Glueing paper to wood

[Seahorse]

Im trying to glue a paper picture onto soem wood.
I thought just pva the back, stick it on smoothing it out so no bubbles occur, then pva over the top, wait for it to dry then varnish.

But, the pic has bubbled when I pva the front, any ideas?

[swirlyarts]

Have you tried varnish? I'm not sure which type you would need but Peter might be able to help as he helped someone on here with a similar request. It involved wallpaper but similar none the less!!

[Seahorse]

Hmm, wallpaper.
Im intrigued!

[swirlyarts]

Doh - just re-read your original post and see that you were planning to varnish it anyway!! If you are varnishing it would you need to pva glue it first? Obviously you would for the back but would you need to for the front?

[Seahorse]

Obviously you would for the back but would you need to for the front?

I just get the impression I should as it would bind it all together, like a cocoon(no idea where that cocoon comment just came from!!).
I think it needsa a solid overal contact on the back of the pic to the wood ie using pvc.I feel if I use something like pritstick it may not stay on even if varnished over
I shall experiment over the weekend.

[Gill]

Aerosol spray contact adhesives (available from most stationers) are excellent for this. If you will be removing the picture or paper later, use the repositionable type rather than the permanent type.

Surprisingly, I've also found Copydex is quite good for this too. However, nothing's as good as the spray adhesive.

Gill

[Seahorse]

Thanks!
I beleive i have some at home.

[Seahorse]

Just letting you know Ive just glued some paper to wood with spray adhesive.
I will varnish it at some point and let you know how it goes.

[Peter]

Sorry guys - I missed this one. The reason it bubbled is that when the adhesive dries, the paper shrinks due to the moisture evaporating, when it was between the paper and the backing (wood) it would have dried at about the same rate, but just coating with pva would have the effect of putting the paper in water - it wouldn't dry evenly, I would also be tempted to use watercolour varnish to finish it off, not as durable, but gentler.

[Gill]

Good luck! I spray mine with an acrylic lacquer aerosol. It worked a treat with a jigsaw I made last year out of an old Christmas Card.

I'd post a picture of it, but I can't because I haven't made 25 posts on this forum yet. Nor will it let me upload the picture as an attachment.

Gill

[Seahorse]

I just varnished over the original pva picture on wood and that has gone fine(tho still bubbled form pva)
I have also varnished a plain piece of paper I spary mounted to wood, the varnish sank through it and made it all wet looking.
Both are drying so I shall wait for the outcome.

Teh original is a photocopied picture whereas the second experiment is plain paper, maybe the ink has summit to do with it or the pva covering stops the varnish sinking in??!!

Why cant craft be easy!!!

[Seahorse]

The original picture on wood has come out perfick
The spray mount ic on wood, then varnished has come out blotchy.

I think Im will spray mount the pic on wood, then put a layer of pva over the top, then varnish.

[Gill]

You'll get a better result if you omit the coat of PVA and just use a clear acrylic lacquer aerosol than you will with varnish over a coat of PVA. Moreover, varnish turns a browny-yellow as it ages.

[Seahorse]

Ok, thanks, il have a look out for some.