Last Minute Gift....

Here's a padfolio I made as a gift for one of Sabrina's teachers. I went by one of Sue B's patterns for reference. I hand painted a nice heavy white cotton duck cloth with metallic Lumiere paints. After it dried, I texturized the surface with a nickle paint and hot fixed some Swavroski crystals into the upper right corner. I satin stitched around the whole thing with metallic turqoise thread, sewed a gorgeous glass button to the front for a wrap closure, and added some beads to the bottom of a fancy yarn wrap. The inside is lined with hand dyed turquoise fabric that is a stunning shade. I also painted the top of the little pad inside so it wasn't that yucky red. I painted it with Lumiere paint -- and now it matches nicely. Click on the picture so you can see the glass button and the texture in the cover. Cotton duck cloth is really cool to paint on -- it's stiff, keeps it's shape and doesn't suck in the paint, particularly if you cover it first with a "light" coat of gesso or textile fixative. I think this really came out nicely. I'm thinking of making another one of these for a giveaway -- what do you think???