Mixed Media Arts

» Jennifer Hollowell - Can't live without it!

What is the one art supply you can't live without? (or, are there more than one?)

» upsidedownsarah - Can't live without it!

In response to Can't live without it! posted by Poemwriter1:

Mine right now are acrylic paints (Golden brand) and colored pencils (Prismacolor and Lyra). I also like sharpie-type markers (regardless of brand.

Sarah S.

-- posted by upsidedownsarah

» Jennifer Hollowell - I forgot to mention my must have's!

Mine, right now, are glue sticks. I can't seem to keep these things in my house no matter how hard I try. I buy those "bulk" containers of them because my kids and I can't live without them. hee hee

» upsidedownsarah - I forgot to mention my must have's!

In response to I forgot to mention my must have's! posted by Poemwriter1:

That makes sense. What brand to you prefer, and does it matter if they are acid-free/archival?

I use a lot of Elmer's Glue and a lot of Liquitex Gloss Acrylic Medium. I use glue stick sometimes, too, but I worry about its strength. I also like glue dots for certain applications (lace and ribbon come to mind). The gloss medium is fantastic for bonding fabric to metal. I am making a memory box for our elderly dog, Emma. My daughter and I chose a bunch of fabrics that remind us of "Froufie" (our nickname for Emma), and I am gluing them to the metal box (sanded first) with the acrylic gel medium. It does penetrate the fabric, but you can't tell in most cases after it is dry. You can do layering with it too--bond fabric to metal, then more fabric to the fabric. You can even bond paper onto the fabric afterwards (if the fabric is flat). So after I have applied all the fabric I want to Froufie's box, I am going to make a paper label with her name on it. It is my first memory box. I am really excited about it (as you can probably tell). =-)

-- posted by upsidedownsarah

» Jennifer Hollowell - Acid Free...

I don't pay much attention to the brands, but I do choose gluesticks that are acid free. I love gloss medium, but I haven't tried it on metal yet. I have some old lunch boxes that I've been wanting to alter and now I know what to use!

» upsidedownsarah - Metal boxes

In response to Acid Free... posted by Poemwriter1:

Also if you want to paint on them with acrylic paint there is an acrylic medium by Golden called GAC200 that you can mix with the paint to make it stick to the metal better. I'm going to do that with the inside of Emma's memory box. I am going to paint it with all kinds of Emma colors...pink and lavendar and powder blue (you'd have to know this dog....she is like the doggie grandma of the house. There's a reason why we call her Frou Frou.)

-- posted by upsidedownsarah

» Jennifer Hollowell - Metal boxes

In response to Metal boxes posted by upsidedownsarah:

Thanks for the tip - I didn't know that medium existed! I need to get out into the art supply stores more often and learn about these different things.

» upsidedownsarah - Metal boxes

In response to Metal boxes posted by Poemwriter1:

I learned about it on one of my email lists. There is also a really cool book called Acrylic Revolution which tells about a lot of the new acrylic mediums and other products. I don't have a large budget for books, but this is the one I had to have because it has so many cool techniques.

Sarah S.

-- posted by upsidedownsarah