manila envelope journal swap

The Paper Traders Yahoo group sponsored a one for one manila envelope journal swap.  My partner is Lillian in Canada.  Here is the journal I sent to her:

I used gesso to cover the whole envelope and then added some torn paper strips and pieces of doilies to add texture.  Then I used paints, inks, stencils, bubble wrap and rubber stamps randomly until I liked the results.

Here is the inside front cover:

And the inside back cover:

And the back:

Vintage seam binding was tied around the whole journal - a generous length to allow for expansion.  Five sheets of Bristol board paper were folded in half to make the signature which was sewn into the cover with waxed thread. 

Since this is the first ever journal I have made in this fashion, it was an interesting process and one that I will do again sometime.

If you are interested in joining the Paper Traders Yahoo group, click on the button on my sidebar to learn more. 

Thanks for stopping by!