Autumn Wreath

 

 Hello friend, Esther here today sharing this warm and cozy autumn wreath card. I started by stamping the smallest leaves and acorns (from the Autumn Splendor stamp set) in Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and painting them with watercolors. After fussy cutting I added splatters in both walnut stain distress ink and white acrylic paint. 

 Next, I cut a ring using  the largest two Spellbinders nestabilities dies, and arranged my leaves/acorns around the circle using foam mounting tape for dimension. 

For the background, I stamped the NEW Fall Background in versamark watermark ink on kraft cardstock. I distressed the edges with my open scissors and inked all the way around with vintage photo distress ink from Ranger.  The last step was adding the sentiment in Fallen Leaves Versafine Clair Ink.

 ~~~This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you~~~

Background Stamps Two Ways

Hey friends, Esther here sharing two cards with you featuring the new Psalm 23 Background stamp. On the first card I used it for it's intended purpose -- as a background. On the second card I created a scenic background and used it as the main feature!

To create my first card I  embossed the dandelion in white embossing powder on blue card stock, and then added some random leaves in a moonlight white ink. I distressed the edges and inked them in chipped sapphire distress ink. Since I love lace and doilies, I added a pretty strip of white lace to one side before adhering it over my Psalm 23 background. The dragonfly was embossed in blue, colored with real brush pens, and then made to sparkle with some Nuvo glitter drops.

~~~This post contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you~~~

Supplies and Tools:

• Blessings In Disguise (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)
• Psalm 23 Background (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)
• Dragonfly Dreams (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)
• Canson Mixed Media Paper
• Real Brush Pens (Arteza)
• Crochet Thinlits (Sizzix - Tim Holtz)
• Versamark Watermark Ink
• White Embossing Powder
• Lapis Embossing Powder (Stampendous)
• Brilliance Moonlight White Ink (Tsukineko) 
• Faded Jeans Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink (Ranger)
• White Blizzard Glitter Drops (Nuvo)
• Foam Mounting Tape

For my second card I created a scene using three different scene silhouette stamp sets before embossing the new Psalm 23 Background stamp over top. I wanted to keep this card fairly simple so a paper crimped background and some elegant photo corners were all I added.

(You can purchase these three silhouette sets as a bundle and save money!!  CLICK HERE for the Woodland Bundle)

Supplies and Tools:

•  Psalm 23 Background (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)
• Scene Silhouettes: Tall Grass (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)
• Scene Silhouettes: Trees (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)
• Scene Silhouettes: Woodland (Sweet n Sassy Stamps)
• Album Tags and Accents Die (Heartfelt Creations)
• Fiskars Paper Crimper
• Versamark Watermark Ink
• Black Embossing Powder (Ranger)
• These colors of Distress Oxide (Ranger)
• Salty Ocean
• Broken China
• Faded Jeans
• Peeled Paint
• Pine Needles
• Vintage Photo

Stamping Backgrounds

I love to use stamps to create my own backgrounds. That way you can completely customize a card and give it the look and feel you like. And when you want to have specific colors, you can add them yourself and you don't have to look for the matching papers. So for todays card I made a background with the 'Scribble Flowers' stamp set. The large flowers are great to make a background!

I wanted to create a background without any hard lines so I decided to color my stamps with Distress markers instead of a regular ink. I used a purple, yellow and green color for the flowers and colored the background with a soft blue color. I colored the stamps with the marker and stamped them onto watercolor paper. I blended out the lines with a waterbrush and added a little bit more color with the markers inside the lines of the flowers. After that I blended that color out too, so that the entire flower would get a little bit more color. If you want a really soft background you could skip this step and only blend out the lines you stamped. I only used two flowers from the stamp set and stamped them repeatedly on my background. When I stamped all the images I added the blue color around them to get rid of the white spaces between the flowers.

I liked the way the background turned out so I decided to only add a little sentiment on top of it. I stamped 'thinking of you' from the 'Peaceful Peonies' stamp set with a white ink on a black background. I cut out a little flag and added it to my card with foam tape. To finish the card I added a couple of sequins too.

I hope my card inspires you to create a background yourself!

- Lucinde