Journal for Art of Observation

 I'm taking Heidi Swapp's Art of Observation class over at Big Picture Classes.  I decided to use items that I had on hand rather than follow Heidi's instructions for a journal.  I also needed something basically simple and quick to do.  This ended up not being as quick as I thought but I'm really happy with it.
This started out life as a black and white composition notebook that I got for 25 cents at a yard sale.  I gesso'd the front & back cover.  I've not done that part in the past and found that the paper did not stay glued to the glossy surface very well plus if your cutting is not spot on you'd have

color showing through when you didn't want it to.
The paper is from a K & Co. paper pack that I got at JoAnn's years ago along with the coordinating letter pack.  Drying time for the gesso and glue added to the time it took.  I've learned a lot from May Flaum and her class, The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide.  I'm very happy with the end result and the techniques I learned there made a big difference in the result.  Also, having the opportunity to watch May's process during a variety of projects (via class videos) has helped me tremendously.

 The second photo is the inside cover and I'm using a part of the fiber as a page marker.  The fiber is something I picked up in a yard sale too. This is about the only thing I would do differently - ribbon would be stronger and hold up to pulling better.
A close-up view of the front cover.  I used Close To My Heart's Liquid Glass for more dimension to the letters and to help them stand out from the paper.

In person the letters stand out from the paper a little better than it appears in the photos.  I used Tim Holtz's Distress Stain to color the page edges and I think that this gives it a finished/cohesive look.  I got this from May too!

Now to start filling the journal with my observations!