I am amateur marbler. I want to marble some paper to be used as a background for stickers or water slides. Any suggestions as to what paper would work. I am in the states as well. I am planning to use this for jewelry pendants. thanks in advance for the help.
Confusing: stickers, water slides, jewelry pendants? Please be more precise as to what you want to focus on.
One piece of advice: thoroughly learn the technique before jumping blindly into the unknown.
I have been marbling for about 3 years now. The papers that I have access to here in the States tend to buckle quite a bit. I am creating paper pendants using stickers or water slides ( a type of sticker that you use water to activate the glue so it will stick to the background). So I am looking for paper recommendations so I can try to make my pendants. I tend to use non-traditional materials to marble on so paper is not my preferred medium to print on hence the request for help. My next project besides the paper pendants will be metal beads and other 3 D objects not necessarily paper. I was hoping to find someone else who has done something similar so I can pick their brain. I will keep trying my experiments to further my learning.
Thanks for the clarification. You might want to check out "marbled jewelry" on a search engine. Etsy has many offerings including paper adhered to metal cuffs which are quite nice. As for a decent paper to experiment with: try Japanese papers which can be purchased online through Hiromi in CA. Let them know what your intentions are and perhaps they can suggest a good, strong paper. The decal type paper you describe might have to be printed by a professional printing company because paints, inks, etc., will not permanently adhere to a non-porous surface.
My expertise was marbling directly on wood so can't advise which type of paper would suit your specific needs. Also: paper on a cuff bracelet will need to be sealed well because it gets knocked around a lot. The harder the final finish, the better it will hold up over the years. Acrylic finishes are the least toxic but scratch easily and dull the pattern somewhat. You might want to research safety measures first. Are your lungs worth the sacrifice without proper ventilation? Over the years, I've known several marblers who succumbed to their passion for a unique image or item.
Another suggestion: search online for ready-made jewelry pendants, earrings, pins with a removable glass bezel where you can insert a marbled paper, snap it closed, DONE! If this interests you, make sure the pattern isn't too large. The smaller, the better.
Thanks for the suggestion of Hiromi papers. I have booked marked them as a future reference. The inkjet printable water slides/clear sticker I have found so far are for the craft market but I am in the process of researching a more professional grade. I plan on using ready made glass bezel necklaces. I want to apply the graphic image printed on a sticker which is applied to paper then that is sealed and placed in the necklace. I am sealing it because inkjet prints are inherently fragile because the papers are usually coated and the print sits on top of the coating. Think the old fashioned silhouette. I want to utilize the inkjet because then I can use any graphic image that I can create multiple times and in many different ways.
I will either use a commercial grade varnish or a professional artist varnish to seal the papers so it will have a more permanent bond as well.
I love making primarily necklaces and earrings but I am in the process of making marbled leather cuffs for my local Tandy Leather store as a class.
Again I will look into the papers.