When You Know Better...

...You Do Better

Believe it or not I had a meeting at our condo pool yesterday as part of gathering bids for a renovation project.

I was smitten with this little moment in the old fence. It was an unexpected pop of color in the middle of winter.

It rained most of the day today....and I'm grateful I didn't have to be out in it.

I thought I would share some of my favorite collage tools.....it's a pretty simple and probably familiar little pile. This pair of old red singer scissors is my absolute favorite...and the new versions are not the same.  I'm guessing everyone has a favorite pair of scissors.

I either collage with matte medium or a UHU glue stick.  If I use medium I use it as a glue and a sealer so all the collage bits are pretty secure.  If I use a glue stick...I have to pay attention making sure corners are glued well. My little glue bottle comes in handy to add a drop here and there if I missed a spot. 

I put my matte medium in a shallow wide mouth jar...making it easy to scoop out. Medium is a plastic product and should NOT go down the drain.  So I've mostly switched to using the spatula in the photo above to spread the medium over and under my pieces. It works well to spread the glue...and smooth out the paper piece.

At the end I can just wipe it off on a cloth rather than having to rinse a brush.  If I do need to rinse a brush...I get as much medium or acrylic paint off the brush as I can then rinse it in a small bottle of water.   

When most of the product is off the brush...that's when I use soap and water in the sink.  I collect the dirty water from my small bottle into a larger container and let the water evaporate in the garage before I throw it away in the trash.  Sometimes I help it dry with a little kitty litter.  

When you know better you do better.

I've switched to some more simple mounting for some of my busier collage Art Hearts. I stitched the heart onto a piece of lightweight watercolor paper...then onto cardstock in a coordinating color.

I didn't love this little collage when I made it.  But I swirled on some white paint with my fineline applicator and it  soften it up a bit.  

Out of one small collage I got three large hearts and four tiny ones. 

And they'll all look OK when they're mounted on a crisp white card.

When you know better...you do better.