Stamping On Tissue

Tissue paper can be fantastic for layering in your projects, but there are certain tricks to make it come out correctly.

In some ways, tissue can be used like vellum, however, most of the time it won't have the same level of transparency. Always test BEFORE permanently affixing it over existing images on your project, because once tissue gets adhesive on it and goes down, getting it off neatly is next to impossible.

Important things first — don't use tissue paper that will bleed. Not only is this important for the inks, but even more important when it comes to applying it to your project. Even gel medium will cause tissue colour to run, even glue stick, so use a stable tissue. While this might be a look you like, when using a stamp on it, it becomes a blurry disaster.

You certainly don't need to stick with plain and boring white tissue. Just check to make sure that the colour you want to use won't bleed by spritzing lightly with water — or purchase tissue that is clearly marked as colour-fast. There are so many options out now, that there are no limits to what you can do. Tissue can even have sparkles, glitter, and confetti worked into the paper itself, and can add some wonderful texture and extra dimension.

ALWAYS put an absorbant surface behind the tissue when stamping. Non-absorbant can cause bleeding and smudges, and the ink WILL bleed through to the surface below.

Permanent and dye inks are the best for stamping on tissue. Pigment inks tend to smudge when applying the tissue to the project, unless you're particularly brave and want to emboss, in which case slow-drying ink is a necessity — tissue is extremely absorbant, and ink will dry faster than you expect.

You CAN emboss on tissue paper, but it's very easy to scorch and burn, and without a static pack, it's pretty much just a mess. If you want to emboss, make sure you dust across the tissue before you stamp with an anti-static pack, or even a dryer sheet. Be careful when removing the excess, and use a fine paintbrush to get stray particles of powder off the paper. In addition, keep your heat tool a good distance from the paper — tissue scorches quite quickly — and don't overheat the embossing powder, or it will melt entirely into the tissue.

Tissue will generally stick to the stamp when stamping, so hold down the tissue with a finger, and pull the stamp up evenly without rocking with the other hand.

All ink colours work, but darker colours tend to give the best results, and are more dramatic. Subtle colours can get lost in the project once you continue to add layers.

If you intend to further colour the image, chalks work well, as do pencils. This isn't always best done after the tissue stamped image is applied, since some adhesives (such as gel medium or decoupage) will make the tissue LESS absorbant. Inks, markers, or paint will run and blur, unless you add these AFTER you've added the image to your project and the adhesive has dried, and even then you may get some running of the colour.