Tutorials: Altering Patterned Paper

So there I was...night time...card assignment due and I could NOT, for the life of me, make the components work together!  You know how it is: we buy paper we adore, or we buy it in big packs, but then we can't find a sentiment or scene or picture that goes with the pattern (or maybe that's just my problem)!  That was the boat I was in.  It wasn't meshing!  I either had to abort my idea and find all new paper, or have a Tim Gunn "make it work" moment with the paper I had in my hands.  So what happened??  Check out the card I made and I'll show you how I altered the patterned paper from its original form so it fit the "card vision" I had in mind:

I started out with this bold floral print from DCWV's "Solstice" stack, as pictured below.  I loved the turquoise and coral-colored flowers, but needed more solid-colored space (as opposed to the pattern) to make my card idea work.

Using an old gift card like a spatula, I scraped gesso across the page, leaving some of my favorite flowers peeking through.  The great thing about DCWV paper is that it's sturdy enough to handle this process.

While the gesso was still wet, I patted on some torn vintage pages and rubbed the gesso over the edges of the pages with my fingers.

Next I used a foam brush and added streaks of three different shades of acrylic paint (light blue, green and yellow).  I used the same brush for all three colors (without washing it in between) so that they mixed on my brush to create new colors.

I waited for the page to dry, then I stamped some polka dots on the background with a rubber stamp (Punchinella by Christy Tomlinson) and dark brown and teal ink (Tim Holtz distress ink).

After that, my new background page was ready to go!  I cut it in pieces to use for cards, and there you have it!  See it peeking out from my card's layers? I attached the whole thing to a striped background (Fancy Pants), and added a Bingo card-type of sentiment on top (Teresa Collins).  The paper framing the Bingo card is from Simple Stories.  I also added a strip of fabric and a fabulous key-shaped clip from Prima.  There is some scalloped lace at the bottom and I stamped the sentiment, "make them matter" using a set of alphabet stamps by Studio G.

Altering patterned paper is a great way to re-purpose and make full use of your current stash.  Plus it feels like a pretty nifty accomplishment to make your "own" unique patterned paper!