Fixing a Pastepaper Disaster

Sometimes pastepaper turns out amazing, sometimes not so much. My pastepaper is pretty hit or miss. I often have lovely sections that will work just fine for covering a book or adding accent pages. Some pages just sit in storage because they just aren't anything special.

Most of the time, I make envelopes out of the extra (see my tutorial here). In a moment of recklessness, I decided to sacrifice a sheet to the printer. It turns out, you can print on pastepaper!

It was super simple. Here are a few steps:

1. Determine what size your finished pastepaper will be. Mine is going into a 5x7 book, so my paper needs to be 10x7.
2. Then I found a little flourish online and made sure it was available for personal use.
3. Then open your design in Illustrator and convert it to vector so you can size it without losing quality.
4. Finally, send it to print. I have an Epson and it accepted my paper just fine.

Tip: If you want to be sure to have an even print, spray your paper with a little water and run an iron over it on low heat.

I think these will make lovely endsheets.

How to Make an Envelope

You can make envelopes out of basically any kind of paper. I personally love to use scrap paper; it feels good to get some extra use out what would otherwise end up as garbage. Magazines are a perfect candidate.

 Sometimes I get to the end of a pastepaper extravaganza and wonder what I will do with all of the extra. Envelopes! 

First, decide what size you will need. I typically use a standard size envelope and then leave a little extra for tabs. When I first started making these, I took apart an envelope that I liked to use as a template. Paper Source also sells these fancy envelope templates.

Then, score your folds. It's nice to have a ruler and a bone folder, but I have used basically anything with a straight edge.

Next, crease your folds and secure the bottom 3 with a bit of glue or tape.

Voila! You can seal the final edge with whatever you like. I have a little wax seal that is fun to use, especially on scrap paper envelopes as it dresses things up a bit.

Your friends (or in my case, nieces) will be so impressed. And yes, you can send them in the mail as long as you have the correct postage.

Pastepaper Recipe

Pastepaper always feels like a series of happy accidents. I know there are professional pastepaper artists, but I am not one of them. This activity is perfect when you have a bit of time and feel creative. I like to move all of my furniture out of the way and paint all over my laminate floors. This recipe cleans up easily, but lay down plastic if you are at all worried about stains.
Here's what you need:

• Good quality paper (I like drawing paper, 80lb at least)
• Spray bottle
• Paint brushes of varying size
• Sponge, cups, spatula, other tools for adding texture
• Acrylic Paint
• Paste

There are dozens of recipes for pastepaper. One of the easiest uses just cornstarch and water. It isn't science though, so play around with the recipe until you have a consistency that you like.

Paste Recipe

Mix 1 cup cornstarch + 1 cup cold water. Set aside.

Next, boil 7 cups of water. Remove the pan from heat and add cornstarch mixture. Mix with an electric beater for at least a minute to remove lumps. You should have a heavy, smooth paste. Paste only gets better as it cools. It's perfect the next day.

Paste will keep in a cool, air tight container for a few days. When the paste is completely cool, it will be a little stiff. Blend it again and add a little water to smooth things out.

Here are a few examples from my most recent afternoon of pastepapering