Mulberry Batik Stash Challenge

Laura Fredrickson over at Scrapnextras challenged me to use up some of my specialty paper this week.  Good grief, do I have a lot of this stuff: hand made papers, flocked papers, vellum, glittery papers - you name it, you'll find it in my craft room.  It was hard to chose which paper to use.  In the end I opted for mulberry paper, which I bought to try the mulberry batik technique, but never got around to it. 

Mulberry paper is a thin, translucent handmade paper which comes in white plus lots of other colors.  The paper fibers are often visible and when torn, the paper has a lovely soft edge.  Stampin' Up! no longer sells mulberry paper, but you can buy it at most craft and art supply stores.

Here's the card I came up with plus a little photo tutorial if you want to try this technique.

You'll need:

Mulberry paper
White cardstock
Solid stamp (here I used Flourish's Damask background stamp)
Versamark
Clear embossing powder
Copy paper

Heat tool
Iron
Spray bottle
Coloring medium (I used Shimmerz, for more suggestions see below)

1. Cut a piece of mulberry paper and white c/stock to the same size (here 4.25" x 5.5")

2. Stamp solid image onto mulberry paper with Versamark ink.

3. Sprinkle with clear embossing powder and heat emboss.  Do this very carefully because mulberry paper is thin and burns easily.

4. Place embossed mulberry paper on some paper towels and spray with a light mist of water. 

5.  Chose your coloring medium.  There are lots of ways to give your mulberry paper a wash of color: reinkers, watercolor crayons, watercolor paints, watered down acrylic paints.  Here I opted for Shimmerz (pink and burgundy) because their fluid consistency is great for this technique.  Using a large watercolor brush, saturate the paper with color.  Don't be afraid that your colors are too dark, they will lighten as the paper is dries.

6.  Set your iron to the no-steam silk setting.  Place colored mulberry paper onto an ironing board, cover with a piece of clean copy paper and iron until the embossing powder re-melts and sticks to the copy paper.

7.  This is how your copy paper will look after ironing.

8.  Cover the piece of white card stock you cut at the beginning with glue stick and adhere the dyed mulberry paper to it. 

9.  Trim your piece and finish your card as desired.

It's hard to see the shimmer on the card, but here's a close up:

Recipe:

• Stamps: Damask and Thank You (Flourishes), Sincere Salutations (SU)
• Paper: Shimmery white (card base), pink pirouette, rose red, pretty in pink, whisper white, mulberry paper, copy paper
  
• Ink: Versamark, rose red, pink pirouette, pink & burgundy Shimmerz
  
• Accessories: ribbon (Making Memories), flat backed pearls (SU), clear embossing powder
  
• Tools: heat gun, iron, paint brush, spray bottle
  

Here's another card I made with a turquoise colored mulberry paper.  I plan to send this to my brother and sister-in-law to wish them well on their honeymoon in Hawaii.

 

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Comments

[Laura (scrapnextras)]

WOW! Fabulous tutorial and awesome card! Love the look of the Shimmerz! Thanks to stepping up to the Challenge Ali! I really enjoyed digging some of my stash out too!

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