Playing With Fire!

First of all, I have to say that the Mandalas created by members of the Mandala Madness Course are INCREDIBLE! Seeing each Mandala during the live Show ‘n  Share sessions is such a treat. They are rocking these classes! And, by the way, there's still time for  you to jump in so YOU can be part of these special live events!

Some Drama-free Fridays have a teensy bit of drama. 🙂 When you combine paper and glue and fire, there COULD BE some impending drama! Fortunately for the live audience, all went well and no one had to call the fire department.

I decided to dig back into my archive of ideas for this Drama-free Friday where I found Aleene's oldie but goodie “Burnt Brown Bag”. It's super simple to do, yet sometimes a little tricky. If you decide to try it, be sure that you take all the necessary precautions regarding fire safety. 

Aleene is THE Aleene of Aleene's Tacky Glue and according to her daughter, this technique was discovered when Aleene was testing Tacky Glue's flammability. Instead of the glue burning, it turns black and creates a beautiful texture!

If you want to try it, I suggest starting with a double layer of brown paper (like a brown paper bag). Glue the layers together with Tacky Glue and let them dry for several hours. If you choose to use die cut shapes, I found it was easy to cut out the shapes first and then glue pairs of shapes together.

You need to light a candle with an exposed flame, cover the surface with Tacky Glue, hold the glue side in the flame until the glue reacts and turns totally black. Then, set the burned piece aside until the glue has COMPLETELY dried. (The thicker the glue, the longer it will take to dry.)

Once the glue is fully dried, use a paper towel to remove the soot. At that point, you can decide to add metallic rubs like Inka Gold or metallic paint to highlight the texture of the burnt glue.

I've done the same technique with die cut Kraft Card Stock with success. For such a simple technique, I find that it does take practice to achieve what I'm looking for. Serendipity is usually my best friend with things like this. 😉 If you try it, be sure to leave a comment about your sucess. 😉

Below, you'll see 2 journals I covered with brown paper and glue before doing the burning. When you work with a larger project, I found the greatest success by doing it in sections. If I added a large area of glue first, it didn't seem to texturize quite as well. As with anything, you have to experiment and see what you like. I added burnt embellishments to each cover for fun, too. I love the way they turned out and I also love the feel of the books when I hold them! (Be sure to click the images to see the details.)

Please come hang out with us at 2pm Eastern each Drama-free Friday. I love to chat with you as we get creative in my studio.

Until next time ~

Remember to Get Creative today! It's Easy!!

Barb