the Wonders of Deli Paper in your Bible - Sarah Anderson

As those of you who know me know, I am not into gesso - life's just too short!  I'm a dive in kind of person and gesso just doesn't work for me.  I'd rather just use things that don't bleed through the thin pages of my bible, or use a 'fix' when they do.  One of those is deli paper.

Deli paper is a thin, tissue paper-like paper, that is waxed on one side.  I have bought mine from Art from the Heart, Harrogate, and Amazon (just type deli paper into the search).  I was introduced to deli paper through my gelli plate, which I'll provide a step by step for in my next post, but you can just add paint with a brush or baby wipes:

Using the non-waxed side of the paper, add patches of different coloured craft acrylic paint (I buy mine in Hobbycraft) with a paintbrush.

Again with the paintbrush, add some paint to a piece of sequin waste (often available in children's 'craft kits' eg at Ryman's) then print with this onto your paper.  You can also stencil through it.

Another great way to add pattern to your page is with this plastic mesh you find in the sewing section at Hobbycraft (other stores are available!) ...

...or by printing with bits of card that you might have lying around.  Keep your eye out around the house for bits and bobs that would made for great texture eg splattering paint with an old toothbrush, printing with a cork from a wine bottle.

You'll usually find me adding paint to paper with a baby wipe so I tested this out on the deli paper too.

This time I added paint through a stencil, as well as through sequin waste.

The beauty of deli paper is that it is thin and light so glues easily to, and sits well on, bible pages.

In this margin I added some stamping on top of the deli paper demonstrated in the step by step above, as well as some lettering (from a StencilGirl stencil) and an owl I stamped and cut out.  Proverbs is full of wisdom, hence the owl, and tells us to 'listen' a lot!!

Whilst camping at New Wine I attempted to carry a pot of soya milk and my bible in the same bag - which resulted in some soggy pages.  I've fixed the front cover with some ugly duct tape (I will improve it with stickers, washi tape...) but for the inner pages, many of which ripped, I used my stash of deli paper.

It's strong, it's light ...

...and it's pretty!