Altered Binder Journal Cover

Hi everyone - I'm in first week of school holidays. Feeling winter's blast and the frustration of not ticking enough things off my list! I just wanted to send a bit of encouragement in case you need it too. Things don't always go to plan - but out of frustration and chaos, you can end up with something unexpected and lovely. 
I started this altered binder project last week, and am so happy it's finally done. I've been participating in Effy Wild's Moonshine class this year, and while I haven't produced as many art journal pages as I may have liked, there is a lot of written material which I read every month and learn a great deal from. I altered this folder at the beginning of the year, and use it to store all my class notes as well as other useful related info. I've reached the point where I need another folder....

I love altering book covers, so launched in with enthusiasm, beginning the same way as last time with collage, paint, stencils 

modeling paste, serviettes

but it all became too much! I love some of the details

but you have to isolate bits for it to not be too overwhelming. I was paralysed with not knowing how to take any steps to fix it. I knew I needed to cover up some stuff, but that's really hard for me. It took me several days feeling stumped and frustrated before I decided to go back to treating it as a folder instead of a journal spread. This made it much more managable to tackle in smaller sections. Began with the back cover since I figured I won't look at that much anyway if I completely mess up! Love that white modeling paste above, so went with adding more white paint through a couple of lovely stencils

- feels magical enough for a back cover so I decided to move to the spine and be inspired by what I did on my first binder

I decided to add the same printed heading but cut the rest of the date off since this is my part 2 folder. And then I realised I needed some of those butterflies too (they are paper serviettes)

And now it seems obvious that what I need on the front is more contrast of dark and light 

On the original folder I got that from using my Pebeo iridescent blue black and touches of gold. I ended up using the blue black (which actually looks more like a purple) around the entire border of my folder and I like the modeling paste much better gold than pink ♥

I used my cool stencil from StrumpetStencils 

to add words

and the moon and some stars - highlighted with gold pen and white dots for extra sparkle and shine

and this is the cover spread complete. Click on any photo to see it larger.

My life right now is a bit chaotic, a bit crazy, but always full of colour and I try to inject SHINE wherever I can, so I guess this is art representing life ♥ 

To see all the altered book cover ideas I've shared with you on the blog click HERE.