Distressing/Customizing Midori MD Notebooks

ArticlesDIY
Written By Julian

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Because they’re so useful for the writing samples in my reviews, I have a lot of Midori MD notebooks, specifically in the A6 size. And that’s fine, I love a good MD notebook, but here’s the thing: they all look the same. And sure, a lot of them are in covers, but covers aren’t exactly cheap. So what am I to do? Throw it in the prop-making pile, of course! I like to make a lot of the papercraft-y props that I use in my ink reviews myself, and I figured, why can’t I do this to an MD notebook? It’s the perfect canvas.

I did some experimenting beforehand with an old A5 notebook I had lying around, and I’m loving how it came out! It’s going to be perfect for the Halloween season! It was quick and easy, too. So let’s do another one step by step.

The tools and materials are simple. I’m going to start with a fresh A6 MD notebook. For the distressing, I’ll be using Tim Holtz blending brushes and Distress Oxide pads. I want to make that clear because Distress Oxide is designed to react to moisture. The standard Distress ink pads can be used for this as well, but I prefer how the Oxide applies. For this book, I’ll be using my personal favorite Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso pads, but there are a ton of colors available. I’ll also be using the Distress brushes over the standard sponge applicators because, like the oxide pads, I like how it goes on better with the brushes. Again, either option is fine; this is just how I like to do it. I also recommend some masking tape and something to cover your working surface, preferably blue painters tape so you don’t risk ripping the front of the cover (and we’ll see what that looks like later).

To get the design on there, I’ll be using some basic stencils. There are a lot of options out there, but I’ll link a few below, including the ones I’ve used. I recommend a stencil that’s slightly bigger than your surface area, or at least close, so that you won’t risk getting hard outlines from the edges of the stencil (you can also mask off the edges of the stencil if it’s too small).

This last one is completely optional, but I’ll be using a fixative to seal everything once it’s finished. This won’t necessarily make it waterproof (and I don’t recommend getting an MD cover wet anyway), but it’ll make the Distress Oxide more resistant to moisture and smudging.

To start, I’m gonna washi tape the bookmark to the back of the book so it doesn’t get in the way. Then, I’m going to mask off the cover next to the binding tape so we can darken it with the Ground Espresso. You can also skip this and leave it the original cream color, but I thought it would look weird if it was left alone.

From there, we’re just going to gently apply the oxide until we’re happy with it. When I do this, I like to tap the brush against my paper once or twice before applying the oxide so I avoid spots that are too dark. When doing this, be careful not to brush too hard because the binding tape can fray a little from the brushing. You can also tap the brush gently to the binding tape instead of outright brushing it so it frays even less. The fraying applies to the bookmark as well; you don’t want to brush against the bookmark if you don’t want it to fray.

The next step is to do the opposite and mask the spine off so we can brush the cover. Now we can look at what happens when the tape is too strong and rips the cover. Honestly, it’s not that bad because we’re distressing the book anyway, but if you don’t want it, I suggest sticking to the blue painters tape. Unfortunately, the blue tape doesn’t like to stick to the spine as much, but it’ll do the job.

Before getting started on the rest of the cover, I highly suggest doing some experimenting on random pieces of cardstock until you’re happy with the look you want. Here I have some old pieces that I experimented with in the past, and I decided to use the stencil in the center for this book.

I’m going to start by applying my first layer of the Vintage Photo around the edges, and then a second, lighter layer blending it all into the middle of the notebook.

Next, I’m going to apply a light layer of the Ground Espresso over the whole cover. This is going to be our base before applying the stencil.

I taped the stencil down as securely as I could and got to work brushing it in with the Ground Espresso. You want to put a heavy layer on so it’s more defined when we blend it in at the end.

And this is what it looks like after the stenciling is done!

The last step for the cover is to blend it in further with the Ground Espresso, mostly around the edges so it has a nice glow in the center. Then you can flip the notebook and repeat on the opposite side. At this point, I also like to wipe down the notebook with a paper towel to get rid of any excess oxide.

If you have a bright spot along the edge from the masking tape, it can easily be blended in with the Ground Espresso (or whatever the darkest oxide/ink pad you choose is).

With the cover done, the last thing to distress is the edge of the pages! Be sure to hold the notebook closed tightly to get as little of the oxide inside the notebook as possible.

And that’s the cover! This is where I wanted to show the fixative application, but unfortunately, the notebook doesn’t look any different afterwards. I do recommend, however, doing a few test sprays on some practice cards before going right on to the cover. Also, I was sure to spray only onto the front and back of the cover and not the page edges.

The possibilities don’t end there, though. I went ahead and did a couple more notebooks to see what else can be done. These next ones employ the use of a die-cutting machine, and if you’re interested, the tutorials can still be found for free to all followers on my Patreon page! Either way, I’ll list everything that I used for these below.

 

A spooky Halloween cover:

This one was a lot of fun to do! It uses the special Halloween edition “Villainous Potion” Distress Oxide over a cool scale pattern stencil, with die-cut spider web corner pieces.

The back side is similar, but with pumpkins instead (I wanted the pumpkins for the front, but they would have covered the MD Paper stamp on the front of the book).

 

A cover with pockets:

This one has die-cut craft pockets on the front and back. The one on the back was originally supposed to be the only one covering the front, but like the Halloween notebook, it covered the MD Paper stamp on the front of the book, so I went with a smaller pocket that I got from a foldable card die set.

Admittedly, the pockets aren’t all that practical, but they can fit lots of small paper things, like stickers, ephemera, etc.

The front one is smaller and harder to find a use for, but I like the way it looks, and the Phantom Knight likes to ride around in it. So yeah. Pockets. Holds small papers — tell your friends!

And those are the covers! I’m especially happy with the Halloween one. I wasn’t sure how it would come out when I first started, but it’s so spooky. And the possibilities are endless. It’s the perfect canvas for all sorts of papercrafting ideas!

 

Tools and Materials used for the first cover:

Tools and Materials used for the Halloween notebook:

The Patreon post can be found here.

Tools and Materials used for the notebook with pockets:

The Patreon post can be found here.

Julian
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