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Friday, April 25, 2014

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.

26 comments:

  1. I love these so much! Did I recommend that book to you? You did amazing things! I am a schlumper in comparison!

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    1. you blogged about the book and I immediately put in a request to my library, then forgot about it until I got the notification it was waiting for me. thanks for the tip!

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  2. OMG!! LOVE...LOVE... I MUST make these. Did you use stencils? how did you paint them? Please tell me!! LOL. Very cool, Karen.

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    1. each of them started with some loose areas of color painted on with a brush, and the rest is a combo of stencils and stamping with found objects, and marks and scribbles with graphite or crayon. One of the tips picked up from the book was doing crayon rubbings as one of the layers (using good old crayolas which won't smear if I add paint on top of them). I'd also never tried layering stencils before and I love the effect. I painted orange circles through a stencil and left the stencil in place until the paint dried, then laid another stencil on top of the circle stencil and added the tiny black dots, which appear only on top of the orange circles.

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  3. LOVE all the luscious colors. I learned that envie as a "Mennonite envelope" years ago, and forgot about for a few years now! You're killin' me with ur "…bite to eat!" :D Well done~

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    1. I've heard them called Mennonite envelopes too. Also aerogrammes. I image it stays together quite nicely using just the postage stamp if you use plain paper, but I ended up adding a little tape on top of my orange circle stickers (sent from a certain someone in SF....) because the thick, glossy, painted paper just didn't seem like it would make it through a postal machine without becoming totally unfolded and mangled.

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    2. haha - I was wondering if those were the same orange circles. :D I went round and round and round (haha) in our SFPL and interlibrary loan system to NOT be able to find it, so just bought a cheap copy off Ebay :D. If I don't like it (doubt it!), I'll donate it to my local branch!

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  4. The painted pages are great!! Thanks for the envie demonstration.

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  5. Holy Crap, Karen! These are awesome! I've actually been making a dent in throwing away magazines from the hoard....Does this mean I should be keeping them!???? :P

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  6. You are so creative! I love this idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Such wonderfully vibrant colors - I can tell you had fun making all these gorgeous papers! Thanks for the envie idea.

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  8. I am pretty sure I'll be painting some magazine pages today! Thanks Karen! :)

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  9. Excellent. I just put a request in too.

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    1. You'll be seeing one from me, too, at some point...

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  11. Karen, I LOVE the envelope you created for your swap partner! Your page painting project looks incredibly fun. I especially like the second and last pages, but they are all wonderful. You have much fodder for projects on hand now!

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  12. Am I the only mail artist on the planet who never heard of this folded envelope? Prolly...
    Love those black circles on the orange and figured you did them that way. Your papers are great and I'll be making some this weekend instead of cleaning house - thanks, Karen! I even have an Architectural Digest in the mag pile.

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  13. Very cool. Geesh. I have to visit your blog more often. There is some amazing stuff going on over here.

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  14. Fun stuff! I have some old AD mags laying around somewhere.....what a great idea. I'd like the building/architecture elements showing through - they're usually fairly linear and then with all the circles layered on top, the contrast is great. I'm thinking it's another thing to add to the "must try this" list.

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  15. How fun is that envelope....and your pages are so cool. I do like your chaotic fave too. xox

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  16. Very nice painted pages. Love magazine pages for stuff like that. I like to sew a few together before I paint them, the paint gathers nicely in the stitch lines. I'd forgotten about that folded envelope, thanks for showing the steps.

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  17. Wow, you have been busy! Love that envelope and am off to see if the library has that book.
    Thinking up ideas for my 'zine...

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  18. When I send these types of envelopes to people they never know how to open them. I was closing every seam with Washi tape. So I like the circle dots to seal sides but make it easy to open.

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  19. All of your pages look like fun. Okay you convinced me. I just requested the book from my library. Your favorite page is great. Love the color combinations.

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  20. Come ON!! COME. ON!!!!

    These just SCREAM the fun you were having.

    Well, I have to admit, I don't feel that way about collage or even about making envelopes. But I absolutely feel that way when I paint magazine pages, creating layers and layers, and then glaze them to make them stronger and make the final product look a little leathery... I am doing my most favorite thing, ever.

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