Upcycled Journal

The other day I went to JC Penny because they were having a great sale with an even greater coupon which I couldn't pass up.  As I entered the store, the employees were handing out little spiral notebooks with the coupons inside.  Free stuff to alter, whoo hoo!

I think they are promoting their new "dollar" section, similar to Target and Michaels.   Anyway,  I used the coupon for a good deal, then thought about how to change out the cover of the notebook.

The cover is made out of that plastic poly vinyl type of flexible material that is difficult to glue anything to unless you prep the surface first.  I applied a coat of gesso so I could then add something and have it stick.

I decided to use some patterned paper that had the same type of colors as the front cover so I wouldn't have to worry about the edge with the spiral binding.  I put the notebook face down on the patterned paper and traced around it, then cut it out and adhered it to the front.

I have a TON of chipboard numbers and letters, so I decided to paint some numbers with acrylic paint.  After drying I added more contrasting paint to each number with a small circle stencil.  I edged the numbers, background black panel, and notebook with Inka Gold in metallic green.  The word at the bottom is a rub on by Tim Holtz.  Although you can't see it well in the photo, I sprayed the entire thing with metallic lime ink spray to finish it.

Materials:

*spiral notebook (even if you don't get one for free, there are really inexpensive ones available right now for back to school)
*chipboard numbers or letters
*acrylic paints in green, orange, and red
*Inka Gold in metallic green
*metallic green ink spray
*rub on

This post is entered in the Things to Alter Challenge: Anything Goes

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