Thursday 23 August 2018

A Journal Page Experiment on Handmade Paper

I had the opportunity to choose my own birthday present from my husband recently while on holiday.  I picked out a beautiful leather bound journal, embossed with the tree of life, containing six signatures of handmade paper.  I wasn't sure how the paper would handle journaling, so decided to experiment yesterday.  As it was my birthday, I chose that as my theme.


The page needed preparation before I dared to add paint, so I gave it a coat of Amsterdam clear gesso and allowed it to dry naturally.  Apart from a very slight change of colour the page wasn't affected, as you can see from the small section of the left hand page which had not been gessoed.
I added Distress paints in Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge and Barn Door, blending the paints with my fingers.  The texture of the handmade paper was retained and none of the paint seeped through to the back.
Next, I blended Sepia Archival ink through two Tim Holtz mini stencils (THMS002 and THMS003).
For additional interest, I stamped a selection of the IndigoBlu Collector's Edition stamps in Acorn Archival ink (No. 1 Bubbles, No. 2 French Script, No. 3 Bubbles, No. 4 Numbers, No. 7 Cogs and Gears and No. 10 Crackle).
Next I covered up the right hand part of the page with the silhouette face mask from IndigoBlu and added Ground Espresso Distress paint over the left hand side.  The lines were extended above and below the mask.
I decided to add some of the Tim Holtz design tape along the top and the left hand side in shades of browns and red.  I chose four from the Aristocrat and Travel sets.
Three of the Small Talk Occasions stickers (Tim Holtz idea-ology) were added to reflect the fact that it was my birthday.
Finally,  i added some Nuvo drops in a peach tone to finish off the 'candles' and tie in with the sentiments.
I love the way that the page turned out and am no longer afraid of using wet media in my journal.  As long as the page has been prepared in advance, there are no problems that I can see.  Now I just need a suitable medium to prepare a page for using watercolour media on top.

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