Vellum – Ancient and Elegant
Every once in a while a new product comes along that makes doing a craft just that much more fun and creative. This is what vellum did for scrapbooking.
Back in ancient times people did not have paper to write on. If was a good many years before man developed the process for turning wood into pulp and making paper. What ancient people did use to record their thoughts were animal skins. Made from either calf or lamb hides‚ these skins were stretched and then dried to process them into a writing medium. This is why the “paper” in ancient works looks so different from the paper we use today.
The new craft paper that scrapbookers have fallen in love with is called vellum. It is beautifully translucent‚ and has a very delicate veined appearance. If you ever need to put an elegant touch on your album‚ vellum will give you that effect‚ however it may prove a little difficult to use.
Since it is not particularly porous‚ it is easy to smear ink and glue if they have not had adequate time to dry.
While working with vellum is not rocket science‚ it does require that you exercise a little more patience than usual. Always give it plenty of time to cure or dry. Some ink will never set up correctly without some aid from you. Simply dust lightly with talcum powder‚ and blow away any excess.
While you can use your computer to print on vellum‚ it can also be very fragile so you do need to handle it with care. When you remove your printed page from the printer remember that the ink will very likely still be wet‚ and it will smear easily. Because of this you will want to remove each page as it is printed when you are printing multiple pages.
Vellum is translucent‚ so you have to consider this as you are selecting your glue. You will never want to use glue dots or regular white glue to affix vellum to your page‚ because it will show through the page. Clear glue applied in a thin layer may work‚ or you can use a spray adhesive‚ or even a machine like Xyron may work. By applying a thin layer to the entire back of the page‚ you can add a soft and elegant touch to your album.
As with any scrapbooking project you want to make sure that all papers and adhesives are acid free. If you just need to attach a small piece of vellum to a page in your scrapbook‚ then a glue stick that is acid free will do the trick. Again‚ everything takes longer with vellum‚ so make sure that you give the glue plenty of time to dry. If the glue shows through on the corners‚ plan to have another overlapping element in your page design obscure them.
If you are careful to use lignin free and acid free products as you do your scrapbooking‚ you will ensure that your pages do not become brittle and fragile as they age.
Vellum is versatile in that you can create many different looks with the paper from ancient to elegant to ancient. Using die cuts to make elegant lace designs can add to a beautifully formal page design‚ and tearing the edges to make rough edges can make an unique addition to a medieval looking page. Particularly good for creating a heritage look or even an elegant look for your scrapbook‚ vellum can also add a light touch to any page that you choose.
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Alice Welsh is a professional ‘scrapbooker’. Alice has authored a number of scrapbooking articles and the eBook titles “Scrapbooking Magic: 99 Inspirational Ideas to Help You Create a Breathtaking Scrapbook!” and “Scrapbooking for Profit: How to Start Your Own Scrapbooking Business and Make Money Doing Something You Love!”. You can download both of her eBooks from this website.
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