Kasia's Advent Calendar : December Daily Project completed.

So happy to be sharing my last 3 spreads and the cover that's completed this December Daily project for 2019.
Day 22 : Following intuition. No expectations - drops of ink on my paper. Rolled it about and it was getting very messy so I closed along the fold, then opened and rolled with paper towel....Do you see what I see?

Turned upside down ♥

No stitching this time, but I love the messier look of this one. New Zealand elements included with the fantail stamp and 2 x postage stamps.
Day 23 : I love you. I've already devoted pages in this journal to my love and gratitude for my family and friends so decided to just add elements that I love with Christmas ideas. I started with a spread I'd already wiped excess paint upon

Turned out this page became imbued with unexpected meaning as I worked remembering my gorgeous Dad and got news of the passing of a close friend's Mum. Aroha nui 

Day 24 : Magic. Again, I worked on this spread intuitively to see what would come up. First gathered elements I thought I might like to include and I definitely want to have this gorgeous double-sided card front as part of my finish. Given by a mum at school, it is so cleverly done that it's going in despite not being strictly part of my colour palette. Trimmed to size and in position ♥

Then I worked on each side adding a bit here and there

I decided to finish the Christmas side with inspiration from the cards I made for workmates earlier this month - it's lovelier in person when you can see all the delicious textures

And the New Year side with a photo of my gorgeous family

It feels magical to have got this project complete by the end of the year and I just love the gorgeous chunkiness of the finished pages. 

I glued the loose pages together as I finished them to enable me to add stitching wherever I needed, and now the cover won't wrap around! 

Just as well I often like to leave altering the cover of my hand-made journals until the end and I was already prepared for this probability. Go HERE to see the beginnings on 1st December. I knew I would probably have to split the spine and had some lovely furnishing fabric off-cuts to use to extend that, as well as wanting to add sari ribbon to tie it closed. Step 1 : Cut through spine. Glue tissue inside back cover so that when I glue the back page down it has a nice finish

Front cover decoration next - torn and imperfect - just how I like it. 

Glued the fabric and sari ribbon tie on the front and left to dry completely before wrapping around. For all the gluing of the pages back to back, into the cover, and attaching this fabric spine I used the heavy gloss medium in the photo.

After more than an hour of drying, I wrapped the fabric around and glued to the back and left to set again. And now my book is complete

Find all my posts about this project HERE or just look at the photos in my Flickr Set.
Wishing you a creative and joy filled 2020 ♥