Trilogy goes black and ALMBH journal cover

So it's time to move on with the tree trilogy (which still has no trees on it whatsoever!). I covered the layers of collage with black gesso. Yes, I decided on the gesso. For two reasons really: first of all it has such a wonderful matte finish, this will make the glitter, sparkle and gloss that will fill the other elements (to be put on later) really stand out. And second: no paint is blacker than black gesso. I swear it's like putting a big black hole on canvas, all the light just gets sucked right in!

Anyway, this is what the panels look like now:

You can see how the structure of the collage items still shows through. Of course it doesn't get any prettier this way, I kinda liked the light on light colors. But trust me, it will all be okay in the end, I promise. ;-)

I also started the Kelly Kilmer A Life Made By Hand class. First I looked at all the materials and the video's, just to get a feel of things and then of course it was time to get to work myself. Originally I wanted to make a journal from scratch, but then I remembered this square sketchbook that I still had lying around  and the minute I did it started screaming at me: "Use me! Use me!". Who am I to refuse desperately screaming blank books? So I went to work on the cover with collage and pens and I covered the thing with sticky plastic. And this is how it turned out:

I also added a ribbon on both sides so I can tie it closed as it gets thicker and thicker. The hardest thing was punching the holes through the thick cover. Sometimes this artsy stuff girl could really use a big strong male. Oh well....fine...I'll do it myself! And so I did. I like how it turned out and I can't wait to get started on the inside. Kelly provides I think something like a 180 prompts and lots of collage layouts, so this will be a wonderful opportunity to get to use all that lovely decorative paper I have lying around, not to mention the enormous stack of magazines I have collected over the years. This should be fun!