Run Ink Paper

One very simple way to create romantic, pretty paper is to write by hand with fountain pen ink and then to use water to make the ink run. The result is an interesting, pretty vintage looking paper that is fun to make. It can be used for various paper crafts or to wrap small gifts. I often use it to wrap home made soap. 

The first step is to write by hand with fountain pen ink. In my case, I generally have the first step done already. I like to use a fountain pen to take notes during the Sunday sermon. Depending on the use to which you want to later put this paper, you can use a variety of papers. I always use ordinary notebook paper from the standard copybooks sold in Europe. It is lined and not particularly thick, but it works well. Other types of paper would probably produce even better results. I haven't tried it, but you might achieve similar results from using washable markers and water. Make sure the fountain pen ink you use isn't waterproof.  If you don't have writing in fountain pen just lying around, you could decide to copy out portions from a favorite book or poem. As the text may remain somewhat readable after processing, this is probably not a surefire way to dispose of a secret diary. 

Once you have your manuscript written out, you have some options as to method. The first method you can try is your typical paint with water method. With this method, you simply take a paintbrush dipped in water and paint over the writing. 

Another method you can use is to drip water on the writing. You can do this with the brush or, if you need more water, with your hand. Then, you can fold the paper in half on itself and open it out.  The effects are especially interesting if the sides of the paper have different colors of ink!

You should then leave the paper to dry. If the paper has writing on both sides, you should let one side dry before doing the other.