We've all had those moments, pouring hours into your art journal pages. Putting all of your artistic soul into your mixed media creations and coming back to revisit them again one day only to find that your pages have stuck together!
We can look at this in a few ways: 1) DISASTER! (hint, it's not this one) 2) Allow this to be part of the journey and story of your art journal 3) Learn from this and try a few things to prevent your pages sticking together in the future.
Let's have a look at number 3! Here are some solutions that you can do to minimise sticky pages, if you have any tips or suggestions of your own, please share int he comments!
So lets see what can keep our mixed-media and scrapbooking art from sticking together:
Make sure your pages are COMPLETELY dry before closing your journal, not just dry to touch. Especially if you have used thicker layers of acrylics or other mediums. You can use a hairdryer or heat gun to speed up the process.
Baking parchment or greaseproof paper kept between pages will stop most pages sticking together or to the parchment.
Very lightly dusting with a fine powder, such as talc or another nearly translucent powder. This obviously can affect what your page looks like, especially with darker or glossy finishes.
Using a matte gesso over your page also helps to minimise pages sticking together.
If you have a plain white wax candles, you can gently rub this over your pages and this will also help to prevent sticky pages!
Don't forget, you can always keep adding to your pages with paints, pens or pastels, embrace your rip or marks from the stuck pages or grab your ephemera stash and add a couple of layers!
How do you stop your pages sticking?
I've used pieces of waxed paper or baking parchment paper in between the pages to keep them from sticking, but I just wasn't liking all of that excess stuff in my journals. I am now using Dorland's Wax Medium on my journal pages, and I like this much better. I wipe it on the pages with my fingers, let it sit for a short while (sometimes I'll use my heat gun to warm it up and make it liquid, but carefully because I'm sure that it could catch on fire), and then buff it off with a soft cloth. It doesn't change the finish/sheen nor the colors, but it definitely keeps the pages from sticking together.
When taking an acrylic skins class, I learned that butcher’s freezer wrap paper keeps acrylics from sticking together or even to itself. Since then, I use this type of paper for my journals too.
I use Miss Mustard Seed's beeswax, applied with a soft cloth. It works great, doesn't change the pages, and smells lovely.
Great tips! I've also used Dorland's cold wax.
YES, YES, YES.....it's bound to happen ! I do make sure pages are dry before closing...usually OVERNIGHT.....but I do love using BAKING PARCHMENT !!! thx Kasia xo