Experimenting with Backgrounds

As most of you know, I just don't like designer paper. If I want to reproduce a card, inevitably I'll have run out of the paper I used and then I'm stuck. I much prefer to create my own backgrounds so I can reproduce if I love a design.

This week, I've been experimenting with backgrounds. Some were really pretty and others sort of look like a mess, but at least it was fun!

I bought some new watercolor paper so I was eager to get my brushes out again. I created this card by simply dipping a brush in water and then my ink and transferring to a wet paper. I dried the colors and then re-added the ink to create those harder edges that you see. When I was finished with that, I dripped water onto the paper and blotted it away with a paper towel to create the bleached spots. Finish it up with an embossed sentiment and you have a cute birthday card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Fabulous Four
Paper, Whisper White, Strathmore Watercolor
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Pacific Point, Versamark
Other: Watercolor brushes, gold glitter embossing powder

I actually wasn't as happy with how this one turned out, but I think it's because I really don't have a great floral set. I have flowers, but I'm just not happy with them. I'll be looking around for something different. I used a light watercolor wash in the background and then stamped and die cut my flowers. I added a few candy dots (made from perler beads) to the centers of my flowers and then added a few  glossy accents randomly around the card. The sentiment was heat embossed on vellum and attached under the flowers.

Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Patch, Holiday Home (sentiment)
Paper: Whisper White, Strathmore Watercolor, Vellum
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Tangelo Twist, Crisp Cantaloupe, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Versamark
Other: White embossing powder, candy dots, Glossy Accents

I used the same design from my last post for this card, but I wanted to experiment with the background. I used a stencil and two different colors to sponge on the dots. Then I offset the stencil and used a white gel pen to trace the inside of each circle. It gives it a little bit of an optical illusion that creates dimension. I stamped and die cut my bowl of fruit and then heat embossed the sentiment. Finish it with some crochet thread and attach your panel to a card base.

Supplies:
Stamps: Bowl of Sunshine (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Whisper White, Kraft
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Tangelo Twist, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Versamark
Other: Crochet Thread, White embossing powder, Glitz embossing powder, Circle Stencil, White gel pen