Marbled Paper (Process): Nothing is wasted - Project: make a greeting card

As I've mentioned before, some of my favorite marbling results have come from pressing prepared paper into the leftover paint at the bottom of the tray (after dumping out the size). Here are a few samples. Each paper in itself is lovely. These could be used in a collage or as end papers or just hung on the wall with no alteration. This first one has a big blank space in the middle. That could be filled with doodles or a drawing of a bird, for example.

PROJECT: Make a Greeting Card

After lifting up a print from the size, there has always been paint left over on the size that needs to be wiped away before adding more paint to the size. Some books and sites recommend using a wooden dowel or strips of newspaper. However, I think the paint left on the size can often create interesting designs on prepared strips of paper that can be used later for collage, bookmarks, etc. These three papers were made by laying one half the paper onto one side of the tray, then laying the other half on the other side, picking up paint from both sides and effectively creating a line in the middle of the page where the two 'designs' meet.

Here is one way to use this paper and cover up the line. Cut the marbled paper (after it dries) to 4.5" x 6.5" and glue onto a 5"x7" card base, then glue a strip of cardstock over the line and stamp on a message. Here I glued on a 1/4" x 7" strip of red cardstock to cover the line and stamped on "Happy Birthday xoxoxo".