Tuesday tip...

Today my tip is for all of you who love to paper piece or want to learn how. Once you have all your pieces cut out, it is a good idea to chalk or ink around the edges of each piece. inking around the edge of the pieces not only help to separate them when put together, but give the piecing an overall finished look.

I like to keep it simple... I use a 'cat's eye' ink pad in the color of 'Chestnut Roan' for just about everything. I use a light blue ink for white paper, and a white ink pad for black paper. The chalk ink pads are really the best for this type of inking because they come in softer, muted colors. I find pigment ink is too thick and dark, while dye ink pads don't usually have a nice soft surface to brush along the paper.

And this is an important tip to remember.... I always let the ink pad dry out a bit before using it. A saturated ink pad will leave a big mess on your paper. I test the pad on scrap paper before using it to make sure it isn't too 'wet'. You can always add more ink to the paper... but you can't take it away! :)

Happy Scrapping!