Ingredients:
Apollo Ink Jet Priner Transparency film for Hewlett-Packard, gold mesh
ribbon, found button, ArtChix
Studio
collage sheet image, scrap of pink satiny fabric, beads, thread, Pearlescent
magenta ink, white patterned tissue paper
Lessons Learned:
1) Don't pull out chunks of pages; next time I'm going to
remove every other page when necessary instead of a whole
group of pages in a row.
2) If I get glue on a part of a transparency where I don't
want it, don't try to rub it off. Wait until it dries and
then use the dull side of the exacto blade or my fingernail
to carefully scrap the unwanted glue off.
3) When applying gel medium to the transparency, make it
neat and apply a thin layer of it instead of glopping it
on.
Process:
I used
the printer to make the transparency on the right hand side of this
double page spread. I scanned this picture, resized in in PhotoShop
and then printed it on the Apollo transparency film using the transparency
setting. I bought this film because it's the brand Leslie
Riley
recommends for
ink jet transfers, and I am hoping to try that technique soon.
If you
decide to use some transparencies for your art, you might
want to learn from my mistakes. First of all, be very
careful with the glue if you plan on gluing on top of the
transparency. Any kind of moisture on the film can make the
image smear (which is one of the reasons it works so great
for transfers.) Don't try to rub off misplaced glue or
paint; let it dry and then scrape it off gently with your
fingernail instead. To attach a transparency to the page,
you can use eyelets, brads, PPA, or gel medium. Remember
that the transparency is a lot less flexible than other
pages in the book, so keep that in mind when you're planning
where to put it.
I also made a two
copies of the same picture on premium ink jet paper. One is just the
same as the original image. The other has been flipped vertically (or
is that horizontally? I can never remember.) I cut out some of the flowers,
bees and butterflies and glued them onto the top and under sides of
the transparency. I think this causes the image to have a 3 dimensional
feel to it. I adhered the transparency to the page using gel medium.
I had
lost all my color sense. What happened was the yellow
flowers on the pink ink became orange, and the green grasses
on the pink ink became black. It was amazing, and not at all
what I imagined. I showed it to every member of my family.
"I can't decide if I love this or hate it," I said. "What do
you think?" The youngest boy (11) mulled it over and said,
"I hate it, Mom. I think you should tear it out." Talk about
brutal honesty! Next I asked my biggest boy (my husband). He
looked it over at arm's length and up close. "What is it
supposed to be?" he wondered. "I'm not sure anymore," I
answered. "It's okay," he said. "Don't tear it out." Evenly
divided. My middle boy (17) wasn't home yet. I went back
into my work room to stew. About an hour later, in saunters
the adolescent, walks straight to the book (how did he
know?) picks it up and declares, "That's cool." That was the
tie-breaker, and I was relieved because it was starting to
grow on me. Sort of.
The last time I used
gel medium to attach a transparency to a page, the image was black and
went right up to the edge of the film. (See Winter)
It worked very well, and I couldn't see any of the medium. Thinking
that I would have the same results, I didn't apply the medium very carefully;
I thought it would dry completely clear. Unfortunately, this was not
the case, as you can see in the close-up image below. It's not sooo
bad, but I definitely want to do a neater job next time!
On the
other side I painted the page with the Pearlescent acrylic
ink in magenta. Then I tore pieces of decorated tissue paper
and glued it down over the paint. I was hoping to make the
pink fade out a little bit more than it did. I'm not too
happy with the lack of contrast between the pink fabric and
the pink on the page.
I tore
around the image of the couple and glued it down onto the
fabric scrap. Then I stitched around the edge of the
picture. I used three different colors of pink thread
through one needle. I really like the look and texture of
threads stitched through paper; I'm not sure why that is. I
also sewed some little seed beads along the bottom of the
fabric. I used the Lineco glue to attach the fabric to the
book page. I glued the gold ribbon over the top edge and
glued my fancy button in the middle.
When I
used the Lineco to glue the paper to the fabric, I didn't
have any glue spots at all. But this time, when I glued the
fabric to the page, the glue seeped through the fabric and
left dark blotches, as you can see below. Next time, I will
apply the glue with a brush in a thinner layer. I'm still
debating on whether I should use a light dash of glitter to
try and hide these spots.
The
back of the button had a one piece molded metal shank. I
used some wire cutters and brute strength to take off the
shank so that the button would lie flat on the page. I also
gave it a couple of whacks with a hammer. It's still a
little too high off the page, but not as bad as it
was.
I
didn't need all of the pages in the spring chapter, so I
pulled quite a few out, hoping to make the book less
"stuffed." Unfortunately, this created more problems for me.
I don't remember having this difficult a time getting the
pages to lie flat in my last book. When I glue several pages
together, the page lays open fine, but when I try to turn
the page, the pages bunch up along the gutter and make a
ghastly looking wrinkle. It's hard to explain, really, but
I'm having to do all kinds of camoflauge work to get the
pages to look okay. As I mentioned in "lessons learned," I
think this problem is caused by the chunks of pages I
removed which creates a gap between them. When the pages
turn, they have to shift, and once they're glued, they lose
that ability. I'm not sure what 's going to happend to the
next sections of the book because of this. Time will tell.
Reflections:
I purchased a new printer as a belated birthday present to
myself. Its the Epson Stylus C82. It uses the DuraBrite
pigment inks and has four separate ink cartridges. I was
tired of running down to made color copies, so that I could
use them in my art. These inks are waterproof and fade
resistant. So far, I'm really happy with how it's printing,
although it is a bit on the noisy side when the paper first
feeds into the machine.
When I
originally started these pages, I didn't intend to go pink
again. I had made a yellow background using inks on wrinkled
Tyvec, and I was planning on using that. But then I got the
idea for the transparency, and when I laid it on top of the
yellow tyvec, the pink flowers turned orange, which was not
the look I was going for. Still, green, yellow, pink, orange
- these are all the colors I associate with spring. It makes
me think of my mom's garden and the brilliant colors of the
California and Iceland poppies she has planted there. My mom
used to spend hours in her garden, dead-heading the flowers,
gathering the seeds, pulling weeds, and transplanting. Now
she just likes to sit in her easy chair and watch TV. I love
my mom a lot, and I'm grateful that she is still with me,
but sometimes I miss the gardener. These pages make me think
of her.
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