Step-by-Step: "Tie-Dyeing a Page!!" by Jasmine Shea

A little while ago I created a page using calico as my background which decided to try using a tie-dyeing technique on.

For anyone who is not aware of the concept, here is a brief description:

"Tie-dye is a process of tying and dyeing a piece of fabric or cloth which is made from knit or woven fabric, usually cotton; typically using bright colors. Tie-dyeing is accomplished by folding the material into a pattern, and binding it with string or rubber bands. Dye is then applied to only parts of the material"

I have wanted to try this technique with card stock to see how it worked.....or didn't work.

As card stock is quite thick and "stiff" a finer patterned paper would work even better.

This is my page using the calico:

Step 1. Begin with your piece of paper/card stock/material, a number of mists, a spritz bottle of water and some small elastic bands.

Step 2. Spritz your paper with water to allow it to become softer so you can scrunch it together in random spots. Tie an elastic band around the gathered paper, a little away from the end.

Step 3. Using your mist, spray the paper randomly and using your spritz bottle of water, spray the mist so it starts to pool and gather in spots. It's messy so there is no perfect way to do this, just "go with it"....

Step 4. Take the elastic bands off the paper and flatten the page out. When the mist dries, you could repeat these steps again so you have more "tie-dye spots" on your page. You could use one colour, blend colours more - the possibilities are endless.

I hope you have fun trying this and remember, it gets messy.....

Jasmine