Tissue Wreath

There's a new challenge going on at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  This week, the theme is "Tissue".  I wanted to re-create a Vintage-esque Tissue Wreath.  I cannot express how much FUN I had making this!

I stamped little stars on 3x3-inch single-ply tissue paper.  I would recommend using a very sharp cutting blade so the tissue doesn't tear while cutting. The stamping was done with the new Silver Hero Arts ink.  I wasn't worried about how well I stamped because this stamp is very forgiving and I was able to get multiple impressions with one swipe of the ink.  By the way....this stamp is deep rubber and LESS than $5.00.  That is a great deal! I lightly inked my squares with Antique Linen.  This created the "old paper" color that I was looking for.  It looked like it had been sitting in the attic for years. Perfect!

To apply the squares, I gently twisted the squares around the end of a cut-up cotton swab. I dipped it into a paper cup of glue, and then shoved it into the Styrofoam wreath form. When I pulled out the cotton swab, my tissue twist was embedded and glued into the wreath.  Easy peasy!  I went through a lot of tissue squares, and I was really glad that I had the large bottle of glue. :)

Now, let's talk about spit......The glittered "berries" are also made of tissue.  I didn't take photos of the process, but it can be easily explained.  Remember making spitballs in school?  It's kind of like that.  I put a mixture of three parts glue to one part water into a paper cup.  I dipped a 3x3 tissue square into the mixture and swirled it around until it was saturated.  I took the paper out and squeezed it and molded it into a tight ball and let it dry overnight on a non-stick surface.  Now any spit-ball maker will tell you that the key is to mush the paper good!  The next morning I put my little balls into a shallow box and gave them a good spritz of gold lame. A while later, I rolled them around and spritzed again.  This time I added a liberal amount of glitter and let then sit.  There were bits of white spots showing through, but I was okay with that because it gave it an aged look.  After thorough drying, I attached my berries with glue and was finished. Well, almost finished.  I added a few drops of the Gold Lame to the wreath itself, and voila!  A vintage wreath!

I would definitely do this again.  I was really pleased with the results.  If you're interested in creating your own wreath, I will warn you that this isn't a speedy project.  It IS however, a great project to involve the kids or partner.  The stamping doesn't have to be great.  Heck, it doesn't even need to be good.  The kids could also help with the "aging", or you could skip that step all together. And they would LOVE to make the glittered spit-balls!

We want to see how you use tissue.  There are so many versatile ways to interpret this.  Got a cold and need a tissue?  Wrap with tissue?  Tissue thin?  Stamp on tissue?  Link your "Tissue" project to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and you could be the latest weekly winner of our $50 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

Happy Stamping!