Mom Gothic Arch - #8 Waxed Paper Napkin Collage

Last year I hosted a decorative napkin swap here on Ink Stains and it was a huge success.  Everyone got LOADS of way cool napkins to use on their projects.  Today I wanted to share another fun technique incorporating those napkins paired with an unlikely material....waxed paper. 

If you don't have decorative napkins you could use patterned tissue paper or plain tissue paper that you have stamped.

Waxed Paper Napkin Collage

Before we begin I wanted to talk a bit about the napkins.  Normally most deco napkins have 2 or more of the same pattern per napkin.  You'll be able to tell once you unfold the napkins how often the image/pattern is repeated.  You will only need a portion of each napkin so I normally just tear or cut one section from the entire sheet for my project. 

Now most napkins are 2-4 ply ~ the top layer has the decoration while the rest of the layers are white.  For most projects you'll want to remove all of the white layers.  For easy removal you can use a piece of tape (I like to use packing tape cause it's really sticky) to help peel each of the white layers from the printed layer.

Peeling away first layer....

and here you can see there is another white layer...

so I peeled that layer off as well.  You can see how transparent the final layer really is...

Supplies:

Decorative Napkins (or patterned / stamped tissue paper)
Waxed Paper
Chipboard
Ephemera
Collage Glue
Embellishments

Instructions:

1. Place your wax paper on your work surface.  I have placed my Gothic Arch template under the waxed paper to give myself an idea on where I wanted to layer each piece of napkin.

2. Tear away the excess areas of each napkin so you have only the desired image(s) or patterns you want to incorporate into your design.    You will also want to get an approximate idea on placement at this time as well.

3. Glue and layer all of the various pieces of napkin down to the waxed paper using your choice of collage medium/glue.   Let it dry completely.

4. Once the glue has dried, crumble the waxed paper 2-3 times to get lots of nice creases worked into the paper.

5. Glue desired sheet of ephemera down to a piece of light/medium weight chipboard.  Let dry.

6. Glue the waxed paper napkin collage to the ephemera side of your chipboard.  You will notice that the ephemera shows through the waxed paper!  Awesome huh?  Let the glue dry completely.

7. Trace and cut your Gothic Arch from the paper.

8. (optional) If desired, ink the edges with black or other color of ink.  I think it gives the Arch a nice finished feel.

9. Add embellishments, image(s) and sentiment to finish it off...  I added various colors of Stickles to the chandeliers and the woman's head dress and skimpy jeweled top for a bit of zing.  You can also see that I used the pearls I posted about earlier to outline the arch.

So there you go...8 down

and only 2 more arches left!

Are you keeping up? 

If not they will be here when you're ready...

remember I'm trying to get them finished up before UK's Mother's Day.

Everyone else will have an extra month to finish your Gothic Arch book so no worries!