Over the 4th of July I had a few days off from my real job and my vision was to spend the early morning sitting on my patio painting. It was peaceful and my creativity was heightened by all the light and beauty surrounding me.
Recently I’ve started printing my paintings on Rice Paper which is a thin paper with fibers weaved into it and a great decoupage medium. Rice Paper does not bubble or wrinkle as easily as decoupage papers. My Rice Paper line is growing and has been very successful on my website. With my Summer Blooms release I introduced a 5x7 option with 2 of the same prints or 2 different. I’m taking this opportunity to introduce my Fall Release right here on my blog, you're the first to know what they are. I'll share them at the end of this post.
I’d like to show with you how to use decoupage paper on small pieces that could bring some of my art into your home for very little investment. This is my Summer Blooms collection that has been selling well on my website. Thank you all so much for trusting in me and my art.
I had a 5x7 frame that would work perfect for the custom 5x7 Rice Paper images that I have on the website. I painted this frame with DIY Beadboard, my favorite white and let it dry. There was no hardboard for this frame so we cut out a thin board for the back and painted that white as well. When applying Paper of any type you always want the background to be white to enhance the papers colors.
If you don’t have a frame or would like to use the larger Rice Papers you can find a thrifted item with a solid surface for the same results. I used a scrap piece of board that was smaller than the 8.5-11.7” size of the Rice Paper to use by itself or a Mixed Media project.
I use DIY Crystal Clear Liquid Patina as a decoupage medium because it’s way better than any other brand I’ve tried. Seems to be less bubbles, wrinkles….. let’s use someone else’s words to describe it. DIY Liquid Patina is “The Secret Sauce”.
If your surface is small you can give it one good coat of the Liquid Patina making sure it’s not drying out on the edges, you’ll have to work quickly at this point. If the surface seems to dry out to quickly you can do them in sections that can be handled while wet.
This board was too small for the design, so I picked the section that I wanted to use and laid it down on the wet surface. Making sure it was straight and quickly smoothed out the wrinkles with my hands.
After I use my hands to make sure it’s adhered to the board, I use the IOD Brayer to go over the entire surface. This brayer has been the miracle worker in my decoupage skills, it seals the image flatter than you can with your hands, resulting in a finished product without wrinkles or bubbles.
When the paper is thoroughly dried you can take a piece of fine grit sandpaper and remove the excess. You will want to hold the sandpaper on the top of the image, right on the edge of the board and pull straight down until the sandpaper breaks through the rice paper.
Don’t sand back and forth because you could pull up the paper and cause a damaged edge. Straight down will give you a perfectly clean edge.
You are now ready to seal your paper. You can leave them unsealed but I don’t recommend it. The Secret Sauce (DIY Liquid Patina) can be used as a Top Coat. Add 1 or 2 layers of sealer to the top of the paper and let dry between coats.
After the sealer has thoroughly dried, I used DIY’s Clear Wax over the entire paper for an extra layer of protection and DIY Dark Wax on the edges of the board and then also on the paper to give it some age. The dark wax will wipe off if you have a clear wax or a sealer under it. If you don’t seal the paper the dark wax will stain pretty dark.
The 5x7 frame is the same process except the Rice Paper is printed in the 5x7 size the same as the frame so it can be cut before applying and no sanding is needed. Place the dried finished project into the frame with or without glass.
These projects are pretty inexpensive and simple with an end result of having some of Connie’s art in your home. If you are a creator for booth’s or markets you are allowed to sell them as well for other to enjoy.
Now for what you've all been waiting for.... Fall Release Rice Papers. Did you read down this far or jump to the bottom.
You can leave me a comment if you were Team Read or Team Jump.
Connie's Rice Papers - Fall Release
There are 6 new papers that I’m pretty dang proud of since I don’t really like fall and I really don’t like thinking about fall during the warm days of July. But trust me.... If you're a creator getting these Fall papers into your hands now will help with your Fall Market Sales.
Before I forget - If you're only ordering Connie's Rice Paper or JRV Papers, spend $15 and enter the code PAPERONLY and that will remove the shipping cost. This is for a limited time only so order soon.
Pink Pumpkin Roses and Spooky Night Crow
Pumpkin Reflection and What a Hoot
Fall Forest Floor and Stack Your Fall
What do you think? Which one's your favorite?
Did I capture some playful yet beautiful paintings? Maybe the summer mornings on the patio are just what I need to keep my creativity flowing. I hope these will make you as happy as they have made me.
REMINDER
If you're only ordering Connie's Rice Paper or JRV Papers, spend $15 and enter the code PAPERONLY at the checkout and that will remove the shipping cost. This is for a limited time only so order soon.
Now it's time to start on the Holiday Release. Drop me a comment, I love to hear from you all.
Until next time............. Happy Painting