Verdigris
I do like that word. Good thing I took French in school, huh?
Oh so many moons ago in one of Michael de Meng's classes, I learned a trick to create that patina look with acrylics. For the first time, I got the colors to blend the right way!
I was going to cut up the shadow image and use it in a couple of ATCs.
But yesterday I changed my mind. 
Paper soaks up paint, of course, unless you seal it with a barrier of matte medium. Michael explained that barrier -- which is basically acrylic paint without the color -- allows more paint to sit on top of the paper and blend properly.
In this case, I painted thin layers of glaze, rather than straight color or watered-down color. That allowed the shadow of the patterned paper to remain more visible.
Since the color turned out so well, I decided to use it more literally as a shadow on the page. I also created clouds with torn lace paper and this soft, fuzzy black paper I've had for a while.
The black paper brings in an element of softness I'd wanted. (BTW kids, don't use a heat gun to dry paint, or anything else, near the fuzzy paper. It melts. The result: a hard, flattened surface kind of like the edges of macaroni and cheese that's been overheated in the microwave.)
I may need to blend the edges of the patterned paper with more paint. But I just might leave it that way anyhow. I think the untouched paper draws the eye to the herringbone and flower pattern that's partly covered by the printer ink.
Oh so many moons ago in one of Michael de Meng's classes, I learned a trick to create that patina look with acrylics. For the first time, I got the colors to blend the right way!
I was going to cut up the shadow image and use it in a couple of ATCs.But yesterday I changed my mind. Paper soaks up paint, of course, unless you seal it with a barrier of matte medium. Michael explained that barrier -- which is basically acrylic paint without the color -- allows more paint to sit on top of the paper and blend properly.In this case, I painted thin layers of glaze, rather than straight color or watered-down color. That allowed the shadow of the patterned paper to remain more visible.
Since the color turned out so well, I decided to use it more literally as a shadow on the page. I also created clouds with torn lace paper and this soft, fuzzy black paper I've had for a while.
The black paper brings in an element of softness I'd wanted. (BTW kids, don't use a heat gun to dry paint, or anything else, near the fuzzy paper. It melts. The result: a hard, flattened surface kind of like the edges of macaroni and cheese that's been overheated in the microwave.)I may need to blend the edges of the patterned paper with more paint. But I just might leave it that way anyhow. I think the untouched paper draws the eye to the herringbone and flower pattern that's partly covered by the printer ink.
They can't all be winners
I ripped out the last page I did because it just wasn't turning out the way I wanted. Today I tried a little monoprinting, inspired by the latest Crusade over at Michelle Ward's Street Team blog.
You need a bold stamp to make this work, like the one on the right. But most of my stamps are very detailed... the one on the left wasn't really up to the monoprinting job.
Hated it. Hate hate hated it.
Except maybe this one. But I painted over all of it. It just wasn't working for what I wanted.
I consoled myself by examining my new additions to the paper stash.
Even shooting these pictures was aggravating. It took forever to get a halfway interesting shot.
I take it back -- not every last thing turned out crappy. I got the patterned paper bit right, and got the bonus shadow image too.
Enough for one day.
You need a bold stamp to make this work, like the one on the right. But most of my stamps are very detailed... the one on the left wasn't really up to the monoprinting job.Hated it. Hate hate hated it.Except maybe this one. But I painted over all of it. It just wasn't working for what I wanted.I consoled myself by examining my new additions to the paper stash.
Even shooting these pictures was aggravating. It took forever to get a halfway interesting shot.I take it back -- not every last thing turned out crappy. I got the patterned paper bit right, and got the bonus shadow image too.
Enough for one day.
Getting all intellectual and stuff
Saw this at Barnes and Noble the other day and flipped through it. I hit upon a section near the end that talked about the rise [add Godzilla music here] of scrapbooking as a hobby/industry.It talked about how scrapbooks have changed since, say, the 1800s... Scrapbooks used to be just that -- scraps of people's lives. Nothing really planned out. Then scrapbooking stores began to pop up, some of them Mormon-owned, encouraging the importance of family... apparently scrapbooking your family, especially your family tree, is something of an expression of faith in that community, according to the author.
An underlying feeling that you have to Get It Right -- the layout, the color combinations, whatever -- crept in too. And the cottage became an industry, so to speak: scrapbooks have more uniform with this embellishment and that layout class, and ephemera now comes in an Ephemera Pack.
Dang. Just skimming that book makes me feel like I've been tracked as part of a sociology experiment. Yes, I know, there's nothing new under the sun, but it was like discovering you're the lead in "The Truman Show." Do I not have one original thought, unplanned impulse, chance to not be a person of my times?
I think I'll go see what Ricë is doing. That should be a good antidote to feeling like one of the herd.