Mod Podge Crackle

Welcome to technique hump day! Today's technique? An easier way to crackle!

Ok, I discovered this one completely by accident (sometimes the best designs are complete accidents). You are probably familiar with crackle medium. If you're not, here's how it works:

First you paint a surface, let it dry. Then you cover the painted surface with crackle medium, let it dry. Then you paint the crackled surface with another coat of paint, let it dry. In the end you get a cracked surface the color of your top coat of paint with cracks the color of your bottom coat of paint. The crackle medium is clear. The down sides to the technique? The fact that you first have to own crackle medium (or the new Ranger Crackle Paint)..and...the fact that it can take days for a crackle project to completely dry.

Why is this new method better? Well, it uses Mod Podge, which many of us already have it our stashes. Second, it dries really quick.

Ok, there are a couple of differences in the results. The Mod Podge method doesn't work as well on an already painted surface (it does work, just not as well), so you have to not mind if your cracks are the color of your underlying material. If you do mind, you can always run an ink pad over your finished surface to color the cracks. Second, the results are more subtle...the cracks are smaller. This is a cool result though...keep looking.

Here's how it's done. Get a piece of raw chipboard. Brush a coat of Mod Podge on the surface, doesn't seem to matter how thick. Let the Mod Podge dry, at least mostly, it takes about a minute. Then, brush on your chosen paint color. Just as with regular crackle medium, it will take several hours for the cracks to fully develop.

Here are my results:

Using bouncing/circular paint strokes (i.e., no particular direction), remember you can click for bigger picture:
Using linear paint strokes (up and down or side-to-side), remember you can click for a bigger picture:
The linear version of this technique results in a cool wood-grained look and feel, perfect for creating wood-like accents out of lighter weight chipboard.

Thanks for joining me for this Technique Hump Day. Have a great Hump Day!