Altered Pages Monthly Challenge 3 - Rusted Colors

Hello everyone.  I cannot believe that November is almost over, and I am submitting this piece just under the wire.  I guess it is better late than never, so here goes.

The nice folks over at Altered Pages have a monthly challenge for anyone to enter, and this month, the theme is RUST.  Well, I never would have thought I would be the kind of gal who would like rust, but it has been shown beautifully by so many talented artists over the years that it has definitely grown on me, and I am loving the color.  It is a favorite of mine, especially this time of year.  It truly speaks Fall to me.

I used a bare paper mache box and spray painted it with a brown textured paint.  Then, I spread a thin coat of Artist Spackle through the bird on a branch stencil.  After the spackle dried, I coated the image with Duo Adhesive and, when that dried to a tacky finish, applied Leafing in variegated colors.

The box was too brown for my rusted taste, so I must admit, I played around with different mediums until I got it where I liked it.  What's my "recipe"?  Goodness knows.  I will tell you that I first added a rusty brown chalk ink, some redder distress inks, and still not quite achieving the colors I wanted.  Then it hit me.  I had some Rust Gilder's Paste in my stash, and voila!  I applied it with my favorite tool (my finger) around the raised banding on the side of the box, as well as around the background.  But now, my leafing was getting lost in that color.  So I returned to using my distress ink in Black Soot to darken the color around the gilded image, and now I am very happy at the result.

I hope you like my project, and will be inspired to try some of those other mediums you have in your own stash.  And please check out the Altered Pages Blog to see what their wonderfully talented designers have created using the color RUST.  And they also have wonderful products, collage sheets, and even kits in their online store.  Go check them out.    You will not be disappointed.

Happy Fall!  Now go play!

Barbara