Do Judge a Book By It's Cover ~ Stamps and Stencils ~ New Challenge

Hi folks ! It's time for another challenge over on the Stamps and Stencils blog. Lula is our talented host for this lovely month of June and she has chosen a great theme. This is what she has to say.........

.......'For this challenge  I'd like you to alter any book cover. Creating an altered cover is something anyone can do because your only limitation is your own imagination.  You can use any type of books from children's books or user manuals to art journals. Don't forget to use stamping or stenciling and join us in the fun!....... 

You can read more about Lula's fab challenge over on the Stamps and Stencils blog. Just click on this link  You will also see some gorgeous examples of altered book covers by the rest of the team. My project is an altered notebook, which was originally given away free with a magazine, many moons ago. It was still blank but the cover had seen better days......

 As the cover had a slight texture, I decided to cover it with a piece of canvas. After cutting the canvas to size, I adhered it to the notebook using extra heavy gel medium. The one I have at the moment is from Finabair's range. It worked very well and dried quickly.

I slotted a piece of grease proof paper between the cover and the pages so that they didn't get all stuck together. I then gave it a coat of white gesso. I dried the surface with my heat gun, before applying some lovely bright colours. I used Daler Rowney fluorescent paints and applied them with a paint brush, blending them together at the edges where the colours meet. It looked a bit messy at this point but I pressed on and gave the colours a couple coats, drying with a heat tool between each one. This helped to get rid of any streakiness. I was quite pleased with the way that the colours blended here and there, creating some lovely orange and purple shades.....

Once the paint was dry, I set to with a selection of stencils and began to add pattern and text to the background. when this layer was dry I added some stamping and then doodled here and there channelling  the lovely Kate Crane. This is how the back looks.........

The focal image on the front of the book, uses a stamp I recently bought from the Artist Trading Post. It's by Stampotique and features the amazing artist Frida Kahlo. I stamped onto a piece of fluorescent card using black Archival Ink, I highlighted here signature bold jewellery  with a gold pen and added some flowers in her hair with Posca paint markers. After adding some black ink to the edges of the card I then embossed the whole surface with clear embossing powder.

Before adhering the panel to my book, I blended black ink around the edges. I  painted a border around the inside covers with black paint and then glued a panel of black card to the front and back inside covers. This got rid of the advertising that was inside...... well it was a freebie! To finish off, I  applied strong foam tape to the back of the stamped panel, and a border of black 'pearls'. My last addition, was the Dymo printed sentiment 'What Would Frida Do' She demonstrated a strength in adversity during her short lifetime and was bold enough to not follow the 'rules'. She was also fiercely proud of her Mexican cultural heritage. All qualities which, I must say, I find admirable. 

So there you have it, my book cover makeover was complete. I may add to it when I eventually find the little Milagros charms I have misplaced Grrrrrr.! If you would like to alter a book cover, we'd love to see it. Just hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog and you'll find all of the challenge details. I look forward to seeing you there! Viva La Vida !