Memory Paperweight by Becky Chabot

1. Start with a clean dry rock; select a rock with at least one large flat space. A brick would work nicely too.
2. Tear strips of brown paper lunch bags approx 1” wide.  Lunch bags are thinner paper than larger brown bags and work better for this project.  Tearing the bag instead of cutting it allows for smoother edges.  Soak the strips of brown paper in a bowl with warm water for at least two hours or until the paper is soft and pliable. Drain some of the water out, leave approximately 1” of water in the bottom of the bowl and add 1 cup of white craft glue and mix.
3. Apply strips of the soft brown paper around the rock in random directions in many layers until the rock is totally covered.  Place on a non-stick surface (Crafty Magic Melt Glue Pad) until dried completely.  This can take many hours, usually overnight.
4. Paint the dried, paper mache rock with Memory Makers Blue Raspberry paint.
5. Trim a photo to fit on the largest flat area, sand the edges and secure with adhesive. Hold the photo around the rock with wire until dry if necessary.
6. Stamp sentiment words by Innovative Stamp Creations randomly directly to the rock with Versamark embossing pigment and emboss with Verdigris, Sage and Topiary embossing powders. Do one word at a time, alternated colors of embossing powder.  
7. For the hard to maneuver areas, stamp sentiments onto white or cream mulberry paper.  Emboss a few of the sentiments and also stamp some with Stazon blue ink. Spritz the mulberry paper with water and carefully tear out the words.  Decoupage the mulberry paper sentiments to the rock, select two words to accent the photo.
8. Apply Ranger Perfect Medium to the entire project, a section at a time and dust with Ranger Perfect Pearls Blue Patina and Heirloom Gold.  Mist with water to set the Perfect Pearls.

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