Embossing texture paste

This month's Mad Scientist Lab was about texture pastes and mediums.  What a fun excuse to get messy hands!

Some of our samples began with gesso, others with gel medium. Do you have supplies that you bought for a specific project but never learned how else to use them or how one product differs from another? This class was extremely helpful.

Some of my samples were completed in class and some were finished at home with additional or different touches due to availability of what I had at home. I didn't think I would like the image transfer (the raspberry photo) but the more I look at it (especially in person), the more I think I might use this procedure again.

I like both of these, especially the one on the left. That was a heavy texture paste dried, then spritzed with glycerin and water to hold silver embossing powder. I know I will repeat that technique. I have Wow embossing powder in silver that I really like.

This one was probably the biggest surprise of all to me. It has a bit of everything going on and to be honest, there is no pattern or flow to my sample, but that is okay. The manila paper was textured in areas with a stencil and texture medium. There are gold smears along with a clear medium that had fine glass beads in it. Oddest of all for me was the mix of paper flowers, metal findings, buttons and rhinestones.

I didn't take a photo of the piece as it came home from class. Areas were still drying and I wasn't sure I was ever going to like it. From past experience, I knew to keep on going with additional embellishments. Either the corner would be turned and I would like it, or I would be certain of what I wouldn't repeat.

The above photo was taken indoors on a cloudy day. The gold looks dark and rather flat in color. The rhinestones and other dimensionals don't really show the spritzes of gold, pearl and pink that I lightly layered over areas.

The two photos below were taken outside and the shimmer is now visible.

This piece is definitely a practice piece and won't become something else, but the process led to the mixed media clipboard project (here) which I really enjoyed.

Don't fall into the rut I was in. Experiment with what you already own and use some of your least favorite embellishments and papers. If your experiment works, hooray! If you hate it, you're not out anything but some time since you weren't using those supplies anyway, at least not in all the ways they might be applied.

Have fun!