Painted pages

After borrowing Roxanne Padgett's book, Acrylic Techniques in Mixed Media, from the library, I was inspired to paint a bunch of magazine pages.

Architectural Digest has wonderfully thick pages which held up to my many layers of paint quite nicely.

I like the way bits of the magazine show through and add interest.

These were so much fun.  I got into that zone where I started thinking "this is all I want to do for the rest of my life."

I think this next one might be my favorite in it's own chaotic way.

Could these next two possible be more "me?"

I'm nothing if not predictable.

 I decided these papers might be just the thing for the upcoming "fold-a-note" swap I'm in.  The idea of the swap is to use a single piece of paper - write a note on one side and fold it so that the other side becomes the envelope.

I learned this folding technique a few years ago from the book "Creative Correspondence" (thank you, inter-library loan) but had never actually used it.

I'm sure there are much better tutorials on you-tube, but here's a few shots of the process.

1. fold the top edge down, about an inch and a half from the left edge.

2. fold the bottom left corner up to meet the top fold.

3. turn the paper slightly clockwise so that the points go up and down.

4. fold the bottom point up.

5. Turn the whole thing around and fold that bottom point up, creating a nice rectangle with a little triangle sticking up at the top.

When you flip it over you have a smooth rectangular surface for your address.

In theory you fold that triangle down and put your postage stamp over it to adhere it and you can pop it right in the mail.

Here's the one I made for my swap partner.

I really didn't trust that stamp to hold the whole thing together so I added lots of adhesive orange circles.

Here's what it looks like inside when you unfold the envelope:

 

I'm quitting my day job and will do this until I run out of magazine pages or paint, whichever comes first.