A day of prep work

Now that my boxes are back from storage, you would think I would be chomping at the bit to organize and have fun in the basement. It's no secret I love to organize, and have written more than a few posts offering tips on organizing and organization. However, I'm overwhelmed with the amount of work ahead of me, and I'm now looking for any excuse to keep from unpacking.

I'm now finding even unpacking three boxes a day has become a chore. That is partly because the boxes that started out well packed by one person only lasted part of the first day of packing. It didn't take long till items started getting dumped into boxes, with their containers placed on top or sideways in the same or a different box. To add to the problem, some of the containers could have been easily and gently placed in boxes, but the packers chose to remove or dump the items, wrapping anything that looked like it might be damageable. Not breakable, but damageable. No wonder it took them three days to pack up my studio. So a box that should have taken no time than 15 minutes to unpack, now takes up to an hour.

As I begin to unpack my supplies, I am drawn to the empty boxes I now have sitting in a pile in my basement. Since I have wanted to try this technique ever since I saw it on Quilting Arts TV (shown on my local PBS station), I can now do so using one of my unpacked boxes and a boatload of my least favorite glue.


I cut two sides of one of those weighty corrugated boxes and found the perfect use for


Mod Podge! If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know my dislike of Mod Podge. It remains sticky well after the project has dried, although the label claims it glues and seals all in one fell swoop. So today I am showing you what I started, using nearly two bottles of Mod Podge: first gloss, then when it was gone, matte!

This is the beginning of a collagraph. According to Wikipedia:

Collography (sometimes misspelled "collagraphy") is a printmaking process in which materials are applied to a rigid substrate (such as cardboard or wood).

The process of collography comes about from a collographic plate. After printing, the paper or fabric is called a collagraph, adding further confusion to the words. In the photo above, I have already placed embellishments onto the cardboard using a few dabs of white glue, but have not added the Mod Podge to what I am now calling the collographic plate. I applied three coats of Mod Podge to the other side of the above plate before I attached the embellishments to this side. And yes, the embellishments and the keys below were all in storage, and I am thrilled that I have found and unpacked them.


For this plate, I applied three coats of Mod Podge before I added the embellishments. At this point, they are not attached, but I have finalized this design, after moving keys around for a bit.

If you want to make your own collographic plate, here's what you have to do:

1. Cut an old, but sturdy cardboard box to a manageable size. The cardboard will now be referred to as a "plate." You will probably want your plate to be around 8.5 inches X 11 inches, or a similar size for those of you who work in metric.

2. Apply three coats of Mod Podge (often misspelled and mispronounced Modge Podge) to one side of the cardboard, allowing the Mod Podge to dry completely in between applications.

3. Practice saying the words "Mod Podge" and collography while waiting for the glue to dry. If you are still waiting, write the words so you will know what they sound and look like.

4. Gather and assemble your embellishments. Make sure that, to ensure proper printing, the embellishments are all a similar height.

5. When completely dry, flip the cardboard and do something I failed to do on one of these plates: add at least two coats of Mod Podge before adding your embellishments and final coat of glue. You will get less buildup in the recessed areas, and the Mod Podge will still coat your embellishments.

6. You may choose to use some white glue to position your embellishments on your plate prior to adding the Mod Podge. I did that with the coins and dragonflies, but didn't with the keys. Everything stuck well because the Mod Podge was still sticky on the plate with the keys, but I had not yet added Mod Podge to the other plate, thus the need for the white glue.

7. If you have not already added at least two coats of glue to the embellishment side of your plate, make sure you now cover it with at least three coats of Mod Podge. You will need these plates to be waterproof, not just water resistant. So be sure to apply the glue in one direction, then at a 90 degree angle, then at a diagonal.

8. When dry, admire your work of art, then gather your paints and papers or fabric and go to town making prints.

We'll try these plates soon to see if they are going to work and give the type of coverage I'm looking for. And you can expect a couple of tutorials to go along with those collographic plates.