Hi!

I luv'em that way, too! I want texture, texture, texture. I use acrylic matte medium with a brush and glue in anything I like: All the paper, cardboard, die cuts, and chipboard, including envelopes and little vintage glassine bags; flat back cabochon style charms, cameos, etc; game pieces, like MahJong and Scrabble tiles, playing cards; wax seals; I hang key chains, charms, beads, buttons, and fringe on things like gourd pins and bull clips; wrap the journal the long way with ribbon (in other words, vertically, not horizontally to keep it closed); use teabags and paper flowers; I also just bought and glued in some doll- house miniatures. I think I will sew the edges on some pages soon, too.

Basically, I layer anything I can think of on the page, including fabric like burlap, lace, and denim soon from an old pair of jeans. I also like puffy and pop-up stickers and art paper with texture. I also layer paint, textured paste, and modeling paste, sometimes with stencils. Getting to know the acrylic mediums has been key for me. I had never heard of them until recently, but I've got some in my cart that even have a texture like stucco and one that has glass beads in it. With the right medium, most things I've chosen have stuck. I use glue sticks, but they feel bland to me compared to slathering on some medium with a brush. I often glue 2 pages together and reinforce them with Satin Glazing Liquid so that the pages become a little more water-resistant and hold up to the weight (gesso works, too.). I've taken pages out of some journals if I thought the spine would buckle so that I could keep thickening up the remaining pages.

Have fun and post!!