A grungy cover for my writing practice

Hello friends, today I have another journal cover to share, created with the fabulous Eileen Hull journal die. This one has turned out very grungy, unlike my more feminine Japan travel journal

I love this die, it is the perfect size to hold my midori style inserts that I love creating, and this one will hold the inserts in which I practice my brushpen calligraphy.

Here you can see how the cover came together,sand texture through various stencils and then loads of layers of paint, a mix of Paper Artsy Frescos and Distress Paints. I wanted to create a sort of worn leather look with a touch of rust and patina

Some writing related embellishments made with some Sizzix Mover and Shaper dies, and of course a pen nib for good measure.

And here the finished cover with a couple of home made inserts inside. I created a holder for my brush pen, that also forms the closure for the journal. It is based on an idea I saw online on the new Prima travel journals.

My pen holder is made out of 3 layers of Tim Holtz Grunge Board that I glued together and threaded the elastic through. No doubt leather would have been better, but I don't have any and this works perfectly as a closure and I think will stand up to quite a bit of wear and tear.

A couple of close ups of my embellishments and  the spine. I strung some beads through one of the elastics and also added a charm.

Below I will also show you some of the pages of my inserts. I have done them junk journal style again, and included many lined pages printed on super smooth paper for my writing practice.

I added lots of tuck spots and pretty tags here and there. I do most of my practice on loose drill sheets, but for a change it will be much more fun the write some quotes and sayings on decorated pages. This way I can also look back on how I improve...

This tuck spot/side pocket holds not only some tags, but also a separate booklet for further practice.

I love these junk journal style inserts, they are not only fun to do, but also are the perfect way to use up all those scraps we all hoard away, and I just love the size of these, - large enough to actually use, yet small enough to carry around.

Finally, I don't very often play in challenges anymore, but decided to link this to Art Journal Journey where the theme this month is Elegance and Grunge.

Before signing off, I just want to say a huge big thank you to my friend Anne for sending me the die cuts for this cover, while I wait for my own die to arrive. Thank you so much Anne, you are the best!!!

Well that's it for today, - thank you for your visit and have a great week.

xxxxx