Shabby Journal

This is another project I did for the Crafty Secrets new release
"Sew special" stamp set. It's an altered composition (dollar store) book done with some soft blue papers from Crafty's "Classic" paper pad. I covered the journal with the floral papers first, and then set about attaching elements to the front of the journal. I used my new sizzix flower layers 3 die to cut flowers out of coordinating paper.

The new sewing set has some great garter belt snaps in it, so I decided to make them silver metallic and add some hardware elements from Crafty's hardware set. I stamped the garter snaps and some of the metal elements on silver metallic cardstock with versamark, and then covered them with silver (fine detail) embossing powder (Michaels).

When I do this, I try to fit a ton of them on the sheet and emboss them all at once. When there's downtime, I'll sit and watch t.v. and cut out the little locks and keys, etc. and put them in my embellishment organizer so I can grab them quickly when I'm creating.

I love the little hinge from this set. I cut it in half on the journal so I could use half of the hinge on either side of the sticker I used here.

The stickers are already die-cut and gorgeous, so it was easy to slap it on a mat and add it to the front. This one is from Crafty's "French Labels" sticker sheet. The garter snaps are holding vintage sheet music which has been cut to look like ribbon on the edges, and I added 2 buttons to the center of the snaps so it looks 3-d.

I used my tracing wheel again on the main image so it looks quilted...I ran the wheel on the diagonal. The dress form image is stamped on a frame cut out from the back of the classic pad, and then colored in with ink and an aquapen. Glitter is Martha Stewart white-gold.