I love coloring and I love having notebooks everywhere to jot down Cre8time ideas as they come to me. I have loads of notebooks and mini journals around... many that can certainly use an artsy touch. I've transformed these plain notebooks into something beautiful with a handmade touch! With a few supplies and a little time spent coloring, I have a beautifully colored mini journal and a second that I can be colored on the go.
Enjoy the creative relaxation of coloring and turn your finished coloring pages into FUN-ctional mini composition journals!
First select a design from a coloring book of your choice. My particular book is by Leisure Arts and it has perforations in the center for easy tear out. I removed a page and colored in with colored pencils - filling in the patterns and building up layers of color. This is the fun part! I took my time and enjoyed the relaxation of the coloring process. I only colored half of the sheet and left the other half of sheet uncolored.
I take a few minutes to prepare the surface of the store-bought mini composition books. With back-to-school time here, this is a great time to stock up on these.
I gently sand the glossy surface on the front and back covers and wipe away dust with a cloth. Measure size of cover then trim a double-sided adhesive sheet slightly larger than needed using paper trimmer {this step can be skipped if you'd rather use a glue stick - I've done both ways}. I normally use a gluestick, but I happened to have some adhesive sheets on hand {they don't last long in my crafty cave}.
Follow by trimming the colored Kaleidoscope coloring sheet into sections to same size as adhesive sheets. The books I used are approx. 3 1/2" x 4 1/2" so I trimmed everything about 1/8" larger.
From just one coloring sheet I can cover two (2) mini journals. I will cover one using the top section of the page that is colored; and use the remaining uncolored half for another. I will need four (4) sections of adhesive sheets to cover both books.
Color spine of each book using a Permapaque marker - this is a permanent marker with matte, opaque color. It has nice coverage and dries fast. When ink is dry, remove backing and adhere adhesive sheets to front and back of each book, trimming overlap with scissors.
Burnish adhesive sheets to ensure secure adhesion and to remove air bubbles. Remove backing and place trimmed sections of coloring sheet to front and back covers of book. I like to do the application in two steps by adding adhesive to book, then colored sheet after so that I can be more precise in my placement. Backtrim edges as in previous step. Use Permapaque pen to edge covers and color outside edge of pages.
*Optional: Add decorative washi tape trim or ribbon to spine edge {I added a thin diamond patterned washi tape to the uncolored book version}.
My mini composition books are complete. They are so cute!! I will add one extra step for the book covered with my hand-colored page.
I painted on a layer of Mod Podge Outdoor for added durability and to protect the surface coloring from smearing or rubbing off. Make sure to reserve a few days to let the "outdoor" Mod Podge dry completely before using. You'll be able to tell when it's fully dry as it will no longer feel tacky to the touch.
I painted on a layer of Mod Podge Outdoor for added durability and to protect the surface coloring from smearing or rubbing off. Make sure to reserve a few days to let the "outdoor" Mod Podge dry completely before using. You'll be able to tell when it's fully dry as it will no longer feel tacky to the touch.
This project can even be bundled together and make a great gift to pass on the Cre8time enjoyment of coloring. Stack a coloring book, colored pencils and both colored and uncolored books and tie with a organza ribbon... and add a nice pen to complete this wonderful gift with handmade flair.
With all the themes and patterns of coloring books available you can customize a gift for anyone... anytime of the year.
What will you embellish
with coloring sheets?
I would love to hear what you create with your hand-colored pages. Thanks for visiting! :) Sb
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Materials Used:
- Tonic Studios Paper Trimmer
- Tonic Studios 5" Mini Snips Scissors
- Mini Blank Composition Journals
- Leisure Arts "Art of Coloring - Kaleidoscopes"
- Leisure Arts Colored Pencils - 24 colors
- Plaid Mod Podge Outdoor
- Scrapbook Adhesives Permanent 4x6 Adhesive Sheets
- Sakura Permaopaque Blue Pigment Marker
- Sakura Micron Archival Pen
- Pencil
- 1/8" diamond washi tape
- Paintbrush
- Ruler
- Square of sandpaper
- Organza Ribbon
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