{A Million Memories}: Fun Tip Friday with Jennifer Longenecker

Today I'm going to show you some of my favorite ways to add texture to your page elements with a little paint or ink. First grab your supplies. You will need some of your favorite paint colors, a can, some inks, a clean dish, a dish full of water, and a few flat tipped paint brushes.

Paint Technique 1: Cup Stain.

To achieve this look with out the cost of a stamp simple add a little dab of paint to your clean dish and then add some water to your paint with your paint brush.

Next paint the bottom rim of your can and stamp in place. Don't worry about the paint being a little runny ... it's a good thing if it is because your image will look more natural. You can re-stamp several times to get varying degrees of color.

Paint Technique 2: Edging with Paint

In stead of adding water to paint this time you are going to add paint to your water. Starting with a clean dish of water add a drop of of paint to the water and then stir with the tip of your paint brush.

Next using just the tip of your flat brush add the paint to the edges of your element. Allow the paint to dry and then add more paint for a more vibrant edge.

Paint Technique Step 3: Paint Mat

For this step you are going to add water to your drop of paint just like you did in the first technique. Then just brush across your work area to create a mat for a photo or other page element. The watered down paint dries with really cool variances in the texture.

Paint Technique 4: Making your own mist/ splatters

If you use a particular paint a lot it might be a good idea to turn that paint into a mist. To do this you will need a small spray bottle, some water and some paint. Add paint to the bottom of your bottle and then add water and shake to mix. Keep adding paint until you achieve thee color you are looking for. To create splatters dip your paint brush into the bottle, hold the paint brush over the area you want to splatter and then hit the top of the paint brush with your other hand.