At the recent CHA show, Lisa Fulmer was demonstrating mul•tex™, a fabulous new product from C & T Publishing coming out this April. I was lucky enough to be on the team of Creative Troupe members who got to play with this product ahead of time and try it out. It’s such an amazing, versatile product. I couldn’t wait to get started with using it, starting with this rolled bead necklace, pendant, and flowers.
mul•tex™ is comprised of mulberry paper on one side and has a glossy coating on the other.
On the paper side, you can use it just as you would use any mulberry paper: stamp on it, draw on it, paint it and so on. With a little water and some rubbing, you can remove some of the paper away from the laminated side. The glossy side is food safe, moisture resistant and fuses to itself beautifully. The product is quite strong for a paper and does not tear easily. You can even sew it and emboss it. The possibilities are endless!
mul•tex™ is very reasonably priced at:
18 inches by 1 1/2 yard roll – $ 9,99
18 in by 10 yard bolt – $ 59.99
Here are two of the projects I made:
For the necklace:
I did the typical rolled paper beads technique but using this material instead. To go with it, I made a coordinating pendant using the same type of technique. I coloured the material on the paper side using alcohol inks and Liquitex acrylic inks. After that, I went over this with Liquitex Iridescent Medium and while wet, I sprinkled on some glitter and tiny stars.
For some of the beads:
I rolled them laminated side out so they would look glossy and for others, I rolled them paper side out for variety. On the pendant part, I used the medium first and then dripped on the ink, using a popsicle stick as a scraper to scrape the ink through the medium. I then spritzed on some water in a few areas to moisten the paper side in random spots and used my finger to rub away the paper, making it more transparent and adding some variety to the texture.
I also used a piece of the material that was twice the size of the finished pendant so that then I could fold it in half, laminated sides together and melt it with an iron. This sealed it shut with the little bits of glitter and stars embedded inside as well as adding some really cool crinkles for texture.
Once I formed the pendant:
I glopped on a couple little blobs of Liquitex Glass Bead Medium and added a few more of the tiny stars. Don’t you just love how now some of the stars are on top of the surface and some are embedded inside? I created a flower like shape for the focal point of the pendant but cutting a strip of the material and using a needle and thread to gather along one edge, tying to secure. Finally, I dripped alcohol inks onto it, then covered with the Liquitex Iridescent Medium and sprinkled on some of the glitter.
For the flower:
Do you remember those flower craft kits from back in the 70s? You formed wire flowers and then dipped them into this liquid plastic. When it dried, you had pretty flowers with clear colorful petals. I loved those and had that kit on my Christmas wish list for years. These flowers are reminiscent of and inspired by those childhood flowers.
I started by forming the wire armature of the flower.
Then, I bent some wire from the hardware store into a flower and stem shape. Next, I cut pieces of the material into the petal shapes that would cover each petal on both sides, laminated sides in so that I could adhere with heat. I don’t have one of those small craft irons and a regular home iron wouldn’t work because of the wire so I found a Marvy heat gun to be quite effective. You just couldn’t aim the gun at the material for too long or too close or the paper side would begin to singe a bit.
To secure the material to the wire even better, I stitched around the edges where the wire meets the product.
I then coloured the petals by coating them with Liquitex Iridescent medium and then dripping on a bit of alcohol ink. I used a popsicle stick to spread the ink around and mix it with the medium. For the leaf, I cut a strip of the material and folded it in half, essentially creating 2 leaf shapes with a fold in the middle between them. This was so I could again place it over the wire, laminated sides in and adhere it with heat. The leaf was coloured with a combination of alcohol ink and a Studio G Acid Free Chalk Pigment Ink pad. I rubbed the pigment ink onto the surface directly from the pad and then dripped on some alcohol ink, blending with a Qtip to make it look variegated.
Want more ideas of what you can do with mul•tex™? Check out these posts too!
ATCs, greeting cards, and more
Lisa Fulmer says
Great post, thanks so much!