Last week was Father's Day Week at The Beary Scrap. My week got a little crazy between basketball camp, dance recitals, softball practice and games and everything else so I am finally getting a chance to post my project here:
My layout honors my Grandfather-- he has been gone for almost 20 years but I still think about him often and appreciate the things he taught me. He taught me to work hard (he was an Idaho potato farmer), play hard (he loved to travel, especially abroad) and he taught me to laugh! My grandpa affectionately called my two younger sisters and I the "three squirrels" and spoiled us rotten with treats from his candy drawer and new school clothes every year. I still miss him and especially miss that my kids never got the chance to know him. What a great example and patriarch he was to our family!
Check out our Beary Scrap Design team blog for all the goodies I used in making my page!
Included on my LO is some strips of "leather" paper-- a cool way to add a masculine touch to any layout or card. To make leather paper you will need the following things:
***Lightweight white or cream (light colored) cardstock
***Walnut Ink Crystals
***1/4 cup measuring cup
***1/2 tsp measuring spoon
***Hot water
***Bowl and stirring utensil (I used a craft stick)
***Wax paper
Sounds kind of like cooking, doesn't it? By the way, an apron is also a good idea! (I realized this half way through, especially because I was wearing a white shirt!) And this is extremely messy for your hands, so if you are opposed to the ink taking two days to wear off, you might wear gloves.
After gathering your supplies, follow these steps to make your leather paper:
1. Measure out 1/2 tsp of the Walnut Ink crystals into your bowl.
2. Then add 1/4 cup hot water and stir until the crystals are completely dissolved.
3. Crumple up a piece of white cardstock (no bigger than 8 1/2 x 11) .
4. Place the crumpled paper into the bowl of ink and press with your hands until it is covered completely. Turn it around, upside down, unfold a bit to get ink into as many of the creases as possible.
5. After moving it around to cover as much as possible, carefully lift it up out of the bowl, continuing to hold the paper over the bowl so it can drip back into it.
6. Gently ring the excess ink from the paper.
7. Carefully, so the paper won't tear, unfold it and lay it out to dry on a sheet of wax paper. As you are unfolding it, if there are any spots that weren't covered, you can dip it again or spread some on with your fingers. Aren't all the lines and creases cool?
8. Repeat with more paper-- I used several different sizes and then also did some shapes, such as ready cut tags and stars that I punched. The 1/2 teaspoon of ink crystals makes quite a bit of ink so you might as well do a lot while you're making a mess! Tags and shapes would be really handy to have ready for quick cards. If you don't use up all the ink in one session, store it in a container with a tight lid and just stir before using again.
9. Let your pieces dry completely-- I left mine overnight. Here they are all laid out wet at 11:30 pm one night--
-- and here they are the next morning at 8:00 am, all dry and ready to go!
After your leather paper is dry, use it as accents on your layouts or cards any way you can imagine! I think "manly" looking accents are hard to find so here's a great way to make your own! Hope you liked my Fathers' Day page and my instructions for leather paper.
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