Salted Background Technique Page

This is a very fun technique. I've seen it used on finished cards and projects but I've never seen how it was done. Nor have I seen the results closeup. I was quite surprised at how easy it was to do and how cool the end result is. Plus you learn a little along the way when you make more than one sheet of them!! I did learn that you do need to keep the paper wet to get the best results.

To do this technique I ran my watercolor paper under the faucet to get it wet. I had added a little piece of double sided tape to my work surface paper so the watercolor paper wouldn't move around on me. Then I took my paint brush and used a bit of ink from the re-inker bottles and added it to the watercolor paper. I didn't try to make my lines even or straight. I just added whatever color on my brush in open areas too. When I had the paper covered I added the salt. You can see in the photo how much salt to add. You don't want to cover the paper like you would for embossing and you don't want the salt to sparse either. Once the salt was added I took my spray bottle and misted the paper. This really activated the salt and as it started to dissolve it began making it's own cool designs in the paper!!! I did use the heat embossing tool to speed up the drying process. Once the paper was dry I just brushed off the salt and cut it to fit the area I needed. It is a very simple technique and I just LOVE what the salt does too!!! It kind of gives it a marbled look too. I thought it would be fun to figure out the best way to do that marbled part and try to duplicate it on a larger scale. The marbled areas are not very big on the paper. I will be trying to figure that one out and try to do a new faux marble type technique! We'll see what I come up with! Probably just a mess but a productive mess!!! LOL

I took the fish stamp from the new Stampin' Up! "Just Beachy" set. I thought it was the most perfect image for this background on the smaller scale I needed it for.

Click on the photo for a closer view. Doesn't it look cool???

Give this technique a try! It's a LOT of fun!!

To view other techniques just scroll down to the bottom of this post and click on the word "Technique Page" in the labels.

If you wish to purchase the technique pages please email me. You can also purchase them on CD. Just look to the right of this post up at the top and you'll see where my web store is. Just click on that and you will be directed to the store. There you will find the CD's.

Thanks SO much for visiting today,
Wanda