Making paste papers: a tutorial

There's a funny story behind today's post. I actually created this tutorial in June, 2006. I wasn't blogging back then, even though I had this blog, but created it for a lesson on ABC, my altered book Yahoo group.

Thursday I did a modification of this technique and wanted to reference my tutorial. That's when I went looking on my blog for my paste paper tutorial. I spent hours trying to find it, even though Blogger is fairly good with their search feature, providing you know keywords. When I couldn't find "paste papers," I typed in "Sta-flo" and other nonsense until I was convinced I had never posted it on my blog.

Since the post I had intended to show yesterday was a follow up to a paste paper tutorial, I decided I no longer had time to search for it, and went with Plan B (which if you were here yesterday was Halle's signatures). To make a long introduction even longer, I found the photos of the tutorial stored on a Yahoo site at low resolution. So you can bet they are not going to be the sharpest photos in the drawer, but at least I don't have to recreate the tutorial. Enough said. Let's make some paste papers.


From upper left clockwise:
Cups for mixing
Cheap acrylic craft paint
Sta Flo liquid starch (found at discount stores, drug stores, and supermarkets in the laundry section)
Various papers and substates
Credit cards cut using decorative scissors
Foam brush
Knitting needle
Bamboo skewer
Rotary cutter for pie crusts
Comb/pick
Pastry cutter

I am not sure if Sta-Flo is available in all countries, but it's concentrated liquid starch, so any concentrated liquid starch should work.

Using your first cheap acrylic craft paint color, mix about 1 part paint to about 4 parts Sta Flo in a mixing cup. Stir well, then apply the first color with a brush. This is not an exact science, so if the mixture is too thin or too color saturated, add a bit more liquid starch. If too thick, or not enough color, add more craft paint. You don't need expensive acrylic paint for this technique, since the colors will become diluted anyway.

Use a different mixing cup for each paint/Sta-flo concoction. I prefer to wait until the first color is dry before applying the second color, but you can brush the second color on at any time. Just be aware that when you apply the second color over the first wet color, you take the chance of losing the two distinct colors.

Pick a tool, any tool, and, before the second color dries, begin running lines through it. The above lines were made with the pastry blender. Allow your pieces to dry. However, if you don't like your design, simply smooth the top color out with your foam brush and begin again. When pleased with your design, set aside to dry.

I realize now that this was probably a very boring photo, because I didn't change my paint colors even though I used substrates with very different weights. On the left is some 110 lb card stock in which I used a hair pick to make the design. In the middle, and underneath everything is a large sheet of butcher paper that I used the pastry cutter on. In the back are (left) card stock and (right) photo mat decorated with a plastic hotel card I cut using decorative scissors. On the front right

is a better view of a photo mat decorated using a rotary pie crust edger.

Tomorrow my dear cyber friend Caterina Giglio begins her four week on-line "Transfer Love" class, in which she will be teaching all kinds of wonderful transfer techniques. You can check it out here. I bet it's not too late to sign up, either.

Today I'm thinking about all those lovely pets many of us own. Julie Palmer is a pet portrait artist from the UK and my blog/artist pick of the day. If you are a pet owner, you might enjoy her web site filled with cat, dog, and horse portraits. Have a great Saturday and celebrate this last day of July, 2010.

Second set of signatures for my friend Halle

I intended to have a different post today and save this one for when I needed a backup. But the post I was planning to have didn't happen, so it's time to pull out what I will call Plan B. Now I know Halle doesn't feel that way, and I don't want to belittle the post by allowing you to think these signatures make for any less importance than any other post, because that's not the case. So without further blundering about on my part introduction, I will now show my final set of signatures for Halle, and my final set of signatures that I have made. Yep, there are no more books and no more unfinished signatures. However, I hope to start a new set in the near future when I actually nail down what the color teal is!

This is the first page in the second set. See the striped piece at the bottom of the page. It flips up and wishes a happy birthday to ME from Halle. I just added a few words of my own and included it back to her. The ultimate repurposed gift tag.

The smaller page on the right has a postcard you can flip over for added journaling.



Blue duct tape holds the right side image on the page which is actually an envelope.

Yep, the left side is an old envelope I got in a swap. Mail art turned into book art. On the right are a few pink scraps. Halle LOVES pink.

More pink on left and scrapbook paper over a doily on right.



Mostly magazine images and a heart cut from lined paper.

I accented the heart with paint. National Geographic turpentine paper on right, along with a stenciled sticker.

Another turpentine paper on left. Background technique square on right.

Background square technique on left, remainder of mail envelope on right covered with a Chinese cookie box.

Another oriental page. I keep forcing them on Halle. Magazine image on right with note paper.

Images on left were stamped. Lines were made using corrugated cardboard.

More pink background techniques I've made in the past. Tea bag string and label along with canceled stamp on right.

Circles cut from a calendar, sewn over ribbon. I tried to include any and every type of pink I had for this book. I don't do pink well, so I'm not sure I carried it off. However, I know Halle liked the book and that's all that counts, right?

Today's blog is actually the web site of Elaine Pamphilon. Not sure where I found it, but if you like quirky and unique paintings, you will love this site. Loads of photos of her artwork abound. Have a great day and a fantastic weekend everyone.

What's On Your Worktable Wednesday # 60

Nikki, who made the lovely blog button I'm using this week, and I live in different time zones from Julia, where the WOYWW madness begins links are kept.

So in all fairness, I took these photos on Tuesday, but that only means I'm still behind you UK and far east gals!

Once again, I was deeply touched by all the wonderful and beautiful comments I got last week. I was really taken by how many of you chose to visit, and (like Julia pointed out) although it was not intended to be a house tour, how generous your comments were about my home. I realize that many of you have far nicer (and more modern) homes than I, but I sure appreciate all your wonderful comments. I will continue to show a few of my rocking horses over the next few months. I have more rooms and more horses for you to inspect, so be prepared. And yes, it took me through Saturday, but I made it to every WOYWWer last week. I think it was a record week with 140 links, too. This week I may take a bit longer to reach you, since I'm off with friends the next couple of days.

This week, as the grass grows taller in the back yard, Wendy and I are outside early in the day to attempt some fabric dyeing.

On my in-need-of-a-new-paint-job back patio table are some dye inks I bought last week for a song, Wendy, distilled water in orange spray bottle, a door stop rocking horse I used to hold down the plastic covering the table (it was quite windy and no real way to hide or disguise this cast-iron baby), two lengths of PVC pipe with cotton scrunched on them, along with other folded or tied cotton fabric for dyeing. I'll step it out in a tutorial tomorrow if anyone is interested in returning.

Do you start recognizing the icons/avatars of artists you want to visit each week? I sure have. It took awhile, but I'm finally recognizing all the wonderful WOYWWers who visit and whose names I can now remember. One of the names that struck me before I ever read one of her posts was Cardarian, my blog pick of the day. By her own admission, she is a card maker who is also a librarian, thus the name of her blog: Cardarian's Happy Place. Cardarian lives in Slovenia. If you are geography challenged like me, you'll be glad to know Slovenia is a country in Europe to the east of Italy, that lies between the Alps and the Mediterranean. So don't forget to stop by and tell her hi today.

Tea, lemon, biscuits, and art book giveaways

Are you hot this T Tuesday? It's really hot, humid, and very much summertime here in Kansas (in the US). In fact, it's already so hot and sticky humid from our recent rain, I am staying in this morning.

This lovely old pitcher reminds me of summers when my Grandmother filled it with ice, then made lemonade in it. Guess I could have used it a couple of weeks ago when I drank lemonade. Today, however, it is going to hold iced tea with a large slice of lemon. Unfortunately, I am running behind and have yet to make the tea.

Today's tea is Black Dragon, a quality Oolong tea from the island of Formosa, or what we know as Taiwan (located in the Pacific in East Asia).

I included some chocolate covered biscuits that I got at a specialty store last week. I believe the image on this one represents the large Ferris wheel in London.

And I'm pretty sure this one is in England, too, because when I first saw it, I thought it looked like the Tower of London.

There's no mistaking this one. Even I know what this one is!

I love the 40's or maybe 50's painted flowers on this old pitcher.

You can tell it has gotten a lot of loving use over time.

And I was simply intrigued by how the lemon really popped against the cobalt blue handmade glass plate.

I want to let everyone know about a couple of giveaways, too. There are no catches, no tweets, no chirps, no sidebar clutter, no following into hell, just a nice comment is all that is required to be entered in these two ART BOOK giveaways:

Seth at the Altered Page is giving away Angela Cartwright's book "Mixed Emulsions." This is a fantastic book and I would love to own it. The direct link is here. Comments close this Saturday.

Marlynn at Honeysuckle Breeze is giving away a book on Zentangles, called "Zentangles 2." I can't possibly imagine anyone bought the first one (grin), and I don't think Marlynn can either. I've made one zentangle and I think Marlynn has me beat by a couple. However, if you enjoy these zen(less)tangles (and I know a LOT of you do), be sure to enter the giveaway here which also ends Saturday.

I really must go. The kettle is whistling and I need to cut the lemon, grab some ice, and fill the tea diffuser with tea. Have a wonderful Tea Tuesday and please hop over to Kimmie's blog for links to the rest of my Tuesday tea drinking friends.

This week's tea blog goes to a real tea enthusiast. You only have to read a few posts to know Adam Yusko of The Sip Tip really knows what he's talking about. His knowledge of tea and his photos that accompany each post, will make him a real favorite in your eyes too, I'm sure. And I bet you learn a lot about tea you never knew. I have no idea where Adam lives, but The Sip Tip reaches teas from around the world.

Resist paint: dyeing for flour

This is a surface design technique for fabric that is cheap to make, but time consuming. When finished, you will have fabric that can be dyed using reinkers or color mists. It is done in three stages. We will begin with the first stage, which I started yesterday morning. Please be aware, this is a very long post.

Supplies clockwise from left top:
Measuring cup
Extra fabric
Marking tools
Low tack masking tape
Small plastic cup
Sharpie
Flour
Bamboo skewer
Squeegee
Spoon for mixing ingredients
Plastic container
Water
Fabric taped one edge only to plastic bag or other water resistant surface.

Right after my debacle with the non-flour, I was telling my neighbor Sally about it. She said she had some old flour I could have, so Sunday morning I headed to her place and picked it up. Before I did anything, I marked the container to read "Flour for crafts." No mistaking this container.

I began (as before) with equal parts flour and water.

Be sure to get out all the lumps.

When completely mixed, run a bead of the mixture along the taped edge of your fabric.

Beginning on one side, pull the flour/water mixture, which I will now refer to as the resist, down using a squeegee.

Continue this all the way to the other end.

If you run out of resist, simply apply more wherever it is needed on the fabric. You may need to make more resist as you work.

Here is the piece after I have added the resist, but before I have added any design.

Use your favorite marking tool and run it through the resist. Wipe your tool after each swipe.

Use a small plastic cup to add circles (if desired).

Add marks, squiggles, swirls, or circles until you are happy with your design. Any place that still has flour will resist the paint.

Remove the piece to a safe place for drying.

Repeat with your next piece of fabric. You can see that by not taking a photo half way through the pour process, I got better coverage, although I'm not sure how critical it is.

Try to use all your resist mixture because it simply won't last. I used about 3 1/2 cups (3.31 metric cups) of flour for these pieces. And in the summer heat, it's even more vulnerable. I ran out of large plastic bags to tape my fabric to, or I would have continued all afternoon.

I even tried removing one from the plastic bag, but it doesn't work because the wet gooey fabric flips over onto itself and erases all your design efforts.

When you have completed this step, it's time to clean up. The only repeat supply you will need for the next part of this tutorial is your pitcher of water. You should clean all tools and remove the flour from them. Use a large pail of water to do this. While you are waiting for the fabric to dry, put all tools and supplies away. Then, dispose of any excess flour/water mixture and the water you washed your tools in outside. Don't pour them down the drain, not even your toilet drain.

Allow the fabric and resist to dry completely. This will take anywhere from several hours to overnight. I checked after two hours and they weren't dry, so I allowed four hours for total drying.

You can set up the supplies for the second phase of this at any time. However, you will need to wait until the resist on your fabric is completely dry.

Supplies clockwise from left top:
Cheap chip brush or bristle brush (not foam)
Cheap acrylic paint (Do not use dyes or inks)
Fabric paint
Cups, one for each color
Water
Dry fabric from first stage

You should be able to tell when your fabric is dry, because the surface design will change color. Once completely dry, you can leave it like it is, or scrunch it into a ball, which will add cracks for added interest, then straighten it back out.

Mix approximately equal parts paint and water in a cup.

Scrub the paint into the fabric. You have to get the paint in the depressions left from the marks in the resist.

Mix fabric paint with acrylic craft paint, or use whatever paint you have. Use only paint, no ink. Ink will dilute during the next stage, and your efforts will be in vain.

Once again, lay your fabric out to dry. This could take a few hours or overnight. I allowed two hours for the paint to dry. The drying time was less than the previous stage, but it still took a long time.

I placed mine on the hot concrete and that helped them dry faster than in the grass.

While waiting, clean your brush(es), put your paint away, dispose of your mixing cups, and clean up your work area again. This time you can put all your supplies away, including your water pitcher.

While waiting, fill a large bucket with water for stage three. This is the only supply you will need.

Before going to the next stage, test your fabric to see if it is completely dry. This one wasn't, but

this one was.

Even the back is interesting and by looking on the back, you can tell where you missed the resist, or where the paint seeped through.

Place the fabric in the bucket of water and

submerge. Allow to sit in the bucket for about thirty minutes, then remove and scrub off the remains of the resist. Let me assure you that no matter how much of that resist you think you have out of the fabric, there will be some left.

Here is the piece after it was washed. It's not as pretty in this photo

but it is quite lovely up close.

I allowed the rest of the fabric to dry in the late afternoon sun, got new water in the bucket, and went inside to eat a bite.

The next thing I knew, it was raining. Not a heavy downpour, but that muggy, steamy drizzle type rain that stifles everything. I put the remaining pieces of fabric in the pail and went back inside. I will check on them today, because it took forever to get the photos off my camera and this written up. I had hoped to have this posted sooner for all my friends who live in earlier time zones, but that didn't happen. And although I haven't finished the process, be sure to dispose of your water OUTSIDE.

Lessons learned:
1. The bamboo skewer was the most effective tool for this project. The other spreaders permitted too much paint to seep under the resist.
2. You must scrub the paint into the fabric, or it will only sit on the surface and simply not work.
3. Dark colors work best.
4. You will need at least a day, possibly two for this technique.

Today's blog is one I found during One World One Heart. Sandi at Sharing My Daze is a scrapbooker, but also an altered artist who is participating in the Compendium of Curiosities challenge. She makes tags, twinchies, pennants, decorates coasters, and much more, using more products by Tim Holtz and Claudine Hellmuth than I think are at Mrs. O'Leary's (see Friday's post). I am sure her "scrap cave" as she calls it, is filled to the brim with enviable tools, products, and paper that any crafter would love to play with. To top it all off, she has taken on an exchange student this year. I'm not sure where she lives, but I think it's in the US. If you like Tim Holtz type of art, be sure to check out Sandi's blog today.