once again.

If you'd like to find out what the fun is all about, just hop on over to Julia Dunnit's blog, HERE. I'm really looking forward to seeing what my fellow deskers have been up to!

This week, I've had too little time for enjoying enough creative play, so this will be a fairly short post. 

Can elephants sneeze? Luckily for me, it was obviously just a baby one that apparently left behind the "evidence" of that sneeze in the bottom of an old jar of Mod Podge for Paper. The photo below displays it alongside a part of an as yet unfinished cigar box storage system. I finally took the time a few days ago to position and glue the "drawer front" to the "drawer." Drying time has meant that it needed to stay out on the desk a while. But more on that for another time.
Happy WOYWW #425!

Cigar box "drawer" displayed 
alongside the little "elephant sneeze."

WOYWW #422: Permission to Get Really Messy!

Perfectionism is a trap that I've fallen into now and then. It usually puts me in a gloomy frame of mind. No more gloom!

For a chance to find out what the WOYWW fun is all about, my readers can follow the link HERE to Julia Dunnit's Stamping Ground. I'm posting quite late at night this time, and may need to wait till midday on Wednesday due to another commitment before I will be able to visit other deskers. I can hardly wait to see what's on everybody's desk this week!

I've decided to relieve a lot of pressure this year by relaxing and playing more using whatever materials may happen to inspire and please me. That is, when it is time to let go of digital art for a time and loosen up. (fussy stuff, digi artwork)

The Main Idea
This altered book project began with an idea I had gotten from some videos on reorganizing art and craft areas. Apparently, paper that gets stored on its edge tends to survive better than paper that's kept flat in stacks. I have different sizes of papers in my collection. Portfolios house my larger sheets and boards (up to 32" x 40"). I 'd already made a Steampunk scrapbook paper sized one last year that's been working for me ever since, but it is too deep for my smaller pages and sheets.

I had these two antique book covers which I'd removed from their previous book blocks (a book block is all of the pages either sewn or glued together without the cover). I'd very nearly tossed them a few years ago. These were the ideal size for smaller sheets and scraps.

The other promise that I'd made myself was to use as much existing stock this year as possible. I don't toss things very easily anymore. I've learned by past experience how reckless this can get for me. Hanging onto too much "stuff," however, seems wasteful and pointless. It's easy for me to get hung up on such a dilemma.

Coming Together

The two uninspiring old book covers belonged to books that were literally given away for free. Sometimes even books which exceed the 100 year mark in age can be worthless to collectors. I've used a number of illustrations and photos from these books for my Free Graphics blog, Plush Possum Studio, but the covers needed a chance to be of some real use. I added bottoms to both covers, then glued the two together using PVA. I chose some berry colored mulberry paper for the lining.

One Side View

I chose my old monoprinted cardstock from last year as the starting point, and vowed to allow the project to be messy looking but interesting if necessary. I think that I've succeeded! Lolz   

Nothing perfect about this side view, now is there?

:)

Unfortunately my camera does not photograph metallics or iridescent colors very well. The torn mulberry paper at the top edge has been overpainted using copper metallic acrylic paint. I used Liquitex Heavy Matte Gel Medium for the lining in order to avoid any possible tackiness from a glossier product. My final finish with all such projects that I know are bound to come in contact on wet rainy days with other acrylic-coated objects is Microglaze by Judikins. This has never failed me. 

The Icing

The spine area of my 2-book cover altered book project is a drippy mess, but I really like it. I enjoyed that part immensely. Loosely controlled chaos! The iridescent drips were made by mixing Mod Podge with Winsor and Newton's iridescent Watercolor Medium. A small amount goes a really long way!

Let the 2017 messiness continue....