iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts: Creative Wings Journal Cover

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts
Creative Wings Journal Cover
Copyright Margot Potter
"Mom crafted, kid approved."

I spent the better part of yesterday adding layers to a canvas to make a journal cover.  Right as I was finishing the first draft I made an unfortunate executive decision, then tried to 'fix' it and had to scrap the whole enchilada.  Second round I took what I learned and applied it and I'm really digging the final result.  This is a dollar store journal that I've covered with Claudine Helmuth's Sticky Back Canvas which has been layered with a wide variety of Tulip Fashion Graffiti line and Tulip fabric spray products.  This is one of those projects you can easily adapt to your own personal taste.

Every teen needs a place to keep their private thoughts and it's a good thing to take a break from the computer sometimes and pick up a pen.  They can doodle, dream, draw and do what they please inside, the cover is all about inspiring them to spread their creative wings.  Quite frankly, I think young women these days need all of the positive creative inspiration they can get.

Even professionals have craftastrophes sometimes, the key is to turn those experiences into positives.  No matter how badly you mess something up, there is something of value there.  Some of my best ideas came from my worst 'mistakes' so don't be afraid to take creative risks.  I call that creative fertilizer for my crafty garden.  Oh and...sometimes it's good to know when to stop adding 'one more thing' to your designs!

Materials
Basic Cardboard Cover Bound Notebook
Claudine Helmuth's Sticky Back Canvas
Multi-color Textured Yarn (coordinating with paint colors)
Tulip Big Phat Marker Black
Tulip Fabric Cannon
Tulip Cannon Fabric Paint White and Black
Tulip Paint Taggers Silver and Black
Tulip Fabric Spray Neon Pink, Orange, Yellow
Tulip Matte Dimensional Fabric Paint Coral
Tulip Slick Dimensional Fabric Paint Dandelion Yellow and Poppin' Purple
Tulip Fashion Graffiti Stencil Wing (Peace Love Stencil Set)
Aleene's Liquid Fusion Glue

Tools
Sea Sponges
Fabric Scissors
Marking Pen

1.  Begin by adding silver and black paint taggers to your canvas.  Use more silver than black.  Spray some black paint with the fabric cannon.  Use a sea sponge to dab the colors on the canvas until the canvas is covered with a layer of paint.  Allow to dry.

2.  Spray the canvas with pink, orange and yellow fabric spray in layers.  Allow to dry.

3.  Use the cannon fabric paint in white on a sea sponge to dab the wing stencil along both sides of your canvas.  Allow to dry.  I used segments of the wing and cleaned the stencil in between each use, then I could flip it over when working on the opposite side.  This is intended to create a batik or resist style image, so it's not going to be a perfectly clean stencil.

4.  Add more layers of fabric spray as desired.  Allow to dry.

5.  Use the Big Phat marker to accentuate the outlines of your stenciled images.

6.  Use the dimensional fabric paints to add accents to the outlines you've accentuated with marker.  Allow to dry.

7.  Mark the canvas with a pen to fit cover of journal.  Cut the canvas.

8. Adhere sticky canvas to cover.

9.  Attach a segment of fuzzy yarn to the top and bottom of your journal cover using a thick bead of Liquid Fusion glue.  Trim ends with scissors.  Allow to dry.