Vellum is a fun paper to work with – it’s tough, has an interesting translucent look and is really easy to colour with products you probably already have in your stash. So if you haven’t coloured vellum before, now might be the time to give it a go!

Alcohol ink is perfect for colouring vellum – you can use it to change the colour of a piece of vellum or add more than one colour to give different effects. You can also use blending solution to change how the alcohol ink moves on the vellum and lighten the colour if needed. Try dripping the ink onto the surface and watch it spread then add a couple of drops of blending solution to see how that changes the look. You can also blend large areas using a piece of kitchen towel to get a more uniform look.

Alcohol inks dry quickly and you can use either side of the alcohol ink-coloured vellum depending on what look you want to achieve and how you use the vellum.

Next up are alcohol markers such as Copics, ProMarkers and all the other alcohol-based markers that are on the market. These are perfect for colouring targeted areas of vellum. They work best if you use them on the back of images that you’ve stamped onto vellum as they give a subtle colour to the area. Also if you do use them on the back, you don’t have to worry about heat-embossing the ink to make sure it doesn’t react with the alcohol marker.

You might be familiar with using alcohol inks and markers on vellum but did you know that you can also use some inkpads like the Distress Oxides and other inks that give a chalky finish? These inks work well and you can apply them directly on the back of the vellum or try blending tools and applicators for light looks. You can add a single colour or try blending colours together on the surface, so try experimenting to see what looks you can get.

1

Swipe the Distress Oxides over the back surface of the vellum, add other colours if you’d like to blend them

2

Using a piece of kitchen towel, smooth and blend the Distress Oxides on the vellum, particularly at the border of where different colours meet

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If you need to, add more colour by wiping the inkpad over the back surface and blend again

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