We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
"Little Gidding"
T S Eliot

Monday 11 May 2015

Brusho workout!

As I'm on an enforced no crafting regime while the craft room is having a make-over, it is an ideal opportunity to catch up on some posts that have been patiently waiting in the wings!

Recently got together with another Brusho enthusiast and we experimented on quite a few different surfaces. Here are the results!

We mainly took two pieces of each surface and used one with a wash of two Brusho colours, the second one used a wet surface and a sprinkling of Brushos.

This is some packaging material, a bit like Tyvek as it reacts with heat.

The wash went straight through and just left a few dirty marks, the wet and sprinkle did retain the colour, but not very inspiring.

So, not really successful!















More success using Vylene interfacing, this is quite a stiff one.

The wash is quite subtle, half the piece was covered with acrylic wax, which intensified the colours.

Wet and sprinkle is more intense.

Would use this surface again, particularly in mixed media projects.










Handmade paper this time.  Loved the soft colours of the wash.

Another one I would use in projects.

















Mulberry paper; again I loved the wash, and 2 coats of acrylic wax intensified the colour and made the paper more robust.

We did try using Brushos on Bondaweb with very subtle, almost invisible results.  Half of the second piece of mulberry paper has the addition of Bondaweb.















Brushos were fabulous on both pieces of white felt.
















The results on Yupo paper were quite similar.

Yupo is a synthetic paper which is completely impervious to liquid.












This Rice Paper is not white but more a natural colour.  A little too thin to take all the water, but again, like the wash.




















Using blotting paper is quite a revelation!  The first piece, with a wash, has a couple of coats of acylic wax to seal it, then alcohol ink applied to half of it.

The second piece is the reverse side, which gives a quite interesting effect.

Blotting paper is reasonably cheap, can be stitched into, and would be a useful addition to consider for mixed media projects.











The Brusho thickener is mixed with Brusho granules.  It provides more body, and stays exactly where you put it.  It remains transparent, takes overnight to dry and doesn't have any real dimension.

You can just see here where I dropped some dry granules into it after an hour or so.

Would be a useful way to control where the colour goes, and could be put through a stencil. More experimenting needed!



I call this a Brusho sandwich!

Started with a clean piece of white blotting paper and coated it with acrylic wax.
Whilst the wax was still wet added crumpled tissue paper, topped with another coat of acrylic wax and left to dry.

Add Brushos to the back of the blotting paper, and to the front of the tissue paper. The acrylic wax between the blotting paper and tissue acts as a barrier, so you get 2 sets of colour that don't intermingle.
Finished with some gilding wax.

Loved the results!




Great fun, and we learned quite a bit.














I also like Brushos on glossy card. Here the granules were shaken on dry and then spritzed with water.










Craft room now finished, bar putting the window blind up, so I can start the marathon job of moving stuff back in! Will try and remember to take photos before it gets messy!

Happiness is looking forward to getting to my bed tonight, without negotiating a maze of boxes!

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