Learn how to make a stained glass effect in GIMP in this tutorial. You can use this as text effect but also use this effect for other things you make in GIMP. Because of the reflection it makes the pattern look translucent.
Link called Disco pattern:
http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt177/ORgal2/disco.png
You’ll also learn a different technique to make a border on text in GIMP.