Saturday 26 January 2013

Time for a cuppa?

The challenge at Sunday Postcard Art this week is Coffee Time chosen by Marie. All week I have been thinking about the topic and yesterday I had decided I wasn't going to put an entry in.  Then I woke up in the middle of last night with a clear vision of how the finished piece should look.
It hasn't turned out exactly as I wanted, but pretty close and I learnt lessons on the way, bonus!

The vision was for an old 1950's cafe sign that has been left to weather and been damaged, the hands have fallen from the clock and rust is taking over.  The process for this was difficult for me, and it took several attempts and it's still not a perfected technique.

Hmmm, what time does the clock say?
Starting out with 300gsm paper I applied 3 coats of Deco Art Butter.  While the paint was drying I found the coffee cup image on the net and the clock face on the Andy Skinner dropbox.    I arranged the elements in Photo-shop and then (filled with fear and trepidation) I put the painted paper into my printer!!!!!

 I sprayed the whole of the card with hairspray to try to avoid any damage to the piece during the next phase. I painted rust elements around the outside and some chips of rust over the centre panel.  Then I added some small crackle medium in various places. Over the top of all I painted a very weak wash of Quinacrodine Gold and then immediately laid a paper tower over to absorb the excess. Unfortunately the crackle medium seems to have reacted with something??  (don't know what) and when I applied the final paint wash, the crackle medium turned brown.  There is a bit of photo manipulation on the dark patches to soften the edges, but otherwise this is exactly as it was scanned.

This was so much fun to create, I have a feeling I will do more of them.


15 comments:

  1. I wish ideas came to me in the same way, Liz, BUT would i remember them in the morning - brilliant postcard, what a lot of work went into it!

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  2. I am smiling widely because the name of the cafe definitely matches the "owner" who could also claim to be a 1950's rusty piece. I love the idea of an old cafe sign, Liz, and I think you have done a great job in spite of your self-doubts!!

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  3. A pretty card! Love the handless clock. I definitely want to give Marie's coffee a try!

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  4. It does look wonderfully worn. Great postcard.

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  5. What a great idea to wake up with, then making it must have been quite a challenge. There is so much I like about this, the distressed edges, the handless clock, the colour scheme, the lettering....... and as always I love to read about your process.

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  6. fab idea... glad it worked never thought to put painted paper into the printer.

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  7. Yes coffee time is always:-) Love the idea with the colock, great job!
    Wish you a nice sunday,
    hugs Anja

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  8. I love it! THe background is fabulous and the clock it great. Handless clocks are so evocative!

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  9. A beautiful postcard Liz very classy...well done!

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  10. Very cool, sometimes I wish my head would float around as much as yours, but... I'm so mechanical. Boys and their toys!

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  11. Great to see the pot is always on. Love that and your postcard!

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Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment, I really appreciate it - Liz