Get more from your patterned paper with Dana Seymour! :)

My guest today is the talented Dana Seymour of Kismet, Art & Life. I actually got to know of her last year when my friend Karen Baker was a guest here and I returned her comment with a blog visit. But I really took a good look at her work again this year and boy have I been missing out! Dana combines patterned paper and stamping with her unique style to create incredible textures and layers. Her cards are always unexpectedly fresh and lively. She shares her "secrets" in a tutorial on how to get more from your patterned paper and is issuing a challenge with a chance to win a gift certificate to one of her fave online stores! :)

Let's have a look at her awesome gallery!

*********************************************************************

"I was so honored and excited when Yvonne asked me to be a guest blogger on Do More With Less! Not only is she incredibly talented, but she's a sweetheart to boot, and her blog is full of amazing inspiration. I love to peruse her older posts just for eye candy!"Do more with less" is a really important concept not only in my personal lifestyle, but in how I craft too. So I thought I'd issue a small challenge by way of using some of that Patterned Paper we all have hidden away. *wink*

Here's how I get more out of my PP.

1. I stamp on it.

If the pattern is boring, I add to it with my stamps.

2. I color it.

If the colors don't match my cardstock perfectly, I alter it by coloring over those parts with markers.

Here are some PPs that I will be working with for today's tutorial:

  

You can see that I already stamped on the last PP (I forgot to take a photo of it before I began!)

Then I choose some stamps and get started.

For an example of how I alter PP with markers, you can see below that the PP I wanted to use had ivory stripes. Well my finished project would be utilizing white CS, so I colored those ivory stripes with a Copic Marker to match another color of CS I was using.

And here are the finished products with all those unique stamped/altered patterned papers on display!

Not only am I using up PP that might otherwise not match or "fit the theme", but I have created something unique in the process! And by altering the PP I already have, I'm not out purchasing more to find that perfect piece that works with my intended project...I'm making it myself with supplies I already have!

Here are several other cards I've created where I use patterned paper that I stamped on or colored over.

Here's where the challenge comes in!

I want to see patterned paper that YOU stamp on or alter in some way. Link up your project below for a chance to win a fabulous prize...a $10 gift Certificate to an online stamp store from the options below!

Practicing Creativity Designs

WPLus9

Papertrey Ink

Denami Design

Lawn Fawn

Let's DO MORE WITH LESS!

*mwah*

Dana"

***********************************************************************

 Doesn't Dana make you look at your patterned paper differently now? I think my stack of  "buyer's remorse" patterned papers need a revisit...*wink*..So, are you ready to play along? Link up your creations using Inlinkz (located at the end of the post) by Friday, February 11.

As always, please leave a little love for my guest Dana. :)

!-- start InLinkz script -->