Mom Gothic Arch - #3 Layered Ephemera - Pt. II

O.k... time to finish up the Layered Ephemera Technique we started yesterday!

If you recall we glued lots and lots of different ephemera together yesterday and left it to dry.  Well now it's time to cut your Gothic Arch from your layers!

I *thought* I would use my old fashion guillotine cutter to trim away the excess but it was WAY too thick (remember I told you I got carried away with my layers).  Sooo I ended up cutting it with a utility knife.  I had to go back over the original cut lines several times to get through all of my layers.  If you are unsure about using the knife you can use a metal ruler for a straight edge...it will keep your knife along the cut line until you work your knife down a bit.

After I finally freed my Gothic Arch from the rest of the paper I realized why I couldn't cut it as I had planned.  My pile ended up being about 3/8" thick!! 

Well, needless to say that's a LOT!  Since I don't need nearly that much for this project I decided to cut my slab of ephemera in half with my utility knife.  The center wasn't quite dry which made cutting really easy.  I basically just stuck my knife in and peeled the two halves apart.

Now I have one to play with today and another Gothic Arch for a future project!

It's time to play!  You're going to use a variety of tools to distress your Layered Ephemera Gothic Arch.  I am using my utility knife, a paper piercer, a dab of water and my hands....

I like to start off by carving away several layers of ephemera around the edges ~

You can tear away layers....

I like to use my paper piercer to dig holes or add scratches into some of the layers....

To get rid of some of the sharp knife marks I like to dip my finger into water and roll the edges of the paper back...

and to expose other layers....

Giving you a more distressed and worn vintage feel.

You can keep going until you're satisfied with how your Gothic Arch looks.

This is where my original tutorial left off.  I don't like to dictate how to finish off some techniques because sometimes when people learn a technique one way that's the only way they use it.  By not completely finishing it off it allows you to use your imagination for what comes next.    You could use paints, inks, dye spray, or any other medium you can think of to finish this off. 

Today I am going to be finishing my Layered Ephemera Gothic Arch with a combination of dye inks, acrylic paints

and just a dab of gesso....

Of course you can add your sentiment and whatever other embellishments you'd like.

And here is mine ~

So what do you think?

Fun huh?

I absolutely love this technique...

both parts

(assembling the layers and cutting them away)

are so much fun in their own individual ways. 

I hope you give it a try

and remember,

you're more than welcome to share your results if you'd like!