Note it down

Hi all, Jen here, I hope everyone is having a lovely November so far! 

This month I'm stepping outside my usual realm of layouts a little to bring you a simple but fun & useful project. I often find I think of ideas for pages or techniques at the most inappropriate time, for example in the middle of the night, or when I'm just heading off to work in the morning! Occasionally I would jot an idea down on a piece of scrap paper, and more often than not that bit of paper would get lost, or thrown away, or eaten (both my little boy & my cat are rather fond of a piece of paper to chew on!). 

To try and get around this problem I decided that I needed a dedicated notebook in which to keep ideas for titles, page sketches, technique ideas & lists of products to try or buy. 

I started off with a journal from the Studio Calico Classic range. I chose the woodgrain journal, which is 4x8", but they also do an alphabet journal in 5x5" size.  These journal kits are perfect for this kind of project, since they come with two chipboard covers (one of which is beautifully embossed), and a pad of simple graph paper (approximately 60 sheets) to go inside.

Firstly I covered the two chipboard covers in two coats of a bright yellow acrylic paint - Paint Dabber in Sunshine Yellow - I brushed it on with a foam applicator rather than using the dabber function - this gives you a much thicker coat. 

Once that was completely dry I sprayed with an iridescent mist for a little bit of glimmer. 

I then added some strips of papers, a journalling card and some stickers, all from the October Afternoon Sidewalks collection.

I flicked some more mists over the whole cover - I used Maya Mists in Blue Agave & Pink Ginger. It's easy to get this 'splattered' effect from mists by simply unscrewing the lid from the misting bottle and flicking or tapping the thin plastic tube, rather than using the spray. 

I punched a few butterflies, and also added some letter stickers to the cover, and then covered the whole lot in Mod Podge to protect it.

I bound the whole journal using a Bind-it-all machine, and as a final touch tied four small pieces of ribbon to one of the spiral rings. 

So far this journal is working out well for me, and it's filling up with ideas for pages & projects. Now that I'm getting them down on paper & therefore remembering them, look out for some of those appearing on the blog soon!