Treasury

I'm having a lucky month having been chosen for another Etsy Treasury.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=11524

Have a look at the lovely vibrant colours chosen by debralinker, an acrylic artist living in Seattle.

Urban Art

http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=10468

DBO (we are related) has an exhibition in London in June - read all
about it here. Proud parents, the're such a pain!!

Print Paste

Cornstarch Paste (courtesy of Collage Source Book. Karen McCarthy)

Dissolve 1 cup into 1 cup of room temperature water.
Heat slowly.
Gradually add 3 cups more water, stir over heat until boils.
Stir 2/3 minutes until it is thick and forms a gel.
Let it cool completely.
Remove 1 cup and place in blender.
Add 1 cup of water and blend until smooth. This makes a thin paste.
Adjust the quantities proportionally as required. Add less water
for a thinner paste.
Strain.
Add paint or pigment.
Will keep in the fridge, but be aware that after a while it will
start to smell!
On thicker paper, such as rag paper or watercolour paper, use
Combs, end of paint brush etc. to make marks.
You can add shading with fabric paint, pencils etc..

'Bagsket'

http://foofanagle.wordpress.com/2007/06/26/bagsket-tutorial/
Here is a link to the tutorial for this bagsket. I enjoyed making this
as something of a distraction after the end of my course. It has been

such a hectic time since last September that it feels odd now to have

no clear purpose for all my creative urges. I think it’s just a

matter of going with it until life settles into a more usual routine

once again.
As requested, I will post a recipe for the print paste soon.

I think I used a thicker fabric than in the original, which resulted in the base being quite difficult to attach. The instructions are really clear but beware it takes a lot of time and concentration. The separate lining has a row of small pockets which should make it nice and useful.

Paste paper.

Just for fun I made this little accordion fold book for someone who has just moved house. I remember making paste paper when I was at school but only recently found a ‘recipe’ for it in the ‘Collage Source Book’ by Karen McCarthy.
It is called cornstarch paste in the book, which is an Americanism for what we call Corn flour in the UK. I coloured the paste with acrylic paint and after combing it on both Indian Rag Paper and some paper I had made, added more colour with fabric paint.
In the book the paper was used to make paper quilts. As you see, I stitched into it on the machine; it would be interesting to try hand stitching. If anyone would like the recipe let me know and I will post it here.