SU! Regional and pastel background tutorial

On Saturday, I had the honor of presenting a Workshop Wow! at the Stampin' UP! Regional Event in Orlando. I was "sew" happy to be among the many talented presenters at the event!
I chose to present a "Make Backgrounds with Pastels Technique." Overall, I had a great time with old friends and got to meet new ones: Sharon, Nance, Fiorella, Rose-Ellen, Tina and Sylvia, thank you all for making Regionals a blast!
It was a day full of tips, prize patrols, laughs and presentations. I always enjoy going to these events because it refreshes my energy and I come back home full of ideas and the pleasure to have shared what I love.

Without further ado, here's the tutorial for the technique.

1. On a piece of cardstock, make diagonal lines on the paper using the pastels. For this background, I used a Certainly Celery cardstock and the Daffodil Delight pastel.

2. Next to your first set of lines, make two more sets with different colors. I used Regal Rose and Bashful Blue. Try to pick colors that will mix well together. For example: yellow and red (or rose) will give you an orange hue, rose or red and blue will give you a purple hue.
A little note on color: Don't mix the three primary colors (blue, yellow and red or rose) or you will get a muddy brown. If mixing primary with secondary, try and think of the colors involved so you don't end up with mud. For example, if mixing red and green, you will get mud because green has yellow and blue (hence, you're mixing the three primary colors). Just keep this in mind when choosing pastels for the backgrounds, and make sure the two colors that you're putting next to each other will mix well.
There's nothing wrong with getting a mud color if that's your intention. Just experiment with the colors you mix and see what you like.

3. Once you have your cardstock covered with lines in one direction, turn it around and make diagonal lines (in the same color order) so that you create a criss-cross background.

4. With your fingers, smooth out the lines and mix the adjoining colors, leaving the criss-cross effect. I use my fingers because that way I can control the pressure I use on the paper. If you want a really smooth design, use more pressure on your fingers. Otherwise, press your finger less on the cardstock to mix the colors slightly.

5. Once you have your desired look, clear emboss the design you like. In my case, I used the swirls of the Baroque Motifs Stamp Set.

6. Once you're done embossing, spray the cardstock with regular hair spray (or any fixative agent) in order to fix the pastels on the page. Let the cardstock dry and then it's ready to use!








Below are some projects that I designed with this technique.

I hope you can experiment with colors and get creative with this technique! Don't hesitate to contact me for any questions you may have, or anything you need!
Enjoy!