September 11, 2012
Everyone is back to school. Including the members of FOG for another year of learning, exploring and sharing.
THE PLAN
Yes we have a plan but most of us are nonconformists and view plans as guidelines not the law. Sometimes we deviate because life is not cooperating as was the case for two of us who are in the middle of moving and have limited or no access to our supplies! Sometimes, creativity sends us in a different direction searching for an outcome while trying, a least on the surface, to adhere to the general plan.
No matter, because we all agree agendas, rules, etc. are merely guidelines. We have as few of them as possible.
The plan for September was to prepare any substrate, such as paper, canvas, fabric, wood, etc. for future use as a background or part of another project. Suggested mediums included paint, watercolor pencils, crayons, and gesso. As usual, anything goes! The goal was to prepare backgrounds for future projects and we certainly did that.
ADD SOME SHINE
In the afternoon we explored using foil to add a little sparkle.
Using liquid glue to adhere foil on fabric is tricky. The glue tends to soak into the fabric in some spots and lie nicely on top in other spots. The result is an uneven application of glue with various drying times! The sections where the glue has soaked in is ready before the rest. Along with varying drying times due to temperature and humidity, the results are random.
Fusible web makes a more consistent adhesive. The first method is to cut out the required shape, fuse the adhesive side to your fabric (if you use steam a seam you first remove the paper from one side) and use the iron to apply the foil. The foil will adhere where there is fusible web. No surprises, nice even application.
An alternate method is to adhere the foil directly to the fusible web. The foil does not go on evenly because the web is textured and it is only the highest spots that adhere to the foil. The result is a nice lacy effect which you can then fuse to fabric. The one drawback is that you have carefully remove the fusible web from the backing sheet (you need the non foil side exposed to fuse it to fabric). It wants to stretch, pull, tear, and generally be disgusting. But the effect when fused to fabric is worth the effort!
BoNash 007 is a granular adhesive that can be sprinkled on in any amount and then the foil is applied in the usual manner with an iron. The heavier the application of BoNash, the heavier the foil. You can also use a freezer paper stencil to confine the grains of adhesive to a specific area, such as a star shape. Using the freezer paper stencil you can get a specific shape same as with fusible web, but the foil doesn’t go on as densely. The lighter the application of grains, the less foil that adheres to the fabric.
Lots of options for lots of glitter!
And here are the results of our efforts:
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| Decolorant (discharge paste) through a stencil onto cotton madras |
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| Acrylic paints on (vintage 45+ year old) watercolour paper with red foiling |
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| Tissue over bingo dauber ink on a book page |
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| Painted & foiled fabric, painted fusible web and organza |
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Painted and foiled fabric, painted and heated Timtex,
painted coffee filter and painted needlework canvas |
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| Multiple layers of paper, stamped and painted on canvas |
