Salvage Kul.char: November 2014

Custom designed paper place-mats, stained to give it a vintage look and feel.

Use as table place-mats or serving tray mats

Use it and dispose it

Laminate and reuse

Frame it and hang it on a wall

what ever or where ever your creativity takes you too

What was used?

New and salvaged paper sheets (a3)
Vintage and other graphics and typography
Printer (laser)
Own recipe stain (combination of teas, coffee granules, water)
Sponges

Was it fun? Oh boy, I had so much fun doing this project.

What took up a lot of time? The graphic design work and the staining took the longest.

Where did I get graphics from? I sourced vintage graphics from the web, and also created my own designs. (I will be posting a few of my own designs for download on this blog in the near future)

A combination of all the graphic elements resulted in the final selection of themed sets and filler sheets.

The end product selection has various styles and designs.

After printing the sets I set about staining each individual sheet.

I was very eager (in hindsight a bit too eager) and printed over 500 pages

- hmm that in itself would not have been so bad if only I did not decide all the pages must be stained at the same time.

Vintage graphics, like the one used in this set, sourced from www.graphicsfairy.com

First I tried a"dip it in" stain process - big failure! One after the other the sheets ripped, I ended up with a plastic container full of stain and pulp, not quite the result I wanted (lol), what was I thinking?

Okay, so then do each sheet by hand painting with stain,
I have done lots of by hand staining before and it is not so bad. Only difference, I did not do 100's of sheets in one go before.

This process took a lot longer than what I anticipated, and it is delicate work. The wet sheets rip easy and must be laid flat to dry and preferably not handled at all or very gently until dry.

One of the themed sets: "Serve it up" featuring plates and cutlery

I soon realised that my working space is to small.

Working with literally hundreds of wet stained paper sheets requires either :

1. patience - which I have a serious lack of when I am eager to work on a project, or

2. a huge a flat area in a space where the wind cannot blow away, crumble or fold the sheets.

Since I had neither of these 2, I started dying and drying in batches. Staining on my kitchen counter, tiled floor, workshop counter and any other flat surface that could get wet, and that I could remove the stain from again.

To get the drying process done quicker, I used my hairdryer to speed up the dry-time.

(Art has helped me to discover a lot of useful and multi purpose functions in many of my household or beauty appliances)