Intrigued by this site: http://acollageaday.blogspot.com/, I bought Randel Plowman's Collage Workbook recently. After creating a small stash of roughly 3 x 3 inch backgrounds using black and white ephemera, I decided to try his technique of using color-photocopied images on tracing paper as the foreground subject of a collage. The illustrations and step-by-step instructions made it seem easy to obtain a good result. Using a small, vintage paper pamphlet I found in a junk shop in Amsterdam of cross-stitch subjects, I set out to merge the background and foreground layers using the book's recommended adhesive. The first one was a challenge - the tracing paper curled, buckled and resisted adhering to the background surface despite vigous rubbing with a bone folder. In the end I resorted to a quick application of medium, swift placement of the tracing paper, and a fast pass through my etching press, sandwiched between two layers of wax paper. Only after using the press did I achieve a smooth and regular surface. After 30 repetitions, I think I have it down. What do aspiring followers of Randel do without a press? Am I the only workbooker to have had this experience? Many more images here.