Long time since I've done decoupage but anyone burning anything on edges hold it over the kitchen sink if it flares up you have water on hand!! Can see some newbies getting in trouble here!! Want everyone to be safe!! I recently made cookies & the wax paper was about 8 in. from stove,I had put the cookies away but had some others to frost. I put water in a pan & turned on gas stove, that wax paper shot over & flames were going above the stove hood, I dumped the water I had just put on stove on it to get it out. I had had waxed paper there a thousand times over the yrs. Don't know what caused it to "creep" to heat & was really scarey. We don't know what they are putting in things these days so use the sink!! Jan

What a nice gift. Valentines day? Most people who do decoupage profesionally (or who have tried to like me,lol) coat with urethane not glue for exactly this reason. On the other hand I keep a bottle of Mod Podge or Aileens on hand for projects like sticking calendar pics to cardboard recycling boxes and I haven't had that problem with either of them. So called decoupage glue is a combination of white glue (like elmers regular) urethane and water. First: Let it dry some more! I'm wondering if you've got too much on in which case you may need a lot more drying time. Have you used so much that you could wipe it with a slightly damp face cloth without damaging the imagery, then let dry? If not don't and either way once its had more drying time such as another day in warm dry place with the pages separated so air can circulate, I would try Krylon Krystal Clear spray on one part of one page (mask the rest and spray a corner) and see if that helps. 2 light coats let dry between. I emphasize that you need to let the glue dry all that it can first. Krylon Crystal clear is my fave spray urethane, and the one I use to spray images before gluing so the ink doesn't run. I have also used it on quickie projects to protect the image, and it doesn't seem to react with the glue, tho I haven't put it on a totally glue covered image. good luck kathy

Thanks Joanie, Kathy Kromer is an artist in Texas, not my niece, I did a separate canvas with a photo of my niece as well because the little boy and her are siblings. I would be happy to pull it out and photo it for you this weekend, it's much better looking (In my opinion). She is about 3 and dressed like a baby would be back in the 30's or 40's. To do it, I used a stretched canvas. I found 2-3 decorative papers that related to my subject and tore them into pieces. I placed them randomly on the canvas and I don't believe I covered it completely. I used Gesso to decoupage them into place. Gesso is a versatile paste like product that you can find in the painting section at any art store, it dries clear. One thing that is key is to try to include some papers that have some color to them because you want a little contrast. I printed a black and white copy of the photo I wanted to use (be sure to use a laser printer so the ink doesn't spread) tore the photo down to just the focal point and added it to the canvas as well. To age it, I used umber brown acrylic paint with a tiny bit of water mixed in to thin it down. I spread it all over the entire canvas, let it sit for a quick second and then quickly wiped it off. After its all aged and dried, I used a stencils I found at Michael's to make the diamonds and little swirlies which were painted with teal. For the lettering, I used stamps. You can't see it in the picture but to help age it even more I then used fragile crackle and to preserve it, I put a thin layer of sealer. In person the crackling isn't real obvious and the piece looks like it's very old. There's a lot of steps to make it but I loved doing it because you get to use so many mediums and can really get creative with it.

Not sure what you're asking about water, but I don't use water at all, just glue. Decoupage will fade if the paper/inks you're using are not sun stable. Magazine pictures usually fade for me, especially the reds. Some colors and inks are more stable. I usually use white glue, since I found a good deal on gallon size. Mod Podge always stays sticky for me, but I've heard they now make a version that hardens. You could use regular MP for most of the work, then use the hard stuff as a final coat, or final coat with a spray varnish or white glue. MP and glue don't need sanding between coats, but oil-base varnishes might, especially if they'll be exposed to wear, like furniture. One coat of glue is enough for me, more coats will give a thicker coating which you might like. You might want to cover the entire panel with a background paper (I like book pages, but wrapping or scrapbook paper would look nice, too, then lay out your pictures on top of that. How big is your panel? Sounds like you're putting a lot of different things on it. Might be nice to put your most important interest in the center, or maybe one that relates to the others. For instance, put a family picture in the center, then maybe if you garden with your daughter, put the gardening pictures near her. Does that make sense? It might help to lay out your whole piece before starting to glue (excellent advice I rarely follow). Cut out a panel-shaped piece of paper, then lay out the pictures in various ways until you're happy. A tiny bit of BluTak on the back of each piece would hold them in place temporarily but remove easily.