Creative Collaged Papers

Do you love the look of distressed and collaged background papers? Hate it when you can't find the exact paper you have in mind? The answer to your problem is simple. By creating your own collaged papers, you can have a fully customized scrapbook paper, ready to serve as the background for your page or embellishment.

Supplies

To create your own customized papers, start by gathering a few supplies:

• 12" x 12" sheet of sturdy cardstock, preferably light in color
• scraps of text papers, book pages, or images that you'd like to use on your design (A great source for vintage images is www.alteredpages.com, or rip items out from magazines or books.)
• acrylic gel medium OR thin, liquid-based adhesive
• walnut ink in a color of your choice, or acrylic paint thinned with water
• thin-line black or brown art pen (optional)

Creating Your Paper Design

Begin by arranging your images and scraps on top of your 12" x 12" cardstock in whatever arrangement you desire. It is best to cover the entire cardstock, edge to edge.

Once you have the items arranged, adhere them using gel medium or a thin liquid adhesive. Allow this to dry completely.

Using a tinted walnut ink or thinned acrylic paint, apply color over the entire design. Start with a light layer. You can always add color later, but you can't remove it once it has been applied. Let dry completely.

You may want to now cover the entire design again with gel medium or decoupage finish. This will prevent your items from peeling off the paper, and will give a finished look to the piece.

An optional final step is to add doodles or text using an art pen.

Using Your Papers

You now have a beautiful, one-of-a-kind creative masterpiece! Now it's time to put your paper to work. Try one of these great ideas:

• Use your paper as the primary background for a scrapbook page.
• Use your paper to cover an album or tin.
• Create tags or other die-cut elements from your paper, and use as embellishments on a scrapbook page.
• Scan your paper design, then use as the background for a digital creation OR print out several copies so that you can use your paper again and again.

This simple technique can be repeated endless times, always with a unique result. Try creating your own customized paper designs today. It's easy, fun, and will add a one-of-a-kind, personalized touch to any project.

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