Upcycled Book Becomes Art Journal

Hello! I am Cheryl Chambers and I love art journaling. Upcycling old books into new journals makes me extremely happy! Searching thrift stores for the perfect book to use as a new project is like going on a treasure hunt. I find that this process makes every upcycled book into a really special and personal art journal.

 Upcycling old books is also a great way to make a unique gift for a person in your life that would love to fill up the pages with anything creative. Books with wonderful graphics make your journal even more fun because you can use the graphics as part of your art. Get creative and choose various sizes and shapes for a custom journal.

Products used by Cheryl:
Tattered Angels Color Wash – Blue Lagoon
Tattered Angels High Impact Paint – Aqua
Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam – Twinkle Toes
Canvas Corp – Canvas Fringe and Blue Ticking Flower
Tattered Angels Mixed Media Mini Origins Art Collection – Wings
Tattered Angels Pure Mistable Paper – Frayed Cotton
Liquitex – Gesso and Matte Super Heavy Gel
NeoColors II
Jane Davenport – Watercolors Neutral Pallet
Tacky Glue, Scrapbook Paper, Chipboard Letters
glitter, paint brush, scrapper
Tim Holtz Stencil, scissors

Pick your favorite pattern paper and glue it to the front of your found book.
For this cover, I chose a small dot print. I wanted it to float to the background, so I used a scraper and put a thin layer of gesso over most of it. To add some color interest I went with blue as my main color. I used Tattered Angels Color Wash and High Impact Paint to give a wash of blue color over the gesso and pattern paper.

Texture is one of my favorite ways to add layers to a project.
I thought the Canvas Corp Frayed Paper and Canvas Fringe would work perfectly with the Color Wash Paint. I tore a length of paper and canvas and gave them both a coat of the Blue Lagoon Color Wash. I love how each one looks with their frayed edges. I will use these as layers behind my main focal point to frame it.

I love to color and the Mixed Media Origins papers are perfect for coloring with wet mediums. I love this paper for watercolors. It is heavy duty and really stands up to the water. I found that it was also easy to mix colors on the paper.
I chose the bird and used some NeoColor II crayons and Jane Davenport Watercolors to color in the image.

After I used the watercolors, I applied some Heavy Matte Gel through a stencil to give a bit of dimension in the black areas. I also sprinkled some fine glitter over it for some sparkle. After it was dry, I layered all the elements and glued them to the cover of my journal.

I used the same blue paints on the flower rosette to tie the colors into this element. I wanted to the flower to be more fluffy, so I spritzed it with water and gave it a good squish. The result was perfect after it dried. A little tacky glue and it was in place.

I also wanted to add some encouraging words to the front, so I used some chipboard letters I had laying around in my stash. Again, I used the same blue paints and layered them on the letters until I got the look I was after. I love how the Color Wash looks on top of the High Impact Paint.

To add a few sections to this journal to give me different areas to create in, I used some colored tags from an old project in my stash and just glued them to pages in the book. I added a tassel of yarn to one for visual interest.

There you have it. A brand new journal for to create until your heart is content.

I hope you find creating a new journal from an old book as enjoying as I did!

Happy crafting!

Cheryl Chambers

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