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I'm putting a finishing coat of toilet paper pulp on one of my projects and wondered if anyone has tried mixing drywall compound in to obtain a smooth surface. Or would that be sort of "cheating" on the purpose of crafting with paper?
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I'm sure I've read of adding it... I thought it was here, but when I did a search, it only brought up recent (since Sept) posts, and those only made reference to drywall MESH. Or maybe it was in a book.
Anyway, I just bought some for that purpose. I faintly remember someone saying to add extra water to retard set-up time, but I'm not entirely certain. I'm going to try it anyway, & see what happens.
I'm also going to try it in the FIRST application and see if affects the shrinkage. Then I'll try the whiting/chalk/calcium carbonate... as soon as I wade 30 miles through the snow to pick it up.
Sue
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You make me feel like an urban dweller even though I live on a dirt road with no other house in sight. 
I think whenever I put together my next cat, I'll make a few blobs to experiment on, like the poster with the balloon people who are dying a slow death outdoors. I was thinking of making the usual pulp mix and throwing in a glob of joint compound. (We're remodeling the house so there's always a bucket of the stuff somewhere.) I guess my only concern is that it might end up with a gritty feel. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Patience, patience, patience.
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Joint compound can be sanded. Of course, it does take time, but if it can offset other problems.... It's hard to get away from sanding if you want a smooth surface, anyway.
I live in a town with exactly one traffic light. There is a WalMart & KMart & some other stores about 25 min south, or the bigger "city" is a half-hour north. No decent fabric store ANYWHERE within reach, as JoAnne's has taken over the others and run them into the ground. (grumble, grumble....)
Mail order is looking better and better, except for the lack of instant gratification.... 
Sue
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I hate to shop and it's usually cheaper, too. The town I live in has 1 caution light and that's about it. We live 3 miles from the Vermont border and a town that has grocery stores, etc. There's a great art supply store, too, but it's kind of pricey. I generally find paints and brushes on ebay cheaper than anywhere else.
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I need to ignore that subject line when I reply, don't I? My posts don't make any sense unless you read it.
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Vinca,
I read somewhere about using joint compound, diluted until it is a thick cream like consistency and then painting it on, and then sanding. Repeating these steps until it is as smooth as you like. I would think this would work with dry wall stuff? If you try it let us know how this works out.
Moni
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Today I tried garden variety gesso with some powdered white chalk mixed in and it works quite well. New question from a wannabe artist: is there any difference between expensive gesso and cheap latex wall primer?
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Cheap latex wall primer is garbage for everything...:x ... including walls. This is from personal experience.
If you want to use wall primer, go for the gold and use the latex KILZ. It's about $8 a quart, $14 a gallon. About the only thing I haven't tried it on yet is PM, because I just recently thought of it, and I had used up what I had on walls (!) & I've been poor. I just today got a quart of it to see how it goes.
Delayed in my experiments due to losing my $5 Goodwill blender. I CAN'T FIND THE STUPID THING! AND I had to run my cat to the vet because blood was running from her nose. It's always something, isn't it? :evil:
Sue
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What was wrong with your poor cat??? As for primer, I usually use Benjamin Moore Fresh Start on new drywall and it seems to be okay. The gesso does seem creamier though, like partially whipped cream. Hope the cat is okay.
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Re: the cat. Head/sinus xrays for growths, anesthetized so they could look up her nose, and what they found is that one of my other cats SCRATCHED her inside her nostril! :evil: $150 down the toilet!
Grrrrr! "Black Bart and Vinnie, hold still for a minute while Mom wraps you with newspaper and white glue...." Perfect feline doorstops!
Take deep breaths! Take deep breaths...!
Sue
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ROFLMAO! Cats - you gotta love 'em.
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