Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Doodling with patterned paper tutorial

Hello there, it is Lythan here with the second in our occasional tutorials. I'm going to share something I absolutely love doing - adding a little extra to patterned paper.

To do this you need to chose paper with quite a bold pattern. Papers such as those by American Crafts; the more modern K and Co; Sassafrass Lass and Scenic Route are good places to start. I am using Piggy Tales in these examples. I love these papers as they are so bright and colourful and also have a matching plain colour on the back. This technique works well for cards using punches and loads of white space. They often solve my problem of what to put on men's cards!

So here is what you will need
a variety of toning papers, some punches, distress ink, card stock, black and white pens. I use any old black gel pen but the only white pen for me is a Pentel Hybrid Gel pen (currently available in Smiths!)

Punch out shapes in a variety of sizes - I tend to use circles or squares. Flower shapes would work well too. Don't make them too small or the doodling gets tricky.
Choose to use some on the patterned and some on the plain side.
I then always distress the edges, this makes the shapes "pop" on white cards. You can see the difference between the one on the left and those on the right
then draw an outline circle - there are all sorts of ways of doing this, here are a few examples...then outline the patterns with black pen
You can leave them like that - I think the patterns look smarter and fresher with a bit of black added. But then if you add some white and some additional patterns...
you get a really individual look! Then just have fun in front of the tv doing some doodling.
And then assemble onto cards
It also works for larger pieces of patterned paper. This card would be quite nice...
but I prefer the look of this one!NB It is well worth washing your hands frequently while making these cards as distress ink and black gel pen transfer easily. Often my choice of where things go is dictated by hiding smudges - there were three on the above card...
So there you go - I would love to see your creations. Link them here in the usual way!

27 comments :

Nickynoo said...

What a fab tutorial, I often doodle on cards and LO's but I've never tried it like this on patterned paper - I'm going to have to give this a try!

Sally said...

Am also a fan of doodling and this tutorial is REALLY good hun. Think i might have a gp on patterned paper too, xxxx

Nick said...

Fantastic tutorial Lythan-I had great fun, I even made two!
http://paper-penguins.blogspot.com/2008/04/dcm-midweek-challenge.html

Jay said...

Great tutorial, Lythan! I like the look of doodling, but usually not when I'm the one who does it. LOL! I had to give your tutorial a try. It was fun! Thanks!

My card is on my blog: Doodled Love card

Crafty Connie said...

WOW, what a great tutorial. Thanks for sharing.

Jo Austin said...

I've done mine.. tutorial type card and the butterfly from Friday..

hope you like em..
love Jo xx

Anonymous said...

Great tutorial Lythan, definately feeling onspired. :-)

Tina (tinasue)

Jackie said...

Brilliant Lythan. My card is now on my blog in all it's colourful glory :)

Jan said...

Wow. Love this tutorial. thanks Lythan

Esther said...

Just loading mine now, ooh I am raelly loving doodling- think itwill be featuring in my cards more! Thanks so much for helpful tutorial Lythan! Also done some butterfly cards

manuela said...

Thanks Lythan!

my card

Kaz said...

Great tutorial. My card is on my blog x

http://kazscraftbits.blogspot.com/

Bubbles said...

Great tutorial thanks. Had a go but not sure mine works the way I've used it!
http://bubbles72blog.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I'm not much of a doodler, but my effort is here.

Anice said...

Brilliant tutorial, thanks very much for sharing your technique I've always admired it on your cards designs. See my so, so attempt on my blog! I will practice and get better!
Anice xx

Kath Stewart said...

This is my first entry to DCM challenge. I love doodling and here is my attempt
http://kath-allthatglitter.blogspot.com/2008/04/daring-card-makers-challenge.html

Kaz said...

I realised yesterday that I hadn't really followed the tutorial properly, so I've done a better one today!!

http://kazscraftbits.blogspot.com/

Juliet said...

I absolutely love this technique - thanks for a superb tutorial!!
My card is on my blog.
Juliet xx

Jozza said...

Fantastic tutorial!! I've had a quick attempt (Jozza style LOL) which you can see here

http://jozzasblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/dcm-midweek-challenge.html

3TravelBugs said...

I really love reading your blog so I have passed an award on to you that was given to me.

It is posted on my blog if you would like to drop by sometime to pick it up and then pass it on to your favorite bloggers. :)

Sincerely,
Sarah Ann

Twobees said...

Gorgous cards. Thanks for the tutorial. Great to see how it "lifts" the cards :)

Anonymous said...

Did mine last night. Here it is and thanks for looking. :)

Vanessa.

Fab said...

Thank you for the tutorial ! I was able to make this 4X4 flap and doodle like crazy ! LOL

Green Elephant at the Circus

Dawny P said...

Thank you for a great tutorial - I am definatley going to have a go at this - how original does it make your work!!!! :-)

Dawny P said...

Lythan it's doodle-tastic!! I loves it - and how addictive is it - I can't stop. Just noticed the typo on my last post to you - oops. I would get the dictionary out but I would probably doodle all over that as well lol xxx

anita said...

WOW sometimes the simplest things are the most effective! Thanks for sharing xx

Bon said...

Brilliant Idea, my doodling was restricted to faux stitching but this is brilliant, please forgive me if I copy the idea to Jazz up my creations from now on. Thanks for inspiring so many of us:)