Crackle Effect and Decoupage Go Together So Well

Decoupage is nice way to embellish something itself, but you will give it a special touch if you add crackle technique. There are different crackle mediums, most common is one component crackle medium. It is used to break second color as I will explain soon.

When you are using this kind of crackle medium you will need darker and lighter acrylic colors. First paint your item with dark acrylic color, leave it to dry, than cover it with crackle medium. It looks like honey, it is mostly transparent, sticky and thick. Leave your item to dry completely, you will know it has dried when surface is no longer sticky. Now paint it with lighter acrylic color. If you want to add decoupage on it, you must use very light color such as white, light beige or any other pastel color with lots of white in it. You can apply this second color with brush or with sponge. Be careful to go ONLY ONCE over same part of the surface because otherwise you could ruin crackled look. If you are using sponge, crackles will be smaller and in many directions, with brush you will get your color break in streaks. Upper color, which is light, will break and in those cracks darker colors will become visible creating a vintage look.

After few hours your item will be dry and you can start applying napkins if you like.

Two components crackle medium is used differently and gives totally different look. It is used over finished item, meaning your item was colored in light color, napkin was applied and everything is totally dry. Then you apply first component thoroughly using dry brush. Leave it to dry and when it has dried you can apply second component. Take a look at manufacturer's instructions, but usually second component should be applied thicker. Thickest the second component and shorter the time of drying, your crackles will be bigger. When everything is dry crackles are not very visible so now you should use metallic powders and rub them into cracks to emphasize them. You can even use your old eyeshadow. Wipe off excess powder with soft cloth and finish everything with transparent varnish in spray-make sure it is not water based because it could eat up your metallic powder. Enjoy and results will be smashing.