The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it ~ Oscar Wilde

I'm not sure I agree with Oscar Wilde, but my temptation to play in my journal is fairly benign.  It's always calling me when I should be paying bills or cleaning or cooking and I do often yield to the temptation.  Apparently playing in my journal yields very tall and strange plants!

Obsessed with a technique called "Chine Colle", I've been locked away, experimenting.  Chine colle is a method of adhereing paper to your background paper and then printing on top of it.  Wikepedia explains it better than me.  I am not using a press and I'm not a fan of the oil based inks I tried, so I've had to adapt, and I think I have finally come up with a method that works! I may be reinventing the wheel but it took me a while to figure out how to adhere the tissue without tearing it or having globby glue on my nice printing paper.   I finally hit on a method using wax paper and methyl cellulose, which is a granular powder that can be bought at art supply stores.  Wax paper, as far as I'm concerned, is one of the best things ever invented!

That's my picture tutorial!  Amazing what phones can do these days!
1. Dampen some wax paper (yes the water beads up but you just want to be able to stick down the tissue with water) Place your tissue on the damp wax paper upside down.
2. That is a little jar with methyl cellulose in it and a nylon over top. The nylon lets the right amount of methyl cellulose fall out.  The tissue should be damp, not soaking.  Sprinkle the methyl cellulose onto the tissue and wipe off any excess grains and water that are around the tissue.
3 Turn the wax paper upside down and place it on the paper you will be printing on.  The beauty of the wax paper is that you can see through it so it's easy to put the tissue in the right place.  That thing in the upper right corner is my old brayer that I use to press  the wax paper and tissue to the paper.  You can use your hands or a barren.
4 Carefully peel off the wax paper and Voila!  You may want to let it dry under a book so it doesn't warp.

After it's totally dry you can print on top.  This method is a little fiddly and delicate.  I can't imagine my husband trying it with his big bear paw hands.

I'm now trying to colour my own tissue paper and new problems are arising!  However, I think that will be a different blog post.
Happy experimenting!

I've fallen down on the blog posting here because I've been totally wrapped up in making some new linocut prints.  You may not believe it but I make about 20 or more prints for everyone that makes it to my store.  It's a learning process and judging by the number of rejects I have I'm learning lots!  This is a test of my stamp.  You'll be seeing more of it because I finally made a few prints that I'm happy with.  Sometimes, when things are not working out, I feel like this little guy.  His intention is to kick the whole city of blocks down!  When I saw the word this week, it was the first thing I thought of.  I'd just love to see it all come crashing down: D