{"id":1281,"date":"2012-07-06T12:47:55","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T10:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thewholesaler.biz\/blog\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2016-07-15T15:15:35","modified_gmt":"2016-07-15T13:15:35","slug":"naturally-beautiful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thewholesaler.biz\/blog\/naturally-beautiful\/","title":{"rendered":"Naturally Beautiful Writing Set"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naturals and neutrals have come a long way in the world of creativity. Art generally is not the place for neutrals and yet we use them each and every day without maybe even realising it.<\/h3>\n

\"Natural<\/a><\/p>\n

I was so pleased when\u00a0Studio Calico\u00a0brought out the natural range\u00a0\u201cClassic Calico\u201d\u00a0of scrapping goodies and the wholesaler was quick to pounce onto it. I had the perfect project in mind to incorporate the beautiful naturals into \u2013 a little writing gift set and journal combo. It incorporates a decorated journal, handmade writing paper, some quick and easy notecards and a few simply decorated envelopes. But the centre stage really belongs to the cover that the writing paper fits into and its matching partner the journal. Both the cover and the journal were decorated in a really girly way incorporating beautiful ribbon,\u00a0Petaloo\u2019s\u00a0new range of beautiful blooms,\u00a0Prima flowers\u00a0and my new favourite ink in the form of\u00a0Mister Huey\u2019s Colour Mists.<\/p>\n

\"Natural<\/a><\/p>\n

The process of creating<\/h2>\n

To colour the spine of my journal I placed the black journal with its red spine onto my craft sheet and added a layer of white acrylic gesso. The gesso has a two part function \u2013 first to cover some of the red book binding tape and second to make the ink adhere to the tape a lot better. Then I used a combination of two colours of Mister Huey\u2019s to mist the spine area. I left it to dry for a while and took a dry cloth and wiped it down to make sure there are no wet spots of ink remaining and to cover areas that I might have missed. Much better in the end than that unsightly red tape \u2013 well at least it matched my natural paper range a lot better now. The scalloped circle was die-cut using a Couture Creations Nesting die set on my Cuttlebug machine and then coloured using the same Mister Huey\u2019s colour mists. I lightly blotted the edges dry with a roller towel to create lighter and darker effects to add interest.<\/p>\n

\"Natural<\/a><\/p>\n

Colouring and decorating your journal<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Step 1<\/h3>\n

Place the journal onto the craft sheet. Cover the spine in a layer of white gesso or acrylic paint. This step can be done quite roughly as the front and back will be covered in paper.<\/p>\n

Step 2<\/h3>\n

Lightly mist the spine area in Mister Huey\u2019s colour mists. I first added some black in a thin layer and then a layer of classic tan on top. Remember that the ink is very concentrated so a little ink goes a really long way. Lightly mist the ink layer with a light misting of water to mix things up and leave to dry.<\/p>\n