Something I've been playing with over the last few weeks is
Langridge rust and verdigris bases that we have got in our cupboard at the art studio. I wanted to see what sort of finishes I could get on paper and fabric. I do love the look of rust and the blue patina you get on copper and have rusted fabric
before, but I wondered if this might be an easier way to get it.
Above is the rust base applied to - from left, cardstock, fabric fused to cardstock and a piece of plain fabric. Both bases are very dark, thick pastes which I dabbed on with a brush.
And the same for the verdigris base. At this stage they look very similar except the verdigris base has a bit of a coppery sheen.
I also had a piece of fabric left over, so I added both to it.
When the paper and fabric had two coats and were dry, I added the patina solution (but I also found, while waiting for the solution to arrive in the mail, that a solution of vinegar and salt also works well).
The patina takes a few hours to develop......
Above are the card samples, which worked really well. Verdigris on the left and rust on the right. These samples were just what I was after and I will probably use them in my art journals - or on them, they would make a great cover.
I cut my fabric samples in half and washed one half. As you can see above the rust base worked well, and washing removed a bit of the black unreacted iron in rust base sample on fused fabric, but left a great rusted fabric.
This is the rust sample on plain fabric (somehow, in transferring my photos to my hard drive, I ended up with a few missing ones), but the washed sample was similar to the fused sample above.
The verdigris samples did not stand up to washing, although I got a great blue effect before washing, the blue all washed out. I should have known, being a biochemist that copper sulphate is soluble in water! This is the fused fabric sample. The plain fabric sample was the same (again, lost photo).
This was the rust and verdigris sample, which looked great, although the blue washed out, again.
The surface of the fabrics is a bit gritty. This doesn't matter for the paper samples, as they can be sealed with PVA, however I am not sure if I would want to stiffen the fabric that much.
All in all, it was a very interesting experiment and now I am looking for ways to use these samples in my mixed media work. I think the patinas would look nice layered with embossed metal embellishments and charms. mmm.... new collage ideas.
On the sewing front, I have just started a workshop at joggles, called
Tandletons, which are little tatted, needlelaced and embroidered buttons. Here are my first samples from week 1.
I have used milk carton caps as my base for these, which is not the way they are taught in the workshop, but I do love recycling stuff! Below are some others I have also made, previously on my own.
I have showed these before, but it was easier to just pop them in rather than find the link, lol. If you remember my
red art quilt, which I made for the
Tangled Textiles challenge - you will know that I love buttons!
And the return of the digi inspiration!
Have fun creating!
