How to Color Your Crepe Paper with Design Master

Have you seen this month’s amazing featured flower here at the Posey Box? The calla lilies are absolutely bursting with beautiful spring colors! To create the unique blends of color on each bloom, we used one of our favorite tools: Design Master. We’ve long been fans of the amazing line-up of colors these sprays provide and wanted to share why and how we use them.

Why Design Master?

If you’ve never used a spray to color paper flowers, you might be a little nervous. Paint on paper can be disastrous if done incorrectly, right? That’s why we love Design Master. It isn’t like the spray paint you’d find in the hardware store. They are made with a wide variety of surfaces in mind, including paper. Both the more transparent lines (like Just For Flowers or TintIT) and more pigmented lines (like ColorTool) build to opacity, meaning that the first layer is more transparent than opaque. This allows for the color of the paper to shine through and lets you layer different spray colors on top of each other. The color possibilities are nearly endless!

Another great feature with Design Master is that the color sits on top of the paper and dries quickly. This gives it a three dimensional look, which can really bring your paper flowers to life.

We love that these cans last for 20-30 years if stored properly, and if you have a licensed business, you can probably buy the full spectrum of colors from your local floral wholesaler instead of paying shipping for online orders or being limited by the few color choices available at craft stores.

How to Use

The very best advice is to take the time to read the instructions on the can. That said, here are some tips to make sure you get the most out of your color:

• Shake the can. Really put some muscle into this and shake for longer than you think you need to, at least a minute. This will ensure that all those layers are blended and ready to work as intended.
• Avoid extreme temperatures. Don’t let it reach above 120℉. Let the paper and spray reach room temperature before applying—spray that’s been sitting in the garage in winter needs to warm up a bit before use. 
• Ventilate. Spray in a well ventilated location. As for the last tip, your spray and paper will be just fine if you need to take it outside into the cold to apply, as long as they’re warmed up inside first. The sprayed paper will be fine if you need to let it dry in a colder location like the garage, but it will take longer to dry.
• No flames. Don’t spray near flames.
• Press down, not forward. If the spray is spattering, check that you’re pushing down. That should fix any issues.
• Line up the nozzle with the dot. At the top of the can is a dot, that when lined up will make sure that you get every last drop from the can.

If you’ve never used a spray on paper, try out a more transparent one first, like TintIT or Just For Flowers. The first layer will be lighter and more forgiving to any mistakes made.

To see it in action, take a look at Kate and Quynh spraying their products with Design Master in the above video.

Listen to Paper Talk's conversations with Design Masters on how to use their Color Sprays

 and this one too...