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Paper Pricking
(Author: Tyra L. Smith)

DEFINITION: Paper Pricking is just a fancy name for "poking holes in paper". In it's most basic sense, there's nothing to it than that. I'll will show you how to get from point A to point Z...and how to jazz it up if you want. ..

There are a few terms we should define here, just so you know what I'm talking about.

1. Front: The side of the cardstock that is smooth, ie..you poke the holes from the front to the back of the cardstock.

2. Back: The side of the cardstock that is NOT smooth.

Note 1: when talking embossing or debossing, we are using the dry embossing/dry debossing technique with an embossing stylus. This is more of a "freehand" embossing technique, we will not be using stencils.

3. Emboss: Embossing will give you a RAISED look on the front of the cardstock. You always emboss on the BACK of the cardstock.

-Example: A flower would be EMBOSSED, because you want it raised.

4. Deboss: Debossing will give you an area that is not raised. You always deboss on the front of the cardstock.

-Example: The leaves for the flower would be DEBOSSED, because you want them BEHIND the raised petals of the flower.

Note 2: By using a combination of embossing and debossing on one piece, it will give your project dimension.

Embossing/Debossing Tip: When rubbing your stylus along the cardstock, it will have a tendency to drag, which can tear your cardstock. To avoid this, you can run the ball tip of the stylus along your scalp, a piece of beeswax or a white candle periodically. This acts as a lubricant and will let they stylus move more smoothly across the surface of the cardstock as you emboss/deboss. I prefer to use beeswax, only because after running it across my scalp several times, it made my head quite tender.

Note 3: When embossing/debossing, run the ball of the stylus just on the INSIDE of the line. The line is defined by the holes you poked previously. (think dot-to-dot here OK?)

These are just some basic terms, and please remember I am by NO means an expert. I learned how to do something cool, and thought you might enjoy it as well. The instructions I will give you in the forthcoming emails are NOT rules set in stone. But I feel once you do a project, from start to finish...you will be able to see more possiblities to try out later. I'm giving you some basics, how far you take it beyond this is really only limited by your imagination!

BASIC PAPER PRICKING: create a flat, non-dimensional piece

Materials for Basic Paper Pricking Project:
1. Soft Pad - you will be using this under your cardstock when you poke the holes. The following items will work for a "pad".
-thick cardboard, piece of fun foam, old mouse pad, foam meat tray..etc.
2. Exacto Knife - just the holder, not the blade. If you have an exacto knife holder that has a + at the top...where you put the blade in, this one works best. You will insert your needle and use it to poke holes. If you have a pergamano tool that does this, use it !
3. Needle Or Straight Pin - to poke the holes with. Find one that is of a medium diameter...just a basic sewing/cross stitch needle is what I use. The larger the needle, the bigger the holes are you poke. You don't want BIG holes.
4. Matte Cardstock - I used a red confetti matte cardstock, use what you have.
5. Open Design Stamp - I used the art deco rose from PSX.
6. Post-it Note Pad - to make the template for hole poking
7. Scissors

Basic Instructions:

1. Create template. The template is what you will put on top of the front of your cardstock so you can use it as a guide to poke your holes. Take your stamp and ink it up...then stamp it on the post-it note, much as you would for creating a mask. Make sure part of the stamped image is along the area where the sticky is. Trim along the outer edges of the stamped image, leaving at least ¼ of an inch around all stamped lines. Once you have your template cut out, place it on the FRONT of the cardstock in a manner that is pleasing to you.

2. Poke Holes. Put your cardstock/template on top of a soft pad so you don't break your needle when you poke holes. (Note, you will NOT use THIS pad when dry embossing later on, so you WILL need two soft pads) Using your needle, either by itself or in the exacto knife holder...begin poking holes along the stamped lines of the template. Poke all the way through the template and cardstock and into the soft pad. I used an old piece of the thick fun foam for my pad. Try to space your holes as evenly as possible, practice makes perfect. Do not get the holes TOO close together, or else they end up tearing the cardstock. Because my stamp was a bold one with thick lines, I poked my holes along the upper edge of the thick line. Do whatever works best for you.

Note: When poking holes, make sure you hold the needle staight up, don't poke holes with your needle at an angle.

3. Once you finish poking holes along all the stamped lines on the template, remove the template and you are now done with the BASIC Paper Pricking project.

You can leave it "as is"...or you can jazz it up a bit by adding some color. I used the Lyra Aquacolor Watercolor Crayons to add a bit of color to the after poking the holes, just to see what it would look like. I used a gold paint pen to trace along the holes for the flower, just to give it a bit of definition.

INTERMEDIATE PAPER PRICKING: create a two dimensional piece

Intermediate Paper Pricking is where we take the technique just a bit further to create a two dimensional piece. Work your project through the Basic Paper Pricking instructions, stop when all the holes are poked and remove the template.

You will need the following Materials

1. A New Soft Pad for Embossing/Debossing - do NOT use the same pad you used when you poked holes. It makes embossing/debossing difficult. I used a piece of fun foam for this pad as well..works nicely.

2. Dry Embossing Stylus - use what you have on hand. There are different sizes of stylus'...some have a bigger ball at the end, some have a smaller ball. The Big Ball is for working larger areas, while the small ball is used more for detail and tiny areas

Note 1: remember you may want to have a white candle or piece of beeswax (like you use for quilting) handy to run your stylus over so it doesn't tear the cardstock.

Note 2: When you emboss/deboss...it stretches the cardstock. Use a gentle pressure so as not to TEAR the cardstock. Work it so that it stretches a little at a time.

Note 3: You EMBOSS on the BACK...and DEBOSS on the FRONT.

Intermediate Paper Pricking Instructions

1. Turn the cardstock on the back, lay it on the soft pad, and begin to emboss the flower. Work your stylus just on the INSIDE of the line of holes you poked. Go slow...take your time and do NOT tear the cardstock. You can work a little area...turn it over and see how it looks. If you want it raised more, turn the cardstock so the back is facing you again and work over the same area more if needed. When finished with the flower, turn the cardstock over to the front and lay it on the soft pad.

2. Deboss the leaves. It is the SAME process as #1, only you are working on the FRONT of the cardstock. When you are done with the leaves, you are finished! You now have a two dimensional flower.

ADVANCED PAPER PRICKING: create a three dimenional piece

Advanced Paper Pricking is where we take the technique just a bit further to create a three dimensional piece. Work your project through the Intermediate Paper Pricking instructions and comeplete the project as follows:

Because you are working with matte cardstock, the color mediums you can use are quite extensive. Chalks, pastel pencils and watercolor look extremely nice with this tehcnique.

Note: You COULD have colored the piece PRIOR to embossing/debossing it. This gives you a slightly different look, but still a very nice look.

I chose to use Lyra Aquacolor Watercolor Crayons (white, red, blue, and light green) and Pearlescent liquid Acrylics (Volcano Red and Macaw Green).

Remember that your cardstock has already been stressed from the embossing/debossing, go very lightly with the water if you use watercolors. Here's how I finished mine off...

1. Using a blue watercolor crayon, rub the crayon along the areas of the rose that you feel will be darker than the rest of the rose. (I used blue because the cardstock is red) Use a very LIGHTLY damp brush (just enough water to allow you to disolve the pigment on the cardstock and move it around a bit) and work the pigment into the cardstock. Next...I did the same thing with a red watercolor crayon..applying the pigment on top of the blue that was already there...smooth out the pigment with a lightly damp brush. I then use a white crayon along the upper edges of the petals and worked it into the cardstock with a lightly damp brush.

To "color" the leaves, I got my brush damp, ran it across the green watercolor crayon (picking up the pigment in the brush) and then painted the area of the leaves.

To add some definition and visual interest, I used the Volcano Red Pearlescent Liquid Acrylics and just outlined the rose petals with it. Kind of followed the line of dots. I did the same thing with the leaves, using the Macaw Green Pearlescent Liquid Acrylics.

I would like to add here that I've also used this technique with a slightly more detailed stamp (a floral border) and had a very beautiful piece with it. The more detail you have, the more time it takes.

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