Book of Trades

Before I left for Artfest, I made up and decorated a three-ring binder to keep everything together. I know myself, I sometimes put things aside or they get separated, and I wanted to unify my Artfest collection of goodies, class materials and handouts.


I took a regular, paper based three-ring binder and put gesso on the inside and outside of the front and back.

Then I went wild with some paint, when I was cleaning my palette after painting some beads. Just let the colors fall where they would go on their own.


Inside I put plastic sheet protectors, both the kind that hold 8 1/2 x 11" full sheets, and the kind that hold 3" x 5" photos. I put my class lists, itinerary and other things I needed inside, but left lots of open sheet protectors for collecting new goodies.


This is how that book turned out - I have a lot of my favorite cards, little tins, mini-Moo and trades inside, all protected and kept together. Anytime I want to find something from Artfest, it's all in there, and it's fun and easy to share with friends who want to see what came home with me.


I need to re-organize the things in the book to make it easier to see everything, but I'm very glad I did this before I left, I didn't have to worry about losing some wonderful creative thing someone gave to me! A book of memories from the trip ...