I promised to share my ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ technique for acrylic covers that didn’t quite get finished on air during my last Hochanda shows for That’s Crafty!. Below are some instructions along side the pics I took prior to the shows, and below those is a short video I have done to try and explain it a little more clearly! Apologies for the outside noises on the video – they’re wind chimes and a radiator warming up, if you’re wondering.
- Firstly, choose an image from a glossy magazine. Remember that in this technique, the image will be reversed, including any text. Laser photocopies/prints will work, but inkjet will not.
- Peel off the protective film from the acrylic cover and glue the image face down onto the acrylic cover using multi medium or other clear drying glue. Apply the glue to both the cover and the image. Smooth out any air bubbles and leave to completely dry (preferably overnight). You are now gluing the ink to the acrylic.
- Wet the back of the paper, and start to rub it off with your finger. You are now removing the paper from the ink. Keep wetting and rubbing until all the paper is removed. Dry with a heat tool, and if there’s any hazing, rub away the last paper fibres with a baby wipe. You should now have a translucent image on the cover, which will be more obvious when you remove the other side’s protective film.
- Place your acrylic cover next to a primed greyboard page (in this example, I am working on the back cover). You are going to use the cut out from the Tina stencil as a mask. Lay the mask in place on the cover, and mark with stencil tape on the mask the vertical edge of the page in the middle.
- Sponge white paint over the unmasked area on the cover (over the image transfer), dry and repeat to get a fully opaque layer of paint.
- Flip the mask to get the mirror image, and use the tape to line up with the edge of the facing page. Sponge the coloured paint over the unmasked area, repeating to make it opaque.
- With the mask in place, add the stamped images – I used Vibrant Fuchsia Archival Ink over white, and white embossing powder over the magenta.
Used in this layout
- That’s Crafty! A6 journal with acrylic cover
- Pentart Heavy Body Gel: Matte
- Pentart Acrylic Primer
- Pentart Acrylic Paint: Matte Magenta
- That’s Crafty! 8×8″ Stencil: Tina
- That’s Crafty! Clear Stamp Set: Lynne’s Affirmations
- WOW! Embossing Powder: Bright White
- Ranger Archival Ink: Vibrant Fuchsia
The illusion happens as the cover and page meet and the image transfer is against a white, complete, background. Open it up, and the background is no longer uniform, and the image transfer becomes translucent. I used the same effect to make an inner acrylic page rather than use it as a cover:
Look at the WOW, the hair do, and what she’s saying, as the acrylic page is flipped over –
BTW – I used WOW as it is one of a few words that work forwards and back and on the flip side. MUM works as well, YAW becomes WAY. There’s only a few letters that allow you to do the symmetry: A, H, I, M, O, T, U, V, W and Y. And even fewer words that are useful!