a fave technique

My favourite base for ATCs is matboard. It's sturdy and has a great weight to it. I buy it in chunks from a local art supply store for dirt cheap... they're bits leftover from custom-cut frames. I'm not sure about ya'll, but I love getting cards on mat or on canvas. It just seems artier to me.

I made these backgrounds today. I still don't quite know where I'm going with them, but I'm happy with how they've turned out so far.

I took some pages from an old French textbook, scrunched them up and dipped them in coffee. I applied paper modge to the base, added the paper on top and squooshed it on (as opposed to smoothing it out) to create wrinkles. Then I let it dry sandwiched between wax paper and under a heavy book.

I like texture. And one of my favourite ways of achieving it in an ATC is by mixing heavy medium with liquid acrylic paint. I mixed with a chopstick (bet you didn't think of that as an art tool!), and then glooped it on with a plastic knife.

Then I took the end of the chopstick and scratched away some of the paint before it dried. As luck would have it, one interesting French word or phrase revealed itself to me on each card: dans le Tasse (in the cup); Jerusalem; esprit; la fraicheur (freshness). I didn't plan it that way. It just happened.

Perhaps this will be the direction I need in order to finish these up? :)