Bible Cover Part 2

Even creating the cover of my Bible fed me spiritually (you can read about that here).  You can read about the basic process of adding this Bible cover here.  Today's post is about how I added the "decorations".  

Since my cover was vinyl, I wasn't at first sure how to go about adding art to it.  Certainly water color pencils wouldn't cut it!  Then I thought about STICKERS!

I started with my stash of alphabet stickers.  I found I had several sets of stickers that were basically the same size and style, but different colors.  Though I didn't have enough letters of any one color, I could mix and match them to create the title - which I did.  I then outlined the letters with a fine-line Sharpie to help them stand out better.  

With the title in place, the cover looked better - but still a bit plain.  I went through my stash searching for something suitable.  I thought maybe I'd find some flowers, but stopped when I saw these butterflies (HOT Dazzles), knowing they were perfect!  However, the turquoise stickers wouldn't look good by themselves, so I backed them with a pink foil before adding them to a double-stick sheet and cutting around them.  Then I added the butterfly "swirly trails" (also Dazzles).  They really added a nice touch.

But there was still a feeling that the cover was incomplete.  As I sat looking at it and thinking about how butterflies symbolize for me the transformation God is making in my life, a verse from the beginning of Romans 12 flashed in my mind. "Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind".  That was the perfect thought - a subtitle if you will.  I had several sheets of the smaller black alphabet stickers, so used them to add that - and a couple more thoughts that seemed appropriate.  Now my cover felt complete.

As the days went by, I enjoyed looking at (and feeling) my new Bible cover, but I soon became aware that the stickers would not last well.  Already little corners were trying to come up!  What to do?  Then I thought, what if I cover it all like decopage?  So that's what I did.  I had some Mod Podge in my stash, and used it with a foam paint brush to apply several thin coats, letting it dry between coats.  It worked great!  I now have a new decorated cover that looks like it will last well for some time to come!