Making My Own Patterned Paper

 

Someone asked recently "What is your FORO?"

Fear of Running Out.

You know, that item you stocked up on "just in case".

Well, I should never  have a FORO when it comes to patterned paper. I have a lot. A LOT.

But when I see a new pack, something fun and seasonal, I forget how much I have already. And I also forget how easy it is to make my own.

Catherine Pooler has a sweet release this month called Flavors of Fall. Oh, it was so me! Coffee cups and pumpkins, pies and donuts, woodland animals in scarves. And pretty plaids and papers.

But the longer I looked at the release, the more I realized I already had all the elements I needed to achieve the same results.

Cute coffee cups and pumpkins? Check. Pies? Check. Woodland animals in scarves? Check. Plaid? Check check check!

The key to getting a knockoff look with what I already have? Copy the color palette! I pulled out the same inks featured in CP's new papers, grabbed some background stamps and a set of fall leaf images, and went to work.

For this "paper" look, I started by swipe inking the panel with Quartz ink. When that was dry, I used a variety of leaves from this stamp set. Here's a tip. Start with the biggest images first, then medium, then fill in with the smallest. Voila! Leafy patterned paper!

For the multi-colored plaid, I started by swipe inking the panel in quartz. Then, I placed the background stamp in my MISTI. First, I inked over the plaid stamp with Orange Peel and stamped over the quartz. Next, I carefully swiped macchiato ink in the center and two corners of the background stamp, stamped over the panel again, and achieved the multi-colored look. 

Leaves and plaids, stripes and polkas. And just like that, I have a knockoff of patterned paper, ready for card making.

I also spent some time stamping and die cutting images from this stamp set (along with a few others) to match the paper. I'm hoping to get some time tomorrow to assemble some cards.