MDF book - Life begins at 50

I bought this Kaisercraft MDF book on a whim as it was half price but I was really pleased with the way it turned out - and my twin sister loved her birthday book.

The colour scheme was easy - my sister's favourite combination.  Having primed the MDF with white gesso I painted the front and back panels with Reeves Lavender Acrylic paint and the middle panel with Pebeo Studio Acrylics Iridescent Green Yellow (359).  I then put it to one side for a couple of weeks as I couldn't make my mind up how to decorate it further.





I was forced into action by the approaching birthday!  I decided quite quickly on the message for the front page - luckily my latest Tim Holtz stamp purchase turned up on the morning I began decorating - Worn Text (CMS156).  I used black archival ink and clear detail embossing powder for all the stamped images.  The date on the back panel was added using the Forever Friends Handscript Numbers stamp set and the message used all 4 stamps in the Claritystamp Wordchain 3 set.  I then finished the back panel with my bespoke stamp - again by Claritystamp as I didn't want to write in the book.




I actually did all the stamping on the green panel with the front panel in place, as I wanted to be sure of the correct placement of the text and images (Claritystamp Wee Folk stamp set 1 and 2 and the Celtic Benediction again by Claritystamp).  I finished off by rubbing Creative Expressions 'Golden Light' Gilding Wax round the edges of all three panels and then sealed them all with Matt Medium.

The only problem I had, was that the blank book didn't come with book rings; luckily I had 4 small MDF shaped books that I was able to 'rob'.  I used gold organza ribbon and some narrow ribbons in shades of purple and green (I love the annual sales at the Berrisfords ribbon factory in Crewe!) to tie round each ring to finish off the whole project - job done.


We both had a fantastic birthday; the thunderstorm held off until the barbecue was more or less over.  According to Mum we were born during a thunderstorm so even the weather decided to reminisce!