I had been hoarding this gorgeous 12″ x 12″ Authentique paper from the “Life is Uncertain. Eat Dessert First.” collection but I broke it out for this special project.\u00a0Transforming a simple Dollar Tree find into a beautiful altered journal\u00a0where I hope the recipient will enjoy writing down her thoughts was a joy\u00a0for me. This is one of two journals that I am altering and sending to my crafty friend, Justine (YT: Justine Stone), who is collecting journals for folks in need (whether in hospice care, dealing with family members in hospice care, or a young person battling cancer).<\/p>\n

<\/a>I tried to channel my feminine side to create what I hope came through as a\u00a0summertime sweet garden tea party themed journal. I tried to keep pretty much to one of my favorite color combinations of pink and mint\/teal throughout. I also used so many beautiful pieces from the FlairbyMe Etsy Store<\/a><\/span> Bear Tea Party kit. From the cupcake flair rosettes, beautiful appliques, Venice lace, dimensional handmade butterflies, resin teapot embellishment, and altered paper clips to the adorable little teddy bear stamp that I colored up with the following Copic markers: Bear: C0, 1, 3 and 6 with B02 and 24 accents; Macaroon: BG10, 11, 02, 32, and 45 with W0 and W3 shadows; Frosting: RV00, 55, and 66.<\/p>\n

It all came together so quick and easily. The most difficult aspect of this was just all the adhesive that I got on my hands–somehow I don’t enjoy getting messy\u00a0as much as I did when I was a kid. LOL Adhering all the paper doilies was especially tricky since there was no way to avoid getting the wet glue on my hands through all the cut outs and micro holes in the doilies. \u00a0I will say that the Americana Decoupage Matte glue-sealer-finisher dried so clear and fast; I much prefer this to matte Mod Podge.<\/p>\n

The following is a video share of this journal and the one in my next post too:<\/p>\n