Vintage Children LFB Front Cover

The due date for the Collage Stuff Vintage Children LFB is drawing near. I'm making the covers - 24 of them. Time for me to get busy! Here's the completed front cover design.

This is how the design started out. I tried over and over to get this to upload correctly, but it wouldn't. It's sideways. The left side should be the top.

Michaels had these 4 x 4" coasters - 8 or 10 for a dollar. Perfect for a LFB cover.

I'll list the steps that transformed the coaster into the cover.

1. I covered the whole thing with vintage sheet music.

2. I tore a part of a page from a vintage math book and covered about the top 1/3 of the cover.

3. I overstamped the whole thing with India Ink using the Acanthus Background from Rubber Stampede. It's OK that the stamped image isn't perfect as most of it will be covered up.

4. The butterfly images are from the Collage Stuff Flutter #1 collage sheet. The boys are from the Collage Stuff Angel Faces collage sheet. I sized them as needed.

5. The large butterfly was glued down first, followed by the boys.

6. I tore another piece of a page of the vintage math book - about 3/4" tall and applied it at the bottom.

7. I put a little piece of paper over the boys faces like a mask. I used my favorite text stamp, Le London Script by Stampabilities, with Brilliance Coffee Bean ink and overstamped everything. It didn't stamp perfectly and that's OK.

8. The fun messy part.... I finger painted the edges with Making Memories Manilla paint. I dabbed it on with my finger and smeared it. Then I put just a little on my fingertip and dabbed it around randomly on the cover.

9. I used the Fuzzy Numbers stamp by Postmodern Designs with India Ink at the right side and bottom, essentially framing the boys.

10. I cut a smaller butterfly in half - half on the right side and half at the bottom.

11. I smudged the cut edges of the butterfly halves with the Manilla paint.

12. I made the words "vintage children" at the Acme Labelmaker website.

13. I inked the edges with the India Ink.

14. I sealed the cover with Golden Soft Gel Medium Glossy. It was too glossy, so I toned it down with a Krylon Matte spray sealer.

15. One done! 23 more to go!

Some comments:

I find that I use my favorite rubber stamps over and over, even though I've got many stamps.

Even though you can't see much of the background in the finished design, it still adds interest and depth. Little bits peek through here and there.