ANOTHER NEW PURSE WITH TAN NETTING

Over the 4th of July holiday my muse came to visit and I made 3 purses in three days - which may just be a new record for me. I enjoyed the long blocks of time to create and one day I looked up and it was already 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I had been working since early morning. I love when that happens! Here's the second of the ones I made. I made a pattern from newspaper to cover the sides of the purse and then used that pattern to cut precise pieces from a scrapbook paper. I then decoupage the scrapbook paper to the front and collage some torn bits of sheet music, old letters and patterned pieces to the base. I used some sepia ink to shadow those editions and cut a couple of applicable phrases from an old novel.
I covered the whole side with a fairly thick layer of Golden acrylic gel medium and then covered the entire side with a piece of polyester tan netting - making sure to press the piece firmly into the gel medium without leaving any wrinkles. Then I cut around the vintage photo of the mother and daughters and affixed it into the gel medium and covered it over the top. When the side is dry, the netting behind the picture lends a nice texture and tint. I was very happy with the technique, but you have to move quickly so that your gel does not begin to dry while you are still working - it makes for nasty little lumps in your glue which are not easy to remove with the netting in place. Here's a close-up of the old photograph. I love this pic which I bought a few years ago in an antique mall. I got my friend at the local copier to experiment with the color of the original photograph. I have used this pic before, but it is the first time I have ever used them on a purse. A couple of years ago I made this trio into a Witches Shrine called the Power of Three.

For the back I used the original scrapbook paper base (which is best described as a paper on which someone cleaned their brush with gray and a little red) and sealed it with the netting in gel medium. Sometimes I add photos to both sides, but this purse did not call to me to do so. (Yes, sometimes the purses actually speak to me.)

I finished with a trim of aubergine velvet ribbon around the edges and in the little decorative groove at the top of the purse which I applied with double-sided tape. I couldn't get a good pic so you could really see the velvet ribbon, but it was just the right size to fit in that groove and I think gives the purse a more finished look.

I trimmed the netting after the purse was completely dry and applied extra glue to any edges of paper that seem loose. The more fused the paper is to the purse, the less the wear and tear on the papers. When they are properly fused, then they really wear as though the purse is fabric. The Gel Medium so changes the texture of the paper that most people are surprised when I tell them that I have used papers to cover the purse.

I am anxious to try this technque again to see if I can improve on my time.