Second Thursday Tutorial: Use it up

Back when I was a UHU gluer, they had (and still have, I'm sure) a product called Twist & Glue.  It was a clear liquid and I attempted to get it to crackle.  I fear it was woefully dismal.

Today, instead of using the UHU liquid glue, I'll be crackling with good old PVA white glue you get anywhere glue is sold.   I started by laying down some turquoise acrylic craft paint and allowing it to dry.

Once dry, I added the white glue.

I used Elmer's, but I know that isn't available to the international bloggers.  Any white glue will work.

Now comes the tricky part.  You must wait until the white glue has set enough to become tacky. What does that mean?  Ask four people and I suspect you would get four different  answers. I just made sure when I stuck a finger in the glue, I didn't get glue on my finger, which I did the first time I tested the glue, but after more waiting the glue felt sticky to the touch.

My big problem was, the glue was starting to dry in spots where I had laid it down thinner and was still incredibly wet and still white in spots where I got it on too thick.   Note to self and others: try to spread the glue as evenly as possible over the entire page.

Although the glue was a mess in the middle of the page, I added the light acrylic craft paint and hoped for the best.

Even though the glue was still white and very wet in parts of the page, the edges were starting to crackle right before my very eyes.

I was so happy, I allowed it to dry overnight, then took it to my dining room table to photograph the end results.

It's fairly obvious where I got too much glue, but I was still over the moon with joy.  Even the part where there was too much glue at least TRIED to crackle.

I was so happy and considered this a complete success, something I'm often not used to in my second Thursday tutorials.

However, you know I'm not finished because you possibly know by now that Bleubeard and I are hosting Art Journal Journey this month.  My theme is Count your blessings, one of which includes some very nice art supplies.

However, sometimes I don't use them as quickly as I should.  I'm going to use this copper embossing powder to show yet another technique.

For example, I allowed my Versamark ink, which is the ink most of us use when using embossing powder, to dry up due to lack of use.  Instead, I will be using more of my PVA glue to create a heart.

I poured the embossing powder over the glue, but because I wanted a grungy look, I didn't turn it over, tap it on the back and try to remove all of it like I normally would.  Instead, I allowed the glue to get tacky, full well knowing once it reached that stage, it would create bubbles.

And create bubbles it did.  I was so happy with the bubbles this created.  I wanted this to look funky.

YES!!

It was now time to move it from my craft room table to my dining room, where the lighting was much different.

Then I added the sentiment.

"Don't save the good stuff so long it goes bad."

For example I purchased some expensive Tim Holtz/Ranger crackle paste and when I got it home, it was dried up and unusable.  I called the store I bought it from and they were indifferent to my complaints.

I bought two DecoArt paint markers that were dry before I used them.  The same was true for a Marvy Deco Color pen and a Faber-Castell pen.  All of my black Zig pens bite the dust when I try to use them over any painted surface.  I'm sure we've all had ink pads dry out, too.  So, I hope you get out those products you paid so much for, even if they were on sale, and use them.  Count your blessings and don't let them go bad.

Bleubeard, my fearless and welcoming co-host and I are delighted you stopped by to check out my second Thursday tutorial which can be found on my Tutorials page as soon as this post goes live.   We also invite you to join us at Art Journal Journey where my theme this month is Count your blessings.