Altered Book Lesson 9 - Backgrounds

I was browsing through youtube and I came across this video by RachO113 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLJO8W-0iPk&feature=channel&list=UL

that shows how to make an amazing faux metal postcard.   Firstly I stuck tape, chipboard letters, chipboard strips and mesh drywall tape to my page then covered the whole page with strips of air conditioner foil tape.  I ran an embossing tool around the edges of the letter and strips and over the mesh tape to enhance the relief.  I scratched designs in parts and pushed rivet holes with the end of a skewer.  Painted the whole thing with black acrylic paint and rubbed the majority off before it was dry to leave black in the grooves.  Some rub-ons in dark red, green and copper lightly brushed across the letters and mesh sealed with hairspray finish the page off.  Do take a minute to look at some of RachO113's videos she has great ideas.

For my second page I decided to use scraps of sticky tape, masking tape, metallic ribbon,beads and sequins and two different types of netted ribbon.  Firstly I gave the sheet of my book a coat of gesso followed by a layer of school glue.  I arranged the items onto the page and then covered it all with another very thick coat of glue.  I left this to dry overnight and the following morning.  When completely dry I smooshed several colours of alcohol ink on top and finally dropped solder onto the page to splash in several places.

For my next background I chose Plastic Wrap and Glimmer Mists.  I sprayed the page with two colours of Glimmer Mist then scrunched up some plastic wrap and smooched it over the surface and left it to dry on top of the paper.  The effect is stunning from such a simple process.
Close up on the right.

For my final background I tried the Aleene's Glue metal effect technique, Firstly I stuck the book page onto two sheets of brown paper bag to make it thicker the I gave the whole book page a coat of the glue, thick and then thicker in places.  Next I held the page, wet glue side down in the flame of a candle to leave a coating of soot over the whole page.  This took quite a lot of time but it was important to coat all the white glue with a thick layer of soot.  When covered I made sure it was cool to the touch then pushed the glue around under the soot to create ridges.  I left the whole thing to dry then rubbed the soot off and then highlighted the ridges with rub-ons.  A better description of the process is given here by Heidi at Duncan Crafts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGsefNXGmCw&feature=related.  I love the end result of this an will do more in future to create some embellishments.