FAUX VINTAGE JOURNAL

Welcome if this is your first time of visiting my page, and if not welcome anyway! Last month I chose to decorate some frames for my
THAT CRAFT PLACE DT project. If you missed that post and tutorial you can see it here.  I planned to do something completely different this time but last weekend I discovered a beautiful Victorian Photo Album in an antique shop.  It wasn't cheap so I decided to give myself time to think rather make an impulsive purchase. However, all week the album has been on my mind. I did go back to buy it the following day and the shop was shut.  When asking about the album I had been told someone else had made enquiries and had gone away to think about buying it as a wedding present.  It seemed not meant to be....

But I still couldn't get the album out my head so I phoned the shop and it was still there!  It was waiting for me all the time!  I am super excited as it is a beautiful book filled with black and white photos. A real treasure and I can't wait to collect it next week.

Meantime, frames and vintage albums have been on my mind and I have been meaning to use an ornate MDF frame that is part of the TCP collection.  So I decided to use it on the cover of a hand made journal, here it is and I'll include a brief tutorial:

First I prepared the pages by sewing signatures. I used 120gm A4

paper folded in half.  It would take too long to explain this whole process as it is a post in itself and I will do that another day. So for now I will concentrating on the cover of this book and tutorials for creating pages are available on YouTube.

 

I prepared my covers by measuring the pages to find the width of the spine needed. I added Duck Tape to the front, with the correct allowance, and I put waxed paper on the back to protect the sticky side. 

 

 

Turning the cover right side up I painted the tape and round the edges in black paint.

 

 

 Next I chose some pages from a vintage book and painted these in a  coat of paint diluted with water to create a light wash with brush marks.  Once dry these were glued to the front and back cover.  As I wanted a distressed look I made a few marks on the page while the glue was wet. 

I then painted the frame: first in black paint and when dry, in coat of grey paint.  I then used a piece of scrunched up waxed paper to dab the frame so that the black paint showed through in small patches. 

 

 

 

Leaving each stage time to dry in between, I gave the frame a coat of PaperArtsy Metalic Glaze, and then in places, a light rub of Treasure Gold to further create the aged effect. 

 

Back to the main cover:
Using the same grey paint as the frame I took a dry brush and with the smallest amount of paint I very lightly brushed areas of the cover. This was done to subtly tie the frame and cover together and to continue the distressed effect. 

 

 

Time to add a stamped image inside the frame:
I chose a stamp to fit inside the frame and positioned the frame with a piece of paper under it so that I could create a template.  I drew inside the frame and cut this section out.  I them carefully removed the frame leaving the paper in position.  This allowed me to stamp the image so that a the shape of the stamp fitted inside the shape of the frame and any unwanted areas were printed onto waste paper.

I gave the cover and spine a coat of Matt Medium to seal it and make it harder wearing. More than one coat can be used but as this journal has a vintage look I do not mind if it picks up the occasional scuff.

Final stages:
I glued the frame into position and decided the overall effect looked a bit flat.  So I added embossing ink to the area inside the frame and a layer of chunky embossing powder. Once heat treated  this offered a different texture and gave definition. 

I used metallic wax to colour a MDF lock and glued this into position. It needed final detail so I found some greyboard 'screw heads' in my stash and used black ink to give them a base colour.  A light rub of Treasure Gold completed the effect and these were glued into position onto the lock and down the side of the book.

 

I removed the wax paper from inside the spine (see photo 2) and added a strip of wide Picture Framing Tape so that it covered the sticky back of the Duck Tape and the inside edge of the covers.  This adds further reinforcement to the spine and the pages are now ready to glue inside.  And here it is, with pages shown.

PRODUCTS I USED FOR THIS PROJECT ARE AS FOLLOWS:

 

MDF frame and lock from TCP

MDF, Mountboard or Thick card for cover (mine measured slightly larger than A5 so that the paper fitted inside nicely)

Duck and Picture Framing Tape

Paints by PaperArtsy (Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in South Pacific Little Black Dress and Snowflake)
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish - Metalic Glaze

Embossing ink

Thick embossing powder

Treasure Gold - Renaissance and White Fire

Cosmic Shimmer Glue

DecoArt Matt Medium

PaperArtsy Stamp

Archival Ink (Black)

 
If this inspires you to make your own journal you can buy everything you need from THAT CRAFT PLACE.  Please let me know if you have any questions about making this journal and any comments are appreciated and welcomed.  And do let me know if you make one of your own because I'd love to see what you make!

 

Thanks for popping by and do visit the TCP facebook page for more creative ideas and details about the monthly Mixed Media 'Anything Goes' challenge.