Pastepapers are a very get-your-hands-dirty kind of creative fun. You would find this a fun way to work with your children and it is a great way to finish off a bookbinding project in a very personal way.

Pastepaper samples

Pasterpaper is very much like fingerpainting

Pastepapers can be used to cover hardback book boards, portfolio boards, clamshell boxes, or as end sheets (paper that connect the inside cover of a book to the paper block. You can use a variety of objects to 'comb' the surface to push the paste around such as combs, rubberstamps, sticks, brushes, fingers and sponges.

Above is a sample of using a plastic comb we bought at a hardware store which is used to spread glue under floor tiles. The system has a repetitive organization to it.

Above is another sample of using the same plastic comb but where there is a much more chaotic quality. Typically we make our pastepaper sheets about 18" x 24". So when you are covering a book you have lots of area to choose from to find the area that best fits the front and back covers to give you the match you want.

Above is a sample of using a fine plastic comb over fairly thick paste which causes the colors to be less sharp.

Above is a sample of using a rubberstamp of a leaf overtop of roughly painted paste.

Above is a sample of using a leaf stamp and a fern stamp combined with a rubber-tipped brush to highlight the leaf veins.

Above is a sample of using a leaf medallion rubberstamp overtop of a fine comb pattern

Above is a sample of using a leaf rubberstamp and twisting it overtop of a fine comb pattern

Above is a sample of sliding a leaf rubberstamp overtop of a fine comb pattern