Book of Secrets Stage 1 Prep

Stage 1 Videos

Preparing the surface

1. Sand the wood lightly to remove any roughness around the edges of the box.
2. Apply one coat of Decou-page Matte glue to the entire outside of the box and allow this to dry. This sealing process is key to the success of the next step.
3. Cut the 300 gsm card into squares and rectangles of different sizes. 









Using Decou-page Matte, start gluing the pieces of card to the front cover of the book. Make sure you are liberal with the glue and all edges of the card are covered.






Overlap some of the edges and push firmly down on the seams using the rounded edge of the handle of a paintbrush.







Continue doing this until the whole surface is covered in a patchwork of card.
4. Turn the book over onto a cutting mat and trim any uneven card flush to the edge of the book using a craft knife.
5.  Using a hole punch, punch holes along the edge of a piece of 300 gsm card and place the punched out circles to one side for later use as nail heads.







Cut the card into a strip, this is going to be used for the faux metal bracing.









Glue the faux bracing down onto the surface, wrapping it around the edge of the book as illustrated. One or two pieces should be sufficient.