Deli papers and more

Today I'm beginning with my blog pick of the day. It belongs to Marilyn Rock. Although I want you to visit her blog and see all her beautiful art (and I do mean BEAUTIFUL), I want to start this post by treating you to two videos that Marilyn made this week, showing how easy it is to make backgrounds using deli papers.

Now it would be easy for me to take a few shots of me working with deli paper, but why would I ever do that when Marilyn has a much better tutorial than I could ever give. So check her tutorials out here and here. Does that mean I have my new technique for January (grin)?

Back to reality, I only spent a small amount of time in the studio yesterday because I had several errands that had to be taken care of before the deadly cold from Canada swept down on us, offering what many weather people were calling "record breaking lows."

I made these papers, which was the first step in the process. I still have to add stamping (yep, I'm going to use some rubber stamps), and what I'm calling accent colors, using the two scrapers you see on the table. One is from Tsukineko, is three sided, and called a "squeegee." One side has square, flat notches. It came from a scrapbook store. The other tool is called Pour-N-Restore, is four sided, and came in a concrete oil stain remover kit. It has three different sized V notches. It came with the kit from the hardware store (ACE). These will be used before I stamp. Marilyn shows others she uses, so you should have a good idea of what is available.

I might mention a few things I learned in the process of making mine that Marilyn may not have tried. I am used to mixing two colors of paint on whatever surface/substrate I'm working on. It isn't easy to do on deli paper. When I tried to mix the colors, they didn't mix together, but spread as two separate colors. There was something in the deli paper that just wouldn't allow the two colors to mix. It seems the paint skipped over itself, if that makes sense. I used the same type of deli paper (no wax) as Marilyn used, although mine is clear. I also used only acrylics, except for the copper Lumiere.

The far right sheet (all pink) is an example of two colors: white and bright pink. Both are in bottles and are Anita brand. Instead of the paint mixing together, they mottled. After awhile, the paint on top began to mix together, so I did finally get some variation. Unfortunately, my lo-res photo doesn't really show what I encountered.

For this project, I used six colors that I chose at random, along with my copper Lumiere (purple, green, turquoise, yellow, pink, and white). I just kept mixing the color combinations, or the colors themselves, to get a few different looks. I made a total of 16 pages in all.

I have played with deli paper before, but only for making transfers using my Xylene blender pen. It has a wonderful quality that becomes almost transparent when using it for a transfer. Marilyn showed it is just as much fun painting on deli paper. Because it is so lightweight, it can be used in just about anything. I think of gossamer when I see it. In fact, Marilyn showed some she sewed.

I bought mine from a friend who bought a box of 1000 at Sam's Club, which is a members only discount warehouse (see Silent Sunday photos here that were taken at Sam's). I'm not sure if Sam's is nationwide, but I know it is owned by WalMart and was named for Sam Walton. It is big in the midwest. I'm sure you could also pick it up at any restaurant supply store.

On a lighter note, while out and about yesterday, I saw this sign that cracked me up.

Can you see why I'm laughing?






And finally, one more thing to add to my side bar (is it never ending?). I will begin listing the link to each day's blog and the date that I posted it. If you miss a day and want to see what you've missed, or want to return to that blog, it will be available. Hopefully, in the next few days, I'll revamp my sidebar, also. Of course, I must find time to make some art, too. Now don't forget to visit Marilyn's blog. Her art is fantastic, and her painting and teaching skills are amazing.