Sunday 19 April 2009

Cards Using My Watercolour Crayon Background




I have included some cards that I have made using my background paper (apologies for the instructions being back to front-haven't got the hang of this yet!)

Watercolour Crayon Background Paper

 This easy paper is made using Neocolor 11 water soluble crayons by Caran D'Ache.
Step 1.
Scribble over the card with 2 or 3 complementary colours of the water soluble crayons.


Step 2
Spray the card with a mist of water and scrunch up into a tight ball. Open out carefully and then iron with a dry iron until flatter. The crayon will have formed a marbled effect.


Step 3
Using a solid image stamp, stamp several images at random in a fairly strong complementary colour.


Step 4
Stamp again with a paler colour in between the previous images, going off the edges in some spaces.


Step 5
To finish your decorated paper, stamp an outline image over the top in a dark colour of ink. your paper is now ready to use. It will have thickened up and have a texture similar to hand made paper and if you use bold colours as I have, the results are extremely striking.


If you carry on and look at some of my later examples, you will see that you can vary the stamping for a very different look and some simple stamping with just one stamp can look really lovely.




Have fun!
Fliss xx

Blog Aspirations

I set up my blog with the main aspiration of teaching fellow crafters how easy it is to make your own unique DIY background papers and embellishments for all types of paper crafting.
I have been stamping for around 12 years now, having bought a stamp and an ink pad at a stamping party and becoming addicted almost at once. When I started stamping, it was not possible to buy all the beautiful papers now available and I began to make my own using my ever growing collection of stamps.
I really enjoyed doing this and was much inspired by the Metivier sisters of the Magenta stamp company. I took to the direct to paper technique like a duck to water and have never looked back since. I do occasionally buy printed papers but time and again, I still end up making my own.
This lead to me becoming a demonstrator for several years and I worked at local shows and once even did Newbury which was an incredible experience.
I was also a contributor to Craft Stamper magazine for a while when Jane Pinder was the editor and I do projects for her online forum, the Stamping, Scrapbooking and Papercraft Guild (The SSP Guild).
The main aim of my blog is to give instructions on how to make your own decorated papers and embellishments using a wide variety of materials-my family says that I have accumulated enough stash now to open my own shop!
Hopefully this is the first of many posts so all I can say is "watch this space"!
Fliss x