Painting Perforated Paper

OK.  So, those of you who work with perforated paper know that there are a variety of colors, but it is sometimes hard to match the hand-dyed fabrics many designers use.  Case in point, the 28 count Amber linen used by Lizzie Kate in Hats Off To Halloween.  The perforated paper does come in two different shades of brown, Antique Brown and Mocha Paint, but both were too dark. The closest I could come to in the perforated paper was Ecru, and it was a bit light, so I had the idea to find a spray paint at Michaels in a tan/brown color.  

Now, if any of you have bought spray paint at Michaels you know it is behind a locked cage.  Does that annoy you as much as it does me?  You have to push this button and then wait for an employee to come unlock the cage.  Let's face it, if I was going to huff paint or do whatever it is the reason they have it locked up, I would find a way to do it.  But I digress...

I find a brown in the spray paint and I also buy a blue/teal one for another Halloween piece I want to stitch, and as I am coming around the corner I spy a product on the end cap by Design Master called Tint It.  

And when I read the back it says it will give a tint to what you paint it on but will not cover up the original color unless you put many coats on it.  I thought hmmm, this might just work to give the paper that hand-dyed look, and OMG it worked!!!!!!!  Now, it was hard for me to capture the true look of what the paper turned out to be, but it is a warm brown and when you hold it away from you it looks like a hand-dyed fabric almost.  As a side note, I wear latex gloves when spray painting the paper.  Trust me on this one, unless you want spray paint on your hands!!!

Here is the Ecru paper unpainted and then after using the Tint It in Sepia on it.  

And here are the floss colors for the LK design laid on top of the paper.  I think this is going to look really good!

I changed a few colors, two of the greens to DMC Variations floss, and the cream color floss to white DMC, and I am going to change the brown to Weeks Dye Works Kris Bon Bon.  I just love the shades of brown in that one!

And did anyone get this little gem in the mail today?  LOTS of great designs in this one!

I am off to Stitch Night at The Stitching Post tomorrow with the wonderful Jill.  Have not seen her in a long time, so it will be good to catch up face-to-face!

Until next time...