Make Your Own Background

Over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog this week they have challenged us to create our own backgrounds. This is a fairly easy task to accomplish and I'll be featuring a few products this week that I utilized as I play along with several challenges.

This card started with a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of glossy card stock. Glossy card stock takes color incredibly well which came as a big surprise to me. It takes a lot less ink than an ink blended regular card stock panel.  I just happened to have some on hand that came from Stampin' Up ages ago.

Using one of the 3 new stencils from Papertrey Ink's Modern Background Stencil Collection, I used some masking tape to keep the stencil in place while I inked it up with a Mini Ink Blending Tool and some Papertrey Ink Tropical Teal Ink. This also happens to be the most recent Color Throwdown Challenge #382 but I love the colors and I love them together with this pop of white.  I rarely buy patterned paper but with stencils, the pattern possibilities seem endless.  This particular collection of stencils was the first that Papertrey Ink has released and they are so nice, I'm hoping they will have many more coming. I'm thinking I might need to find some more glossy card stock to use them with.

I used my favorite Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die to cut the white panel after I inked it up.  I die cut a My Favorite Things Stitched Oval in Simon Says Stamp 100# Audrey Blue Card Stock and also created a Top Folding A2 Card Base from Audrey Blue.  This is among my favorite colors, along with Corals, Pinks and Purples.

I stamped my sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black Pigment Ink and heat embossed it using Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder.  I have been extremely happy with the Simon Says Stamp Embossing Powders.  They melt quickly and easily which keeps warping to a minimum.  The other ink colors I used to stamp these tulips are Mint Julep, Vintage Jadeite, Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst, and Autumn Rose all from Papertrey Ink.

For my second card, I used a Mini Ink Blending Tool to create this Ombre background panel using Berry Sorbet and Summer Sunrise.  The glossy card stock took so much less time than regular white card stock but you can't make it shimmery.  That's the one thing I am not crazy about.  But I do like the ease of doing it this way. I tend not to use shimmer for masculine cards so it will be good to have this faster option of ink blending.

For these tulips I used Mint Julep, Vintage Jadeite, Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold and Summer Sunrise Inks from Papertrey. The sentiment is one of the Inspired Series from Betsy Veldman. Betsy has a 2nd set coming out on March 15th that we've had a sneak peek of.  There is also a matching die for the "Savior" but I didn't use it for this card.  I heat embossed it using Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  Glossy card stock can be a bit of a challenge using Versamark since it is so slick.  Be sure to use a powder tool of some kind before you stamp it.

I made this card for a particular friend today.  I'm sending it to her for her "No More Chemo" card.  I have two friends who have been dealing with this recently and I am happy to say that they are both DONE with Chemo.  The Time Out Challenge for this week is Easter or Spring.  This card was definitely made to convey an Easter Sunrise Service.