This summer, in August, I took part in a paste paper workshop. And while I intended to blog about it, I ended up forgetting to! So here is my very late blog post on it. It won’t be very long, it’s mostly just pictures.

What is paste paper?

Paste paper is the process of decorating paper using paste and a color of some sort (either dyes or paints). It’s a very old technique and goes back to when bookbinders would not let any paste go to waste and use the left overs to decorate paper.

The workshop:

For our workshop, we had a variety of things at our disposal to play with. Ink and acrylic paint was available to use for coloring the paste.

After your paste is colored, you can apply it the paper – layers are often used, letting one layer dry before going over it in a second color and combing through to create a pattern. Combs, sponges, and other tools such as spatulas can be used to create a variety of effects!

The day was spent playing, we had no instructor, instead we worked using what we knew, what others knew, and books for inspiration. We had the change to try out things and experiment with how it worked!

It was a lot of fun! I preferred using the sponge to decorate. As I am often working on miniature books, creating patterns on the paper that could be used on small books was a goal of mine. But I also experimented with other techniques and tools!

Of course, it also makes a huge mess! That’s only a small result of my day making paste papers! The apron is much more colorful now…

I hope to get one more post up before the new year on the miniature books I’ve been working on, if you follow me on Instagram you can see the process and finished ones there! While those were made for a client I do hope to get a batch made for sale!

Until next time,