Monday, January 25, 2010

Watercolor Paper Towels!

I was cleaning up a couple Distress Ink projects over the weekend and I ended up setting my damp paper towel on a pile of scrap paper cuttings ~ when I went to toss them all in the trash I found that the paper towel had left a pretty cool design behind! You know me...got me to thinking of the various paint techniques using paper towels and thought hey, we can do that with ink.

I must warn you though...this will give you ink stained fingers ;) so if you don't want to be inky you might want to wear a pair of gloves for this one.

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Supplies:

Distress Re-Inker

Paper Towels (I like Viva - they are very strong)

Water

Cardstock

Heat It Craft Tool (or other embossing gun)

Instructions:

1. Cut the paper towel into 4 smaller pieces.

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2. Soak the paper towel with water...not dripping but pretty damp.

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3. Place one drop of Distress Ink on your Non-Stick Craft Mat or other non-porous surface.

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4. Now dab at the ink with the damp towel. Be sure to pick up the ink in several areas of the towel so there is good coverage.

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5. Repeat this step if additional colors are desired.

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6. Place your cardstock on your craft mat. Start with one color and dab the wet - inky towel over the cardstock. Remember to shift the paper towel wad around so you don't get the exact same impression over and over. If desired you may squeeze the towel to release additional water with the ink for a different look.

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7. When you are satisfied with the coverage of this color use the heat-it craft tool to dry this layer.

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8. Continue adding additional layers of color by dabbing on the color and heating.

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You will be able to create several sheets of this beautiful watercolor looking cardstock using the very same inked towels. I ended up with 8 sheets (5 shown) but could have kept going as I still had quite enough ink!

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Now don't go throwing out those inky paper towels just yet!

You can dry them and incorporate them into your creations as well!

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I'll have several examples to share tomorrow incorporating this paper (and the paper towels) on cards, tags and more!

Be sure to check back then!

7 comments:

  1. Reminds me of the good old days when making our own background paper for scrapbooks was our only choice. It's why I started buying stamps - I got tired of the same old background!!
    Thanks for sharing.
    ~Jill

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  2. well leave it to Roni to think of this! I just can't throw anything away now! lol cher

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  3. this is looking very interesting....i will be back tomorrow to see what else you are hiding up your sleeve!!

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  4. Hi Roni -

    The papers remind me of Impressionist flowers. Neat technique. Can't wait to see what you have in store for the paper towels!

    Elaine Allen

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  5. I got tired of the same old background!!
    Thanks for sharing.

    Work from home India

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  6. e been making some of my own background papers lately, because I never have the right colors/shades, so this is something that really caught my eye.

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  7. I have linked to this post in my new round-up of paper towel art. Thanks for the inspiration! http://craftulate.blogspot.com/2013/06/12-paper-towel-art-projects.html

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Thanks for your thoughts and comments!