To begin the cover, I applied a coat of gesso. Next I printed out some of my pages in a 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 size onto a piece of fabric. To prepare the fabric so it would feed through the printer I ironed a piece of muslin onto the waxy side of a piece of freezer paper and trimmed it to 8 1/2 x 11. Not wanting it to run, I sprayed with a workable fixative and let dry. I then cut out each of the images and using Golden’s Matte Gel Medium, I glued them onto the cover, being sure to apply a coat of medium over the whole cover.

Taking some white, buff, and burnt umber paint, I filled in the uncovered areas and blended in some of the edges of the images.

After this dried, I added some text, both written, rub ons, and cut out. I chose words that have meaning for me as I start this new year.

To tie the whole thing together a bitmore, I applied a wash of Nickel Azo Gold to the whole cover and wiped off some of it.

I Then I wired some vintage glass buttons that I’ve been hording. I am really trying to get over the ‘saving it for something special and never using it’ thing. Next I am going to sew some of my smaller pages right into this journal and combine everything together. Lucky for us there are no ‘rules’ in journaling:-)