A rusty update

I apologize that I have not shown these on my blog.  I have had these photos for several weeks, and am just now sharing them with you, even though I promised I'd show them when everything was finished rusting.

For those who don't remember what I rusted, I decided to show the pieces before I pulled everything apart.    The first rusty tin can practically fell away from the fabric as I was removing it from the bag, but everything else was still intact.  For some reason, I don't show the completed paper I rusted.  Maybe it is because I was a bit underwhelmed by it all.

As an aside, if you rust PAPER, in order to stop the rusting process and make it safe for you to handle the finished piece, please use a sealer of some type.  It could be a purchased sealer, a fixative, or cheap aerosol hairspray.  For fixing fabric, of course, you know I use baking soda and water.  And I always wear disposable gloves until after the final rinse or until after BOTH sides of the paper have been sprayed and dried.

It took a bit of manipulating, especially since most gloves I buy are too big for me, but I finally got the rusty wire off

this pipe.

I was shocked, yes SHOCKED, when I opened the fabric that I had wrapped steel wool around a tin can.  I had a horrible mess to clean up, even before I could soak the fabric in baking soda water. 

Of course, the end results were well worth the effort because they were truly amazing.

This (and the photo above this one) are from the pipe.

This is from the rusty can that hadn't been held in place with wire.

And this fabric is from the can that had steel wool wrapped around it.  Each very different, yet all beautiful in their own way.

Thanks for visiting today and seeing what I've been working on.  Your visits mean the world to me.