Mixed Media Madness – ATC binder cover

Hello everyone! I finally got to a project I've had in mind for a few months now. I've been trading a lot of ATCs over the past six months and they are just filling up a box. I've been wanting to get them organized into a binder but I knew it couldn't just be an ordinary binder. What fun is that? I found a three-ring binder at the thrift store that had a paper instead of plastic covered cover and knew that would be the perfect surface to practice some mixed media madness on. I probably should have taken some in-progress photos but I was having too much fun to stop in the middle. ;-)

It was a black binder so I first coated the raw cover with black gesso as a primary layer. Once dry, I adhered a linen doily misted blue to it and used a stencil with black modeling paste to add texture over it all. I also added some misting with the DecoArt Media Acrylic Misters (which are permanent) and a wash of Phthalo Green Blue in places. Then the fun of adding the graphics and embellishments began! The lily and frog images are from The Graphics Fairy. I printed them out with my Epson ink jet printer and gave them a coat of Ultra Matte Varnish to seal them before I glued them onto the cover. I glued on lace, diecuts, and metal embellishments and gave them a coat of white gesso before blending on various colors of Fluid Acrylics and Silks Acrylic Glazes. I also added clear glass micro beads for more shimmery texture.

Detail 1

Detail 2

Thanks for stopping by to see my new project! I hope you find it inspirational. =) The supplies I used for this project can be found at Inspiration Emporium or Amazon. Follow the links below and use my code JUICE at Inspiration Emporium to save 10% if you go shopping there. I will also point out that US shipping is always $5 and international shipping is just $10 at IE. ;-)

InLinkz Project Manager account expired