I picked up some fascinating paper on clearance a while back called “Shell Paper.” It’s a handmade paper with a coating made and emulsion of crushed shell, giving the paper an iridescent surface. It comes in several colors, each made with natural colorants.

I decided to try out the orange paper with my ‘Wita’s Gift’ shadow puppet design, since I thought the black-on-orange would be a great color scheme that would work well with the subject matter. You can get yours here or in my Etsy shop, here.

I have to say, I really like the look! I might try out a few different colors, but the orange is the most dramatic—most of the other colors are more subtle. There’s a yellow and a bright pink that are also pretty vivid, but I’m not sure they would work as well with the design.

What do you think? Do you like the black and orange or do you prefer the original black and white version?

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