Marbling paper with food coloring and shaving cream is a great activity for all ages! Kids will love this, but for scrapbookers and card makers, this technique will open up a whole new world of background papers. The end result of each project is beautiful and unique and makes a great background for clear rubber stamping projects!
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Shaving cream or foam
- Coloring medium: food coloring, refill inks, water based paint
- Porous paper or cloth
- Stick for swirling colors together
- Cookie sheet or tin foil
- 4×6 sheet of heavy cardstock
TO MARBELIZE YOUR PAPER
- Protect your work surface with newspapers. Next cover the bottom of a cookie sheet with tin foil.
- Spray the shaving cream over an area that will cover your paper (this will depend on the size of paper you are using. Make the shaving cream layer about 1″ thick.
- ADDING COLORS: If you are using food coloring, as illustrated,begin dropping bits of color over the shaving cream. You can use 1-4 colors as desired.
(If you are using water based paint, thin it down, then you can squirt bits over the shaving cream. You can even use a paint brush to make designs if you wish. If you are using refill inks, you can either squirt lines of ink into the shaving cream or you can add the ink the same way the food coloring is added, drop by drop.) - Once you have added your color, use your swirling stick to lightly swirl the colors together. You want your colors to be sharp and vibrant so be careful not to overmix the colors. Also the colors should stay on the top of the foam as much as possible.
- Next lay your porous paper (or cloth) over the marbled design. Press the paper or cloth down lightly. Paper can be lifted off after a few seconds, cloth must sit on the surface for 1-2 minutes to allow the colors to penetrate fully.
- Lift paper off the shaving cream mixture.
- Next scrape the shaving cream off your paper (or cloth) using the 4×6 heavy cardstock. As you remove the shaving cream you will find that you are revealing the wonderful swirled art that is delightful to use.
- You can do this repeatedly with the same shaving cream mixture as desired. The more mixed your colors get the more muted the marbling will be.
- Allow your paper (or cloth) to dry. Use your marbleized paper to create fun cards or scrapbook page features. These designs make wonderful backgrounds for rubber stamping scenic art!
