Friendship Mini Journal and Box Featuring Bear Freebies by Diane Mason

  Hello, and welcome back for Watercolor Weekend!

Hello, my Ai Watercolor friends and fans! I’m excited to share a sweet Mini Journal & Box project featuring all six of the new Bear Freebies. If your Art Impressions order totals $30 or more, you get to pick one of these exclusive little bears — and each one is absolutely adorable.

Colors and Supplies Used

Paper: Canson XL Watercolor Paper, Canson XL Mix Media Paper

Cardstock: Blue

Patterned Paper: 6205 – Floral Shop Paper Pack

Brushes: No. 4 round brush, No. 0 round brush

Stamps & Dies:

• Exclusive Bear Freebies – Part 2
• 5718 – Mini Journal Template
• 5805 – Mini Journal Box Dies
• 6220 – Sing to the Lord Set
• 5797 – Little Things Sentiment Set (Hi Friend!)
• 5734 – Friend Sentiment Set (You brighten my day!)
• 5904 – So Sweet Armful Set (You’re so sweet)
• 5817 – Potting Garden Shed Set (A true friend…)
• 5949 – Encouragement Sentiments Set (You’re stronger than…)
• 6107 – Snowman Hugs Set (You warm my heart)

 Ink for stamped images: Versafine Onyx Black Ink, Versafine Vintage Sepia & N52

Tombow Dual Brush Pens: 723, 772, 856, 912, 993, 177, 555, 656, 606, 947, 969

Other: White, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White, Brown and Gray TwinTone Markers, Micron 005 Black Pen

Assembly

I die‑cut the base for the mini journal from blue cardstock using the 5718 – Mini Journal Template die. I attached small Neodymium Flat Disc magnets with mini glue dots to the interior front and back cover to keep the completed journal closed. Patterned paper is glued to the interior and will hide the magnets.

The following photos show the papers I chose from 6205 – Floral Shop Paper Pack for the interior of the journal.

Decorating the Mini Journal

I had so much fun decorating the mini journal. For the cover image, I only used part of the Birdie Bear so I could add a sentiment above the image. The following photos walk you through the journal. Sentiments are from the sets listed above.

All the bear images were inked with Versafine Vintage Sepia and painted with 947. The sky is a watery mix of 555.

And here’s a view of the completed journal.

Creating the Patterned Paper for the Box

I traced the interiors of the box template (5805) with a pencil to mark the pieces I would need to cover the box top, flap and sides. Using a stamp platform, I stamped the floral vine image from 6220 in N52 multiple times to build the patterned paper.

The leaves and vines were painted in 177. For the flowers, I used 723, 993 and 555. I used the bullet tip of each coordinating color to add dots to the flower centers.

Building and Decorating the Box

I die-cut a piece of blue cardstock with the box template die. Before assembling the box, I cut out all the patterned paper pieces and glued them to the box making sure all the pieces were in the right spots and correct orientation. Next, I die cut the opening on the box top using a decorative label die from 5718 – Mini Journal Template.

Again, I attached small Neodymium Flat Disc magnets with mini glue dots to the back of the flap and the inside of the box to keep the box closed.

Now place the Friendship Mini Journal into the box and gift to a special friend!

Thank you so much for joining me for Watercolor Weekend. I hope today’s project will inspire you to make your own mini journal! Until next time, Happy Painting!