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| There are many skills involved
in creating beautiful parchment pieces. Embossing,
perforating, dorsing, cutting, colouring, grid work, - well,
you get the idea. Here are a few hints and tips that might
help newcomers to this fascinating craft on their way. Often,
techniques can look complicated when viewing a finished piece
but with a little know-how you can soon master them to a
pleasing level. |
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Embossing
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Dorsing
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Protecting The Parchment
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When embossing areas
of parchment to bright white especially, it can be beneficial
to allow the parchment to rest between stages.
This can help to prevent the parchment buckling or wrinkling.
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If you have to dorse
small areas the dorso crayons can be rater bulky. Instead find
a similar colour from the Polychromos pencils range and apply
that to your design. Polychromos pencils are oil based and can
be blended with dorso oil in the same fashion as dorso
crayons.
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Try not to over handle
parchment paper as this can leave oil spots from your skin which
cannot be removed.
If you have to rest your hand on your design to work then place a
piece of kitchen towel or tissue between your hand and the parchment.
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Keep It Clean!
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Cutting
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Perforating
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Always clean your nib
between applications of ink, particularly white ink. Don't be
tempted to dip the nib back into the ink once it has run out.
White ink is chalky and a residue can soon build up and clog
the nib making your usual fine lines thick and heavy, spoiling
your design.
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Always use the fine,
slightly curved scissors for cutting your perforations. Insert
only the tips of the scissors in your perforations and twist
the scissors slightly to the left as you cut to achieve the
picot edge. There are perforating tool available that 'split'
the parchment, negating the need for cutting but in my
experience they produce a less defined, slightly ragged edge
and are no substitute for the scissors.
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When perforating
parchment with the needle tools be sure to hold the tool
upright and perforate straight down without angling the tool.
Angling the tool will 'stretch' the holes created and make
your perforations uneven. It will also hamper you when cutting
as it distorts the picot edge.
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