Team Training for February ...

Welcome to our February edition of Team Training brought to you this month by team member, Lynne Joncas.

Each month one of our team will inspire you with a little tutorial, tip or trick to help you in your scrapbooking pursuits. 

TEXTURE PASTE - the homemade variety by Lynne Joncas

Hi there, if you've seen much of my work you'll notice that I LOVE to use texture paste, usually with stencils. I make my own paste and it's super-easy!

I don't measure my ingredients but start with about 4 Tbsp of baby powder and add 1 Tbsp of acrylic paint (whatever colour you want your texture paste to be) and about half a Tbsp of white glue (kids' school glue or any other kind works fine) Stir til it's combined; I like my paste fairly thick so it won't bleed under the stencils-I love a clean and crisp design. The stiffness of cake frosting is about right; you can add a more powder or paint until you get the consistency you want.

I use a palette knife like you'd use to spread frosting but a lot of people like to use an old plastic card (like a credit card or gift card) Place your stencil on the paper where you want your pattern and spread evenly scraping off any excess. You may want to hold the stencil down or tape it on the corner to keep it from shifting.

 Here I used coloured acrylic paint to tint the paste:

Substitute baking soda for baby powder for a rougher texture...that's what I did for these bricks:

I started out with a thinner paste and added some sand to it for extra texture on my starfish:

In a sealed container it will keep for a long time. I usually just make up a bit at a time because I often colour it but you can make a larger batch-just be sure it's well sealed! It dries quickly-which is great on your project but not so great if you leave sitting out for a while....take it from me-trying to chip hardened paste off of your dish is less than thrilling! It washes easily with warm soapy water though, and if you ever do forget to wash it out or cover it, soaking it for while in hot water will soften it enough for clean up.

 Here's a recent page I made using several different stencils:

I hope you found this helpful and that you'll try making your own texture paste - I would be lost without this wonderful concoction!!

Thanks Lynne, I can't wait to try this out.  This little trick will save me lots of money.

Don't forget to have your entry in for our challenge this month.  Some lovely prizes on offer - one prize by vote, another completely by random draw and a guest designer spot with RAK to offer one lucky entrant.  You have until 11.55 on the final day of the month to have your submission linked.