I had an interesting time when I went to my friend, Mrs. I's, house on Tuesday. Mrs. I is very crafty, knitting, weaving, painting, doing dried flower art etc. She always has an interesting project going on!
On this day, two of us visited Mrs. I and she asked if we would like to do some paper dying. Do you have to ask?! Of course! Out came the supplies, regular acrylic paints, even some tole paints, Japanese paper used for practicing calligraphy. It wasn't actually washi paper (hand made paper from fibers) but it was a non-shiny paper that "grabbed" ink.
In about an hour and a half, the three of us had made numerous pages of colorful paper by folding the paper and dipping the corners and sides in different puddles of paint on our pallets.
Aren't they colorful! Now what to do with all this color...
So I came home and gave it some thought... I've kept up with Bullet Journaling the last 6 months and my bullet journal has actually turned into a sort of scrapbook/art journal/Bible study journal. All sorts of things get added to it! Okay... I need to put a page of my new dyed paper into my journal!
I have been lurking on Valerie Sjodin's blog and I love her use of color and Bible verses and quotes (and bullet journaling). I decided to recreate one of her pages... well loosely recreate. I used most of her quotations and many of her ideas but I sure can't do her artwork!!!
I had so much fun with this project! First to figure out how to glue the paper to the page (tore my first attempt) and then I penciled in writing. Finally I went over the writing with many of my different pens I've bought in the past months and doing the Bible quotation in a vibrant blue Frixion pen I really like and use for many of my Bible verses in the bullet journal to make them stand out.
I chose the quotes and the idea from Valerie because when dying the papers I realized how unique each one was turning out. I'd try to use the same colors as my friend but our two papers would come out completely different! I continued the idea of individuality by adding numerous snowflakes in gold and white.
And all the time copying the quotations and Bible verse I had in mind my grandson who will be born next month... My art project was very meaningful for me and I am very glad that I have these two pages recorded in my bullet journal. (And I do realize how ironic it is to have chosen the word UNIQUE and then try copying an idea but that's the way I work... in patchwork too!)
I'd actually used quite a lot of water when glueing down the colorful paper and so as a last step I ironed my bullet journal pages flat. BIG MISTAKE!!! Um... That Frixon pen...? Does anyone remember that the way Frixion pens erase the pen marks is with HEAT caused by friction when rubbing the "eraser" back and forth? Well, I forgot that little piece of information and when I looked at my page the Bible verse had completely disappeared!!! Ah! Heat! Not necessarily from friction but any heat will make the ink disappear.
I had a similar color in a non-Frixion pen and I rewrote my Bible verse on my page... BUT I also realized that at least 5 pages back in my bullet pages entries, my Bible verses had disappeared! I spent a good hour going back and rewriting those verses, again with my Frixion pen... Unless my bullet journal comes in contact with a fire I don't think my pages are in danger of disappearing again...
I've got a lot more paper that I made so I'll probably have another fun day of paper and pens and quotations at a later date!
How very pretty! It's always fun to try something new and you found a beautiful use for the paper you decorated. I remember trying my hand at making wrapping paper some time ago. Such fun!
ReplyDeleteIt is unique in that you did your own thing with the page and the quotes, etc.
ReplyDeleteYou are inspiring me to look further into bullet journaling! As a quilter, I used to mark my quilting lines with Frixion pens. After quilting, I ironed to erase the marks. However, living in a cold country, I found that the marks returned if the quilts got cold (left in the car in the winter). Ironing again removed them. This may be true of Frixion pens on paper,too.
ReplyDeleteYes, my sewing club friends warned of the disappearing and reappearing Frixion pen lines, depending on temperature. I don't know if this happens on paper because the reports of those quilt lines coming back in the cold kept me from ever buying the pens. I worry about any chemical marking on quilts and what happens over time. (Use of fusible webbing too.) If I have to mark a quilt, I prefer to do it with chalk, blue painter's tape, or by cutting out shapes from cardstock and taping them down temporarily. If you cut the shapes a little smaller than your desired quilting size, you can sew up next to the shapes and then lift them off to reposition them. Kind of a quilt stencil or guide that leaves no mark.
DeleteFunny I should come to your blog post right after studying some origami videos and wondering how the art of paper folding could be applied to the art of fabric folding. Ever since I made a quilt using gathered fabric for block centers, I've been wanting to experiment further with creating texture. Now I'm thinking the art of paper folding and dying could also apply to fabric! Look at how your paint/ink marks would be perfect on fabric. Look at the mathematics of those folds...
ReplyDeleteI love your papers - like shibori. Beautiful and your bullet journal spread is so lovely! In form and in content. Try putting your journal in the freezer for a couple hours and see if those Frixion words don't reappear!
ReplyDeleteIt's my understanding if you place your item you used your friction pen on after ironing the picture will come back.the ink reappears at 17 or 14 degrees F. I forget which.
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