Crackling

The only type of crackling I have been successful with is where the crackling medium is sandwiched between two colours of paint.

I use the Duncan brand Quick Crackle.

• Paint your base coat. This is the colour that the cracks will be. For example, black.
• Apply the crackle medium with a sea sponge. Put on a heavy coat and rotate the sponge as you go.
• Leave it for about 45 minutes. After that time, it will be slightly tacky to touch. This is the recommended time. But don't despair if you forget and go back a few hours later. I have done that without any problem to the crackling.
• Now sponge on your top coat fairly thickly and quickly, rotating the sea sponge as you go. Do not go back over areas you have covered. Crackling will begin immediately, so you can't go back without destroying out the crackles.

Your crackles should be appearing and will continue to develop for about half an hour. This technique takes practice. I used to practice on cardboard until I felt confident to do an object.

Practice with colour combinations. If you use black as a base and red or green as the top coat, the effect will be like leather. Another attractive combination is Iridescent Gold as the undercoat and Red (Naphthol Crimson + Cadmium Red) or Green (Hookers Green) as the topcoat.

I have put a ruler beside the crackles in the photographs so you can see the difference in size.

Tropical Flower Tutorial

by: Ari farber

the type of clay i used is fimo soft.

you take a bullseye blended cane.








and you cut it in helf, lenght ways.









you put it on a flat surface and you flatten it on 1 side,
through its entire length.









you keep doing it untill yougrt this result









you pick up the clay and start rolling it on itself.
.










then you put it back on the table and start pushing the edges together to close it.
.










this shoud be your result.

Decorative paper decoupaged on an old dresser covers a multitude of sins. Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D

Nothing is easier or more fun than decoupage to change the look of a piece of furniture (or a mirror, a lampshade, a cardboard box or just about anything you can think of). Simply cut out favorite images, glue them to the surface, and apply a protective sealer. DIY Decorating & Design host Nancy Golden gives an old dresser a new look by decoupaging Thai mango paper to the front of the drawers.

Materials:

Wooden dresser
Latex paint
Decorative paper or images
Scissors
Razor knife with sharp blades
Decoupage medium or white glue
Polyurethane sealer
Foam paintbrushes
220-grit sandpaper
Tack cloth

1. Remove the dresser hardware and prepare the surface. A painted surface in good condition needs only cleaning before you glue on cutouts. If the surface is damaged, sand it smooth, wipe clean with a tack cloth, and apply a coat or two of paint.

2. Use scissors or a razor knife to carefully cut out decorative images.

3. Use a foam brush to apply decoupage medium or white glue to the back of the cutouts. If the entire drawer is to be covered with one piece of paper, as shown in this project, brush the glue on the drawer instead (figure A). Set the cutout or sheet of paper in place, and smooth out any bubbles, working from the center out (figure B). If using small cutouts, carefully wipe excess glue off the surface with a damp sponge.

4. If an entire drawer front has been covered, fold the paper over the edges of the drawer, and use a razor knife to cut off the excess (figure C). Add small cutouts to the paper-covered drawer, if desired (figure D).

5. When the glued images are dry, seal the surface with two or three coats of decoupage medium or polyurethane, allowing the sealer to dry between coats.

6. Replace hardware.

Figure A Figure B Figure C

Decoupage is still very popular, and many catalogs feature wooden stools with decoupaged seats. Susan Schultz, designer and artist with Backstreet Inc., shows a decoupaged vegetable motif applied to the seat of a wooden stool.

Materials:

Fruit pictures from wrapping paper or wallpaper
Black and white checkerboard paper
Wooden stool with a round seat
Decoupage medium
Sponge brushes
Manicure scissors
Two small plastic dishes
Sponge
Water
Gloss or semigloss decoupage finish

1. Cut vegetable pictures from wrapping paper or wallpaper, using manicure scissors. When cutting, position the scissors with the curved side out, and move and turn the paper rather than the scissors to cut clean, precise lines (figure A).

2. Find the center of the round seat of the wooden stool, and mark it with an X . This will enable you to balance the design on the seat.

3. Fill one plastic dish with water. Fill the other with decoupage medium. Start applying the cutouts to the seat by dipping each piece in water and coating its back with decoupage medium, using a sponge brush. Smooth in place with a damp sponge. When going around the edges of the seat, make small slits in the cutouts to accommodate the curved edge (figure B).

4. Continue placing cutouts around the seat, overlapping if desired, until the seat is covered. Allow to dry overnight. Apply a coat of gloss or semigloss decoupage finish with a sponge brush. Add a second coat when dry (figure C).