For this make I decided I would work with the Ring Bound Journal that was recently released. I know it may seem expensive at first glance but with 80 pages inside which all have very subtle detailing I think that it will prove itself good value for money when you consider how much art work it will hold. The ring bound nature also means you do not need to worry about adding bulk to some of your pages either as there is lots of room for expansion.

I started by taking two pages out of the journal and joining them with low tack tape so that I could work across the two pages. Step one was to add inking around the edges. I did this with both the Burgundy Dye Ink Pad bringing the colour in from the edge and then added Coffee Ink to add depth around the edges.

I splattered some water over the page, left it to sit for a few seconds and then blotted off the excess so that I had water marks left on the pages.

For extra detail I then used the coffee ink through the Book stencil adding areas at random across the two pages. If you don't have this stencil you could just as easily use the Postcard stencil.

Before adding anything else I worked out where I was going to place my decorative elements and then adding stamping. I used one of the text stamps and the crackle stamp with coffee ink and the ticket stamp with the burgundy ink from the Happiness Elements stamp set. To create variation in depth I repeat stamped the images without re inking.

 

The edges of all the paper elements were coloured with Coffee ink. The side pieces are torn strips of paper from 8 x 8 Our Way as are most of the elements added on top with the remaining elements coming from the 12 x 12 Paper Collection. The elements were collaged on top of each other until I was happy with the results - don't forget you can cut elements in half which is something I do a lot of and then use the cut edge on the opposite page or hide it under another element.

Finally I added splatters  using watered down burgundy and coffee ink and also some watered down soft gesso. Once the pages were dry I then removed the low tack tape and slipped them onto the book rings in my journal.