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Idea of the Month

Salt Backgrounds

Create some unusual, one-of-a-kind backgrounds for your cards and layouts using this easy technique.  These backgrounds work especially well for star-studded skies, under-the-sea scenes, and more.  Just use your imagination!  See below for complete instructions and samples.

Example 1:

Example 2:

The texture on this card in "real life" is much more pronounced- it didn't show up as well as I would have liked in this photo.  I sharpened up the photo as much as I could to show you the texture, which is why the image looks a bit distorted.  Hey- I'm a stamper, not a photographer, LOL!

Supply List:

Papers:

 Glossy Paper

Inks:

Your choice of rainbow or solid ink pad, dye-based

Miscellaneous:

Z616 Rubber Brayer

Table Salt

Spray bottle filled with water

Step 1:  Begin by Brayering

Start by brayering the entire piece of glossy paper with your choice of dye-based ink pad.  Rainbow pads look especially pretty.  If your paper is larger than your brayer, simply repeat the process by across the paper until it is filled.

To match the colors from section to section when brayering with a rainbow pad:  1) Brayer the first section at the left edge of your paper.  2) Reink the brayer.  3)  Turn your paper upside down and brayer the next section.  By doing this, the ink colors will match up for a seamless look (ie: if your last section left off with yellow, turning the paper guarantees that the correct edge of your brayer will have yellow ink to begin the next section.  Trust me...it works).  Repeat this process until the paper is filled. 

Step 2:  Add the Salt

If you want to minimize the mess, lay the brayered paper face-up in the bottom of a pan or cookie sheet.  Sprinkle table salt onto the paper.  Holding the spray bottle a good foot or so away, mist the paper with water.  Immediately you'll see spots form where the water hits the salt granules.  The more you mist, the more "pooling" and "puddling" of the colors will occur, and generally the bigger your "spots" will be.  The paper may begin to buckle or pop up- that's ok.   Just leave it alone and let it dry.  

Step 3:  After it's Dry

Once dry, simply brush off the salt and start stamping!  Use the textured paper as a background, or stamp an image onto it and cut it out (the starfish in Example 2 were done this way).  Because the salt is being brushed off, I would think the backgrounds would be safe to use in a scrapbook if you start with acid-free glossy paper and use acid-free inks (like ours).

For variety, try experimenting with coarse salt, or moving the paper around after you've misted it to mix things up a bit.

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