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The Forecast Is Sunny

Laura Stewart, Assistant Scrapping Cruise Director

Scrapping Deck Crewmember

Laura Stewart - Assistant Scrapping Cruise Director

The forecast is sunny...music to your ears, right? Well, let's be honest. It's mid-November in the Midwest, and the forecast is definitely not sunny. Leaves are falling, and it's pretty chilly outside today. There's no better time to bring some sunshine into your life!


Working with Sun Printing Papers is a fun and exciting process. These are not the same projects you may be recalling from your school days. You can create more than just prints of leaves and twigs. Check out this lovely page featuring a large monogram title letter.

Why isn't the Sun Printing Paper blue in this design, you ask? It's been dyed with ink to match the rest of the page. Keep reading for some basic instructions on how to begin creating your own Sun Printed Papers. If the sun isn't shining in your area, we have a solution for that also.




Basic Instructions For Sun Printing Papers

Start your creative process by selecting a Sun Printing Paper. In these projects, I used Sun Printing Papers by NaturePrint Papers.

Step 1 - Choose the image you want to print. I used an assortment of different fonts and designs.

Step 2 - Print your selected image on Transparency Film. Use black ink, however please note that you can create different effects by either:

A) Printing your font in black, or
B) Printing your font in white and your background in black.
Step 3 - Follow the manufacturer's directions and expose your image to sunlight. Whether it's overcast or just simply dark outside, don't let this stop your creative process. You can use simulated sunlight to develop your Sun Printing Papers. I used a Spot-Gro Light Bulb by Sylvania in all of these projects. When using simulated sunlight, you may have to increase the exposure time.

Step 4 - If you really want to spice up your images, color them! The coolest way I found to color Sun Printing Papers is with Distress Inks by Ranger. These inks are dye-based inks that mix well with water. I purposely overexposed my Sun Printing Papers so that I could ink them and turn them into some beautiful colors besides plain blue.

Inking Variations
  • You can crumple your paper and then ink it.
  • You can distress the edges of your paper and then ink it.
  • You can spray your inked paper with water and then iron it to create a "bubbly" effect.
  • You can spray your inked paper and then rub the ink into the paper with a cotton ball before ironing it. This is how to create the fully "dyed" paper look.

In this page, I matched the patterned paper and the image for the Sun Printed Paper to the window in the title photograph.












In this card, I kept the natural light blue color and simply inked the distressed edges of the design. When I heat set the ink, I purposefully burned a few corners of the paper to create shades of browns and black.










This birthday card features a font that was printed in white with a black background. The effect created with this process is that the outline of the font or image is darker than the background as opposed to the intended purpose of having a lighter image and darker background.











If you've enjoyed any of these projects or techniques, seek out some Sun Printing Papers of your own. Bring a little sunshine into your life!

Laura Stewart
laurastewart@ssreflections.com
Scrapping Deck Crewmember
Reflections Publishing Group, LLC


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***Disclaimers - While individual techniques may vary, always follow product manufacturers' directions and cautions for safety and best results.








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