Using Rice Paper in a Different Way: Creating Ephemera for an Art Journal Page

I do love using rice paper and, if you look through my previous projects, you'll probably notice that I often use it as a background. This time, though, I wanted to show that it can be used in a different way.

For this art journal page, I chose a stylised design from Ciao Bella's Ethereal Collection. Instead of sticking the rice paper directly to the art journal page, I roughly cut out the images I wanted to use and stuck them to white card. Once everything was dry, I cut all the different images out. They became my ephemera or accent pieces!

Because the imagery is very detailed, I decided to keep the background plain(ish) ... definitely more muted than my normal style! It's also a little different from my usual go-to.

I created the backgrounds on separate pieces of card. The background is quite simple but still layered, with most of the detail added around the edges and soft blending moving towards the centre. I also added a little inking through a Ciao Bella stencil from the same collection, Harmonious Flowering, using soft pinks and golds.

Sadly, the photo doesn't really show the subtle sparkle from the Tsukineko Delicata inks I used. They are a beautiful, soft shimmering metallic ink pad, and I thought they co-ordinated perfectly with the gold printed accents on the rice paper imagery.

To bring in a little contrast, I stamped some additional details in a dark grey ink. To make everything co-ordinate, I used a stamp set from the same collection, Dreamweaver.

Before adding the backgrounds to the art journal page, I edged the larger background with gold ink and the smaller panel with dark grey - the same ink colours I'd used for the backgrounds themselves.

Then it was time to add the rice paper elements, layering them up with gel medium.

At this point, I walked away.

I was becoming frustrated with myself because I couldn't think of a quote that I felt worked with the page design.

And to this day ... it still has no quote! And you know what? I'm okay with that.

Until next time, take care,

Lou
xxx