A Collage Inspired by a Cleaning Product?

Yes!  Yesterday I wrote about the altered collage papers I created using National Geographic magazines and Citrasolv cleaner. I also included a link to the company's website with instructions because this is a super fun, simple, eco friendly process with many creative possibilities.

This process is perfect for people who enjoy serendipity. Its difficult to control and predict the exact results but that's really the wonderful part about it. While the Citrasolv altered pages are beautiful on their own, I decided to challenge myself by using them to create a series of collages.

My first attempt was really busy and just didn't work, but I saw one small square within it that did. Then I decided I needed to keep the structure very simple to feature these beautiful new papers.

Citrasolv Altered Collage Pages

I'd much rather craft than cook. I think its a lot more fun to repurpose kitchen appliances and products for creative pursuits. I have a duplicate collection household appliances just for crafting: a pasta machine and toaster oven for polymer clay, a crock pot for melting beeswax, a heated buffet tray for Polaroid transfers, an iron for bonding mixed media and and a blender for making paper. 

Then there are the multi purpose kitchen wraps: I use freezer paper for mixed media and wax paper to press my collages in books to flatten them while not sticking to the pages. I use plastic wrap for creating texture in paint. I've used bleach for making patterns on fabric. When I heard of using the product Citrasolv for creating altered mixed media pages I was excited to try it. The Citrasolv company actually has a excellent tutorial for using their products on their website. 

Here are a few examples of altered National Geographic pages I created using this technique. I love the mysterious marbleized quality. I almost don't want to cut them up, but that's exactly what I'm going to do right now. I'll be posting my results here tomorrow.