Patterned paper week

I love patterned paper and I'm choosing this week to feature it! More specifically, I'll be posting various ways of making your own and then using the paper in a project. That's like creativity squared ... or something. This is also a precursor to an upcoming May Stampin' Up! promotion but I'm going to stay quiet until then. Bribes may be considered, however ...

First up is the patterned paper you can create by stamping freehand. Choose your favourite stamp set and go for it on a blank piece of paper.

Tips
1. Make sure that you stamp over the edges of your paper so that the pattern doesn't look cramped (and the edges bald).
2. If you are stamping twice after inking once, be careful when you stamp off the edge on the first impression. You may find that the second impression has a darker patch of ink where the stamp met the edge of the paper on the first press.
3. Consider using contrived chaos. In other words, don't stamp with complete abandon - just look like you did. Stamp in clusters (such as in threes) and be careful with overlapping images as, while sometimes it can look good, other times it looks messy.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Old Olive
Ruby Red
Whisper White Craft

Stamps:
Bud Basics set

Cardstock:
Kraft

Accessories:
White Gel Pen


I found that the white craft ink didn't give me the shock of white that I wanted so I traced over the outlines with a white gel pen.

I'll post a project using this patterned cardstock tomorrow. But, in the meanwhile, have a squizz at Kari's bold and beautiful cards and Kylie's gorgeous offering - I reckon my patterned cardstock gives a similar feel to the Designer Series Paper that they used so well. Of course, the DSP is much more refined...