Glue, glaze and stencils

Hello ! It's Sue with you today sharing an Inspirational Post and I'm sharing what I did with my second book that I keep for using the pages in mixed media projects.

I started by cutting out a piece of the front cover large enough to house an ornate key.

 Now normally I would reach for the Gesso before I do any painting but on this occasion I didn't feel it was needed as I used Amsterdam acrylic paints which are opaque. The cut out section was lined with some washi tape to neaten up the edges.

 I finished off painting the cover using bright colours !

 Next up is heavy gel medium, it's a long time since I've used this technique and I'd forgotten how messy it is !

 I've used a selection of Dina Wakely and Donna Downey stencils, spreading the gel over them in various places on the cover.

 Until the whole cover is covered, then it's left to completely dry.

The cover is then painted with Gesso and  before it dries it's wiped back to leave the Gesso inbetween the raised areas of the gel. The idea being you see the colour beneath through the dry gel.

 Once the Gesso was dry I then turned to glazing the cover, Burnt Sienna then Burnt Umber Amsterdam paints were used. Leaving the glaze on the cover for around 2 minutes then wiping it back with a baby wipe.

 I backed the front cover with some white card then bedded the key in some matt medium and sprinkled Art Stones on top and left it overnight to dry.

 There is such lovely texture on the cover now so it had to be Treasure Gold to highlight it ! I've also used some Artisan Powder by Prima.

 Back to the key, I've used the glazes again to colour the Art Stones.

 I also used the glazes in blue and red to highlight some of the colours underneath the stencilled gel.

So now both books are revamped and when all the pages are used I have 2 covers to house journals.
I hope you've enjoyed today's post and you're inspired to dig out an old book and give it a go !