Happy Friday Everyone! I have been very slowly cleaning my art room. I’m trying to take my time, purge and hope to find it more organized. In the process I have found a few things that might need stencils such as this book. I don’t remember where or when I got it, it was already painted black, and it screamed for stencils.

The Crafters Workshop provided me with stencils and mediums to create this project. The opinions I share are solely my own because I do love to use them.

This book is old, smells old too. I decided to try to keep it looking old. I have no idea how old it is. There are many pages where the edges were not trimmed off so it’s impossible to read.

I started by adding TCW242 Damask stencil (one of my favorites!) to the cover with TCW9027 Grecian Gold Modeling Paste. I let it dry completely before I started the next step.

Next, I painted the cover with TCW9002 Black Gesso. I completely covered the Damask stencil design in black. I love to use gesso because its opaque and it has a matte finish.

This is the part where I have to have lots of patience. You have to let the gesso completely dry. An old fragile book has it’s quirks and one of them is the cover peeling after you add paint. I don’t know if it’s happened to you but it happens to me all the time. I actually let this book sit overnight.

When it completely dried I sanded the top of the gold modeling paste with sand paper. It’s so fun to see what comes through all the black.

I don’t know what I’m going to do on the inside so I decided to leave it as is until I figure it out. I may had some rusted metal bits to the cover. Hmmm I think it’s time to keep cleaning my art room I may find what I’m looking for!

Any old books in your future? Share them with us on our Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest using hashtag #tcwstencillove.

Thank you so much for stopping by!
Karenliz Henderson
The Crafters Workshop Design Team