Hello, again! How is everyone in the crafting world? I hope you're taking time to feed your crafty spirit! One thing I love to do is find new uses for my favorite products. I find it so exciting to use my supplies in unexpected ways. Today I want to share with you a new technique using Craft and Hobby PVA Glue. Unfortunately sympathy cards are one of those items that we often find we need, but may not have on hand. I try to keep a couple already made for when they are needed. <3 Though I did use this technique on a sympathy card, it would work well on practically any themed card or project.
I've been wanting to play more with my water colors and decided to try a new resist method using my Craft and Hobby PVA Glue. This glue is water based and cleans up easily - so I knew my stencil would be safe and easily cleaned - and dries clear and flexible. Sounds like the perfect supply to try this technique!
I grabbed some watercolor paper and a stencil and used a foam brush to pounce the PVA glue onto the stencil and background.
After I had covered it with a somewhat generous coat of PVA glue, I removed the stencil. The glue washed off my plastic stencil easily with no residue. The glue dries fairly quickly, so I already had spots on my paper that were less shiny as they dried. I'm rather impatient and so I grabbed my heat gun and finished drying the glue completely. Alternatively, you can let it dry over night or just let it sit while you clean up your stencil or do another task.
Then came the fun part - adding color! I chose two colors of blue and did a basic wash on the stenciled area. Then I layered more blue in spots. I wanted even more color and vibrancy, so I added a bit of purple. (side note: I often shy away from blue and purple as a color combination, but every time I use them together, I LOVE it! I'm trying to use them together more!) I did hit it with my heat gun as needed to dry the layers and stop the colors from blending too much or moving farther than I wanted. When I was satisfied with the way my watercolor looked, I took a barely damp paper towel and rubbed it over the stenciled area. This removed any residual paint from the top of the areas that were covered with the PVA glue and made the stenciled resist area really pop! (I wish I had a photo before I rubbed it - the before and after was quite impressive!)
I trimmed down my stenciled watercolor and mounted it to my card base with 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. Then I used a scrap of my watercolor paper that I had used to test colors and stamped my sentiment. I trimmed that down and set it aside. I grabbed some silver thread and made a simple messy nest to sandwich between my sentiment and card background. I used ScrapDots on the back of the sentiment strip to give it a bit of dimension and it also held the thread in place. The silver thread gives a bit of interest without too much sparkle. I tend to keep my sympathy cards more subdued and this resist technique gives a beautiful effect without being overly showy.
I encourage you to give this technique a try! I can't wait to do it again myself! I also want to try it on a scrapbook page, maybe as a layer in the background. Have you ever used a supply in an unexpected way? Share your tips and comments below, we'd love to hear from you!
