TOTW - DIY Pattern Paper

Hi y'all! I'm back! This week my Techneek is pretty low key, but it's a good do-it-yourself idea if you want to make your own pattern paper or paper embellishments.

You will need:
- Alcohol ink in a variety of colours. They can be different shades of the same colour or colour family, or an entire rainbow. I'm using four colours: yellow, orange, red and green
- A paper towel
- Some glossy photo paper. Or matte, or any old paper with a shiny, glossy surface.

Step One: Put some alcohol ink on your balled up paper towel. Start with your lightest colour. I'm only applying it in a small area because I know I am going to cut it up once I'm finished. If you want a larger sheet of paper, apply more alcohol ink to a larger area. I really like the texture that using the paper towel gives the ink.



Step Two: Keep adding your colours, first to your paper towel and then on to your paper. I followed the yellow with orange, then red, then green, using less of each colour as I went along. I wanted yellow to be my base, and the others to be accent colours.

If you want to go back in and add more of one or another colours, do that now.

I completed two layouts using the little bit of pattern paper I created.

You could also try:
- Using mesh or a sponge to apply the alcohol ink. This will give you a different texture than the paper towel did.
- Use only two colours of ink for a really dramatic monochromatic look
- Use a mask, and apply your alcohol inks over top.
- Use your pattern paper to make some fun die cuts with.
- Make a bunch of different sheets with different colours and mix and match them on a layout.

No idea what my project is going to be on Saturday, but I think I know what my next Techneek will be! I have noticed that a lot of my layouts have been looking very similar to each other as of late! I want to see if I can come up with a cool idea to shake up your layouts and share that with you next week.

later,