Box

Today I did my morning pages, clipped many collage scraps, did my singing practice, typed up and collaged a coupon book for Mommy’s birthday, and completed a decoupaged box to present the coupon book in. To my surprise, all this basically took all day. But I also did dishes, talked to Mommy on the phone, talked to Shra over gchat, and sent a lengthy email to a friend of a friend who is interested in adult literacy volunteering.

The box was very fun to do. I tried out a new method for decoupaging which I think will serve me well: an almost-full coverage base layer of biggish color pieces, none too bold, followed by a second layer of smaller color pieces — some of them more distinctive — to cover up the remaining open spaces, followed by careful placement of a few image pieces. All this has Mod Podge over it and a shiny gloss to top it all off. I’m liking the high shine finish of that gloss, but not the brush strokes that inevitably result from its application. I don’t know how to get rid of those, and I don’t think I’ll feel comfortable trying to sell any of my creations until I can get a smooth strokeless finish.

I also used my Super 77 spray glue for the first time on my own steam (rather than for a school project). I miss the giant ventilator they had at City College, but it was also surprisingly easy to just spray the glue outside in our side yard. The glue is wonderfully strong and works great for bonding papers together. But if I’m going to be using stuff like that often, I need to get some Lava soap!