This photo of my grandmother and her parents and sister has always been one of my favorite family photos. The original is framed and protected, but I scanned it so I could put copies in scrapbook albums. On this page, I tried several different techniques. First, I took a piece of copper tape (used for stained glass) and lightly sanded it to create a lot of rough surface area. I brushed on patina medium and let it sit until it had the effect of oxidized copper that I wanted. After lightly spraying with a clear sealer, I peeled the backing tape off and mounted it to my card stock. The other experiment was to seal a grungeboard element (from Tim Holtz's "Elements" collection) with multipurpose sealer and apply a coat red base paint designed for gold leaf application. When that was completely dry, the adhesive sizing is applied and allowed to dry until tacky. I used a variegated leaf and covered the top surface and edges, brushing away the extra leaf with a stiff paintbrush. After sealing, I had a beautiful accent piece that blends perfectly with antique photos. The final touch for my page was to add a rub-on flourish and accent with blue "gems." This is a technique best used with copies of photos rather than originals, as the patina medium and leafing adhesive and sealers may not be safe for archival use.
Have a wonderful day!
