Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Step Nineteen: Decoupage - wasted time, or lessons learned?

Dearest Sylwi


I really don't want to post! :-) It just hasn't worked out for me today. 


I started out trying to crochet, I wanted to try some little flowers. I've not really crocheted before, so flowers were maybe a bit adventurous. The flowers turned out half terrible and half ok (the first half of each flower was a hot mess and the second half, looked like they should do!) but I thought, I can't post a bunch of very strange looking flowers! :-)


So, I decided to change plans and try some decoupage, which I've never done. I have a very sad looking seed box that I wanted to cover - I thought decoupage would cheer it up. (Although, in hindsight, I should have left it alone, I made it worse! ha ha!)




I downloaded some old [out of copyright, you'll be glad to hear! ha! :-) ] images and began tearing them up and gluing. I used some of the techniques for painting from that Artist's Trading Cards book you recommended. It was fun to try and at first, I thought I was starting to get somewhere.



I realised that to cover the whole box would take days, so decided to just do the lid - treating it as a small canvas for a collage.

Shortly after, it all started to go wrong! I added colour - bad idea. I added some of my own drawings. VERY bad idea... and minute, by minute, it got worse and worse, till I could hardly bear to look at it! ha ha ha ha! :-) This really isn't the kind of style that I like to look at... so, why on earth did it come from me? It's funny! I mean, where does this actually come from? On the days when we just don't feel creative and have to force it, do we effectively channel the side of the brain that remembers everything it has seen and disliked?! Sort of out of spite?! ha! :-)


So, there we have it. My first and possibly last attempt at decoupage. :-) Ok, not really. I don't think it's the decoupage that's to blame. :-) Probably more my lack of artistic talent. It's fun to rip and glue, although I think I'm not really good at making it up as I go along. I need a plan in place before I begin...?

I guess this wasn't really a wasted exercise. I've tried both crochet and decoupage and now know what doesn't work. Maybe next time I try, I'll find out what does work?! ;-)

Lots and lots of love, sweetheart. Big kisses.

xx

1 comment:

  1. Dear Fi,

    I totally disagree with you today! {no panicking please!}

    I actually think that:

    1. your first attempt is super cute and very successful.

    2. I love your drawings.

    3. When you wake up tomorrow and when you will see this lid you will smile and say to yourself, "O wow! today it looks pretty cool!"

    4. + you got a bonus and learned something today!

    I have no idea about decoupage. But I want to say that when I did the journal pages for the last two posts I was very disappointed in the end results. I struggled with composition and with choosing the paper etc.

    After all, I came to understanding that - collage is a very tricky technique - especially for people who like I, doesn't feel free and wild while creating, and don't know how to make a huge mess on paper/canvas etc. {instead they know exactly how to do the humongous mess around themselves}.

    So, again, I love your first attempt to decoupage, and I'm little jealous about you trying crochet ;) - crochet is on my never-ending list...

    Love :*

    Sylvia

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