I’ve been dabbling with decoupage – quite pleased with the results. I used newspaper and napkins on the tray and cut-out images from magazines for the papier maché bowl. It’s tempting to use too much glue as this rubs off the surface – they now need a varnish and they’re done.
I have just made another batch of cornflour dough for mardi crafts. Here is the recipe if anyone fancies trying it.
1 cup of cornflour
2 cups of bicarbonate of soda
1 1/4 cups of water
Mix in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and keep stirring until it thickens like mashed potato. Immediately take off the heat and plop out onto a board. Cover with a damp cloth until cool. Then roll out and cut out shapes. This will air dry in a few days. If you make a hole with something like a chopstick in the top you can hang them up for Easter.
This mixture makes a really smooth dough and will take gentle sanding and painting
This afternoon Eric finished his waterlilies and started a really vibrant picture from a tiny sketch that he had done. I always love his pictures when they are at abstract stage. Katie was working on her bowl of apples in acrylic, Angela on her quirky seaside picture in oil and Lyn and Heather were doing some lovely watercolours.
Well done Viv for finishing a second rug with balloons. I also received an email from a previous ‘rugger’ who sent a picture of her pig rug. Jane was working on her elephant, George was painting his turtle and Katie had done a beautiful decoupage bird. Brigid and Cas were making papier maché bowls and birds. A menagerie!
Tuesday 25 February
We all got very messy working with papier maché with some great results. George had already prepared a turtle (or is it a tortoise?) and covered it with the papier maché. Katie, Jane and Bridget made a bowl and then started on other projects.
Thursday 20 February
A very animated afternoon with lots of different projects on the go. It was good to see everyone back after the break. Eric is working on his acrylic water lilies, Angela is painting a gorgeous seaside picture in oils and Katie is painting some beautiful watercolour cards.