Beaded Leaf Tutorial

I'm putting the finishing touches on a pair of Travel Albums and I'm working on the front covers.  I've been hoarding these leaves from Prima -LOVE them- and I started wondering if I could create something similar. That way, I could continue to hoard them!  Here's what I found out.

I started with some plain brown Recollections leaves I picked up at Michaels.  I had already sprayed all of them with Color Bloom Spray in Gold Foil.  I got out my Roxs in black and gold from Judikins that I've had forever and mixed them together, more black than gold.  I tried painting the leaf with Scotch quick drying glue and added the Roxs.  This is what happened.

NOT using this one, let's keep going.  I pulled out the Helmar's 450 (thicker, still dries clear) and tried again. Not bad!

Inspired, I got out some clear microbeads, and some black and gold microbeads and went for it. Success! 

Here's what the Roxs leaf looks like incorporated into my front cover.

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you the rest of the album! And a BIG shout out to Frank Garcia from Prima for creating the Cartographer Collection of papers, flowers and ephemera. It continues to inspire me to create.