The découpage technique (Découpage: from French découper = cut up/cut out) is a classical technique for personalising and decorating a variety of surfaces with cut out, printed paper.
There are no limits to your creativity and imagination from such a wide range and variety of papers and motifs - from special découpage paper and wrapping paper to high-quality magazines etc. - as a découpage artist just choose your favourites and add them to your own pictures to complete your ideas.
For the classical method, printed papers are briefly soaked in water before glueing, then dried off carefully with a lint-free cloth, applied to the chosen surface with Collage-Glue and varnished if required.
Your perfect partner for realising this wonderful style of craftwork is Marabu Decoupage-Glue! It is ideal for all découpage papers, wallpaper technique and fabric collages - just try it!
The "dark side" of decoupage
To apply decoupage on dark materials, use Decormatt Acryl in White to paint the reverse side of the paper image and then use Decoupage Glue Pro to adhere it to the object (the step of soaking the paper in water is omitted for this). This trick prevents the dark background colour from showing through the thin paper.A tough job...
Thanks to it intensive, strong bond the decoupage glue can also be used for wallpaper technique.Brief guide to glueing
Always ensure to fully glue the paper designs to the object, i.e. no protruding edges. Pay special attention to the paper edges by applying the glue very carefully. Any air bubbles can be removed by brushing from the centre to the edges. A wallpaper roller is ideal for particularly large designs.Milky?
All varnishes appear milky in the jar and after application. The desired effect will appear after drying, though – transparent glossy, matt or satin-finish.Useful information about surface treatment
To obtain particularly smooth surfaces, we recommend applying a diluted base coat of Decoupage Varnish to the untreated wood and smoothing it with fine sand paper after drying. Then apply Decormatt Acryl or Decorlack Acryl to the dust-free surface as a primer. Highly absorbent materials and biscuit ware (unglazed porcelain/ceramics) become particularly smooth if the surface is thoroughly cleaned and then sealed with a layer of diluted Decoupage Varnish before applying any designs.Drying time for decoupage objects
The more absorbent the material and the more coats of varnish you apply, the longer the final drying time of the finished object.
