HOW TO CREATE PAPER LEATHER

 From now on, in my blog posts, I am going to attempt to teach you something different about papercrafting, whether a technique or just a different way to do sommething. At times, I may revisit a technique. At other times, I may deviate from this promise, and maybe just post about something I'd been working on.

But I really want you to GROW from reading my blog. I want to plant those Paper Seedlings, and help you to watch them grow into beautiful creations.

Today I want to share with you a really wonderful technique, one that looks great and impressive, but is REALLY simple to do.

PAPER LEATHER:

PAPER LEATHER

Once I had my paper leather created, I incorporated it into a card. 

I gold embossed a beautiful dragonfly and used that as my focal point.

Don't you love the texture of the paper leather behind the embossed dragonfly?

Here are the easy step-by-step directions on how to create paper leather:

Take a piece of cardstock in whatever color you wish. Maybe start with a half sheet or a little less. That's what I did for my card. Then, after it is all done, you can cut it to the size you need, using the portion that looks the best and the most leather-like.

Spritz one side of the cardstock with water. I started out lightly, but ended up adding a few more spritzes before I was happy. With the cardstock damp, crumple it up in your hand as tightly as you can. (This is the reason I needed to add more water. I have terrible arthritis in my hands, so I needed the paper to be a little more wet and flexible for me to work with it.)

After crushing, unfold it, and re-crush. Keep doing this until you have a nice leathery look. I even crumpled in a few choice places where I thought it could use a little more love.

I let mine dry naturally. But, when it was still just a tad damp, I hit it with my heat tool. Then I spent some time flattening it with my hands. I don't know if ironing it would flatten the texture too much. But I was able to do the job just by smoothing it with my hands. 

I then sponged over the raised portions of the "leather" with ink that matched the paper. This gives it just a bit more definition.

Since you won't be able to get it completely flat, be sure to adhere it well to another piece of cardstock.

HAVE FUN!

Leathery

Smiles.