Even though I spend much of my day on a computer, or on some sort of electronic pad or device, there is just something about a beautiful journal to write in that I absolutely love. You can find many inexpensive blank journals with pretty paper covers at your local craft or book store. With DecoArt Paper Effects paint, I took already pretty journals to the next level of loveliness by adding texture, dimensional, and flair.

Items Needed:

• Paper Wrapped Blank Journals

Instructions:

Even though I spend much of my day on a computer, or on some sort of electronic pad or device, there is just something about a beautiful journal to write in that I absolutely love. You can find many inexpensive blank journals with pretty paper covers at your local craft or book store. With DecoArt Paper Effects paint, I took already pretty journals to the next level of loveliness by adding texture, dimensional, and flair.

Each bottle of Paper Effects comes with a read-to-use drawing tip at the top, and an additional fine-tipped attachment (as well as a small needle to prevent clogging) to get really small details in your designs. 

Whether the cover of the journal you want to decorate has a geometric pattern or more organic design, Paper Effects paint can really make it pop. I love tone-on-tone patterns, and knew I wanted to add some texture to the pretty flowers on this cover. I used the fine-tip attachment to decorate my cover. I organically “drew” in extra detail lines within each flower.

For the pink flowers, I used Pink Pearl Paper Effects. For the green flowers, I used Peacock Gold Paper Effects. The Golden Pearl Paper Effects looked great on the orange flowers, and the Silver Pearl Paper Effects added just the right amount of sparkle to the gray flowers.

After applying all of the color details with the Paper Effects, I let it dry overnight. The best part is that when dry, the paint isn’t tacky, and I was left with a beautiful, cool textured journal.

I used this same philosophy of tone-on-tone design on the geometric patterned polka dot journal cover. But I also added some fun contrast, as well, in various circles of this cover by adding colored hearts randomly on the front. I love how the Paper Effects added a whole other dimension to my cover and created a new fun one-of-a-kind design.