Basic Grey Style paper tutorial

I have always loved the distressed look of the Basic Grey Papers.  Now Stampin’Up has some pretty awesome papers, but sometimes its nice to make something a little different!  Supplies needed are :  Sanded BG stamp, Any colored CS, although softer colors work best so that you can build layers on.    In this case I used Vanilla and Soft Sky CS.  Ink: Sky, Blue Bayou, River Rock, Caramel, Cocoa, Guava, Pomegranate.  Markers:  Cocoa, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy.  Spritzer tool, sponges, stamps of your choice.

Sky CS:  Stamped Close to Cocoa  using Sanded BG
Vanilla CS: stamped Caramel  and Close to Cocoa using Sanded BG

Soft Sky CS:  Dragged Soft Sky Ink across in back and forth motion.
Vanilla  CS:  Dragged Caramel and Guava across in back in forth motion

This is how it should look after dragging.

Begin sponging with a heavy hand.  Blend with circular strokes, don’t press fingers in too deep or you will end up with little imprints.  You want it to be very smooth, but with an intense color.
Vanilla CS:  Guava, Pomegranate, Cocoa
Soft Sky CS:  Bayou, Cocoa, River Rock

It should have rich smooth colors when finished.

Place Markers of choice into spritzer tool and spritze with a light hand.  You just want to add a touch of texture.
Vanilla CS:  Cocoa
Sky CS     :  Cocoa, Olive, Not Quite Navy

Now you are ready to stamp the solid or open images of your choice.

Flourishes, flowers, patterns will all work great on this BG paper.

Voila, you have some gorgeous paper to work with on any project.  This actually does not take very long if you make it up in batches.  I like to keep a variety of colored BG on hand to use in a given project.  Hope you enjoyed it.
Hugs,
Sophie