Ready for use

Last night I finished my new art journal. I can now finally start using it. Though I must admit, I cheated a bit and started filling in some backgrounds while I was waiting for various components to dry.

So without further ado, here it is...

I forgot to make any progress pics while assembling the book, as I did in my previous post on the making of this book. I did take a shot when I finished the spine and  laid the covers and spine next to each other, trying to figure out how I would put it all together.

I wanted the book to be sturdy, as I do expect some abuse, since I am not a gentle crafter. I also wanted it to be able to open really wide. In the end I went with a fairly large gap between the spine and the covers. Mounted it al on some distressed muslin, reinforced with a paper backing. I attached some embellishments to the spine and the front cover. Keeping it rather plain, again with the planned abuse kept in mind. I then glued the front and back covers to the book and took some lace to tie it all together. I left the lace loose, so it wouldn't be in the way while working in the book.

The fabric backing peeks out from the sides of the book with frayed edges and gives the book a nice strokable feeling when holding it.

I still have some touching up to do with alcohol inks on the brads of the spine and maybe the copper wire on the bookplate.

As I mentioned before, I did start some backgrounds already, so now I just need to start journalling in it.

And here is the back cover, wich I left completely plain.

I entered this book in the following challenges:

• Eclectic paperie - get alterted challenge -altered fabric, since I did use fabric in this project. This is my second entry in this challenge (I do like fabric), so I'm not sure wether that is permitted.
• Challenges for everybody - challenge #16 - anything goes.

Should you have any questions, remarks or tips, please leave a comment below. Thank you for watching and I hope you liked it.