Making Paste Paper

So I've been pinning/reading about paste paper and was intrigued by the idea that I could cook flour and water and add paint to it and then use it like finger paint to create background papers for my visual journal. So a group of us decided to experiment and see what we could create.

We followed the recipe here on My Handbound Books- Bookbinding Blog.

I covered our working surface with plastic table cloth and cut large pieces of paper to work with.
We also used smaller card stock squares.

I found that cutting notches into gift cards were a great marking tool.

I found other mark making tools. 

Cooking the flour-water paste in a double boiler.

Add acrylic paints in small amounts.

Spread onto paper using a foam brush, a spoon, or a brayer.

Using a brayer to spread the paint to an even thickness.

Lego made a cool mark!

Adding two colours and swirling on top of swirls.

cake decorating tool

I pressed fresh hydrangea leaves into the paste.

I used old map paper to add paint to. More translucent paint (more paste, less paint in the mix)
would have worked better. 

Once the papers dried overnight (again on plastic table cloths I laid out on the pingpong table), the papers curled. I ironed them by using a low iron and ironing right on the BACK of the paper. I put down a towel onto my ironing board first.
Can't wait to use my finished papers as a foundation for something else!