Grow Old ~ Mounted & Framed

By now, the "Grow Old" embossing will have been received by the happy couple! It's really hard to photograph behind glass.... when the lettering showed up well, the glass was full of reflections on the photo. 

Anyway, this is what it looked like; you can see the overall effect of the banana backing paper & mount with the wood frame... it's very natural. Even in 'real life' the effect of embossing relies on the light... the 'barely there' look draws you in to look closer.... subtle... 

 The paper used for backing & to cover the mount is cotton rag with banana, made by Khadi. I often cover the mount with the same paper that I have used.... I feel that a regular mount is often too 'hard', especially against a handmade paper and I never find just the right white or black to suit various white or black papers.

I have done another with the mount covered in the same white paper, in this case Arches watercolour... it give a streamlined look, nice & clean... minimalist...

An alternate mount with sanwaa tissue over the white: This keeps the subtlety, but introduces another texture... it is so sheer & light, with flecks of real gold & silver leaf. It just adds another dimension to any paper... i use it so much!

Vintage Book Pages for Collage

 There's something almost sacrilegious about tearing up old books...

 even though they are battered i feel like i'm committing a crime...

but it would be more of a crime, i think, if they were to be tipped in a skip, or to lie in a box in some dark attic, or to gather dust on a shelf.... untouched, unread, unloved...

i checked they weren't valuable... in monetary terms....

their value is in the oldness, their feel & smell, the memories that someone else, perhaps long gone, has of receiving them... of turning their pages...

(now available in the shop)

But even if they did turn out to be a rarity, i argue with myself, that this way, they bring joy to many people, not just one collector who has the means to keep such things for their eyes only...

No, this way, people can play with...

doing what they....

Lisa~ Mudhound Studio

in many other ways...

Cat~ La Dolce Vita

Sam~ Surfacing

I remember watching with a sense of fascination as Fiona began "the burning" which led to this display...

Fiona~ Paper Ponderings

Yes, in this way, the words on the pages become something much more than the original author or publisher could have ever envisioned... mini masterpieces of texture & sentiment, filled with the love & passion of the artists who create them (and no doubt some anguish at times too). Things of beauty that bring joy, not only to the creatrix/creator, but to all of us who view & swoon over them....