A little Rust

I'm not sure why I'm so intrigued with rusting things. Living in the great, wet American Northwest, we get a lot of natural rusting going on.

But there is something about being able to rust paper, plastic, cloth- just about anything, that totally fascinates me.

That corroded metal disk you see on the cover of this journal?

It's a CD. Plastic.

There is even a little rust added to the book cover itself. Faux leather- paper with a coating basically.

I've been using the Sophisticated Solutions metallic surfacers and antiquing solutions by Modern Options.
I LOVE this stuff.

It is a two part process. You paint on a solution containing metal particles- let it dry- and then paint on the rust or patina solution.

Try the different finishes- they are all fun.

For the first step, I've painted the metal solution on fairly thickly on some, but left it streaky and sparse on others.

You can use tools to texture it at this point. I used one of the Krafty Lady texture mats on one of the CDs and on the playing cards.

The directions that come with the product recommends two coats. I usually use two coats or more for glass objects, but for paper or plastic, one coat is usually enough. If you want a perfect solid coating, roughing up your surface and applying at least two coats is a good plan.

Then just leave it to dry. I recommend leaving it overnight.

When dry, the surface is very flat, black, and matte.

I love the pattern the texture mat left on these. It looks like ancient runes of some sort. Very mysterious. :)

The small journal cover was texturized with some molding paste before the metallic surfacer was applied.

After it has dried, you paint on the clear liquid solution and watch the rust develop!!

Instant aging! Well- not instant exactly. It's best to wait 24 hours before applying the rusting solution. ;)
You can apply additional coats of rusting solution until you achieve the effect you want.

The center medallion in this piece was done with Delight air dry modeling compound and rusted with the Modern Options Sophisticated Solutions rust kit.

This bottle is one of my favorite rusted projects.
The bottle is from a Mexican liqueur called Damiana. It tastes sort of like banana + licorice flavored cough syrup. MMMmmmm- yummy- uh huh. But hey- the bottle is GREAT!

The head was molded with Crayola air dry modeling compound.
Using the rust solution is one way to combine disparate materials in one project and make it look all of a piece.

And for all the "Goths" out there- Have a grungy, distressed Christmas. ;)

My kids appreciated these, I don't know if anyone else would. LOL