Embossing Adventures

I don't often do mixed media, but when I am in the mood I like to use Seth Apter's techniques for painted backgrounds. I recently bought some of his new embossing powders. They will emboss stamped images, but that isn't what he made them for. I have been playing around with the Vintage Beeswax which gives you the look of an encaustic finish without using real wax. Seth says the only difference is that real encaustic pieces are matte finish and embossing powder is shiny. To create that matte finish, he recommends covering your finished piece with matte medium. This works well, but what if you don't own matte medium or you want some of the shine back in your piece?

I was playing with the Vintage Beeswax over the weekend and wanted to edge my piece with Staz-On ink. I got carried away with the color and wanted to knock it back a bit. I thought of using rubbing alcohol since Staz-On is solvent based and something unexpected happened! The alcohol removed the ink but it also made the embossed layer go matte! It turns out that the alcohol removes some of the embossing and turns it matte as well. To get the shine back just reheat the layer, but it you want a quick, inexpensive way to get the matte look, just use rubbing alcohol.

Here are some pictures of the results.

-Enjoy!

Matte finish from applying rubbing alcohol.

Shiny finish using Seth Apter's Vintage Beeswax embossing powder.

My ATC made with Seth's background painting technique and one of my dress forms. The bottom of the dress is shiny and the top is still matte from the alcohol. I just reheated the bottom half to bring back the shine.

Talent Runs in the Family

My daughter Lila just launched an Etsy store. She just started using watercolors a few weeks ago and has no formal art training, just a mom with a fully equipped craft room and lots of innate talent. It doesn't hurt that her grandparents are animators, her maternal grandmother is also talented and I will take a little credit as well. Of course, I have little talent for painting. Mine, as you know, is all about folding paper. Here are some pictures of her work. I hope you will take a moment to check out her store.

Enjoy!

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This one is mine, so back off!