I think as artists we can embellish almost anything and I especially like to embellish paper, which is then added to other things or is a starting point for a design.

When making embellished paper I use many technique and I can show you some of my favourite ones.

Here I have stitched watercolour paper with a grid pattern of fancy machine embroidery stitches and have left it to soak in water for a couple of hours. I check on it from time to time and screw it up into a ball to crumple and add texture. This also allows for the paper to come away in areas over time.

(I use a cat litter tray to hold my work while it is at this stage).

Above you can see the paper has been dissolved and removed in certain areas.

( watercolour paper is good to work with because it is robust but will take soaking overnight depending on its weight).

This is brown paper which has been stitched and soaked with the paper removed.

The paper is then painted and gilded.

This is another one of the brown paper pieces from above.

It has been painted, gilded and boned to a made and decorated textile background. This has then been machine embroidered on the top to fuse the layers together.

I have then placed the first blue paper embellishment on the top to see the layered effect. If I wanted to continue it would be stitched and beaded together.

Paper and Stitch Leaves

There are many ways of embellishing papers and card stock. Using techniques regularly used for card making is a great way to start.