’tis the moment to be pastel, whether you’re a bud, a Spring sweater, or an Easter egg. A Crafty Mom (CM) of our acquaintance recently came up with quite the bright idea for egg-dyeing supplies. When her children were finished coloring their eggs, CM let them paint greeting cards. The wax crayon from the kit was irresistible {like this pun} for printing the message.
Speaking of pastel reminds us of Pastelle, Strathmore’s classic felt-finish sheet. Its dimpled texture has the look and feel of watercolor paper, so illustrations printed on it tend to seem soft-edged. Pastelle is also swell for letterpress, and extremely engaging for blind embossing or debossing – the heat literally irons the texture out of the paper. Debossed areas look like they’ve been etched and polished; embossed forms look like they’ve been appliquéed. Très touchy-feely.
Pastelle also has a deckle edge, adding to its art-paper persona. Would you like to know how the deckle edge is created? The pisser, the little nozzle that sprays a jet of water to trim the edge of the paper forming on the paper machine, is adjusted to hit the paper at an angle, rather than straight down. So, some fibers are cut off and others aren’t. Parent sheets are slightly oversized so that, should you not wish to use the deckle, it can be trimmed off and you still have a full-size sheet for printing. Pastelle envelopes are available with a deckle on the flap through several sources. Delightfully dressy, we say.
Really? Am I the only one am laughing myself out of my chair that the thingy used to deckle paper is called a pisser? I think what’s even funnier is that you used this very un-dressy term in your blog without the slightest hint of irony – as dry as crisp toast. Please carry on with your drôle roll.