Heidi Swapp Invisibles Tutorial

I've had a lot of people come in and take a look at the Heidi Swapp Invisibles paper and then look at me and say "What do you do with that?".
I'm not a "technique" person AT ALL, but Leigh suggested I do a little tutorial. So here it is.

What you'll need...
- Heidi Swapp Invisibles paper (I just wanted to use a small piece, but you could just as easily use a whole sheet as a background)
- paint or ink
- foam brush and water (if using paint)
- all your other usual scrapbooking supplies

Now, the way the paper works is that there is a resist pattern already on the paper. I'm using the polka dot paper. So, basically, you'll be making your own patterned paper. The part that is the resist (where it's glossy... on mine it's the polka dots) won't take the color. Now, sure, I could've just used yellow polka dot patterned paper, but the fun comes in when you want to blend colors or have a deeper shade on certain areas.

So, I started by dipping my foam brush in a cup of water and then dipping it in my yellow paint. I just brushed it around. Where I wanted it lighter (in the center) I added more water. Where I wanted it darker (the edges) I added more paint.

It wasn't getting dark enough around the edges so I added a darker shade of yellow on the outsides. Then it was just all too much one color, so I took a wet kleenex and actually wiped away some of the middle.
And, what I ended up with was this...

I also thought about getting a little spritz bottle and watering down paint and spritzing it on, but this worked out well enough for me.

And, here's the layout it went on.

supplies:

paper - Heidi swapp, Hambly, October Afternoon. ribbon - American Crafts. Letter stickers - October Afternoon. Scallop and Flower Trim - Doodlebug. Flowers - 3 Bugs in a Rug, American Crafts. Brads. Button.

So, yah. I'm NOT a technique person... and even this was doable for me.

Note: I made sure to journal on the paper with a slick writer. I figured if the dots resisted paint and ink it would resist a regular journaling pen as well.