Turning a FSJ Mini Book into a Journal Step by Step Part 3 Choosing your papers and making them go together by Cindy Bristow

Turning a FSJ Mini Book into a Journal Step by Step

Part 3  Choosing your papers and making them go together

by Cindy Bristow

 

Howdy!

 

Are you ready for step 3?  This is where the fun begins!!!  If you are just joining us, grab a Mini Book and join the fun!  All the links in this post are affiliate links, that means that if you click on the product and purchase it, I get a small commission.

 

I start by grabbing all of the paper and cardstock that I want to use in my journal.  Remember that I had chosen  the pink, cream, brown and grey color scheme?  Make sure you have a few pieces of blank cardstock or notebook papers thrown into the mix also because if you are going to use this as a journal, you have to have a place to write all of those big ideas!

 

 

Now you are going to start cutting all of those yummy pieces of paper down to size. DO NOT glue anything down yet!!!  I secure the pages in place by using  large paperclips.  This is so that you can decorate each page and if needed you can move things around.

 

 The regular pages in your journal measure 5 1/4" x 7 7/8".  For the half page flip out page you will need (4) 7 7/8" x 4" pages.  For the flip up page, you will need (4) 6 1/2" x 4" pages and for the full size flip out, you will need (4) 7 7/8" x 5" pages.

 

Notice that I have coffee dyed all of the papers and that I have used a bunch of plain papers.  That's ok because in the next step we are going to spice them up a bit! 

Notice the page on the left?  I used a piece of journal paper that isn't quite large enough, so I put another pink scrap of paper with it thinking that I might like to piece it together later in the process.

 

Now we are at the time consuming part...  You will need to ink all of the edges of each page using Vintage Photo Ink ... I know, not the most glamorous thing to do, but it pulls everything together.

 

Then you get to pull out those stencils you have in your stash.  For this project I pulled out three of my favorite stencils, Vintage Screen, Cement Tile, and the roses from the Flower Power Stencil.  The Flower Power stencil is 1 large stencil with 4 different patterns, but I cut them apart so I can use them separately.  I used the Vintage Photo ink pad and a sponge to ink the stencils.

Stencil each and every page because, well, it's totally worth it!

Now we get to stamp!  Grab your Black Ink pad and a few of your favorite script and cancelled postage stamps and start randomly stamping all of the pages.  As you can see, I do not stamp straight or fully on the page most times.  It is also ok if you do not get a perfect impression.  It all adds to the layers and blends everything together.

 

Here is a picture of one page before I have inked, stenciled or stamped.

 

Now, here is a picture of the same page after the inking, stenciling, and stamping.  It ages your pages and will tie everything together.

 

Your homework for today is to pick your paper, cut it to size, ink, stencil and stamp on every page.  Whew, that's a lot to do, but you can do it!!

 

Hope you are enjoying the step by step process, if you are, please share it with your friends.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Cindy