Vibrant Ombré Background

I have been wanting to play with my Peaceful Moments bundle for a while now, and today I finally got the opportunity to do so. I had it all pictured in my mind...a vibrant ombre background with my poppy die-cuts in black. So I set out to make my background piece...I started inking up my Whisper White cardstock piece using a brayer and my ink pads. I came up with a nice background piece, but not what I had in mind. The colors were too muted...not as striking as I wanted even with multiple layers of ink. Time for Plan B.

I thought to myself, why not just stamp my background? I'll get the color pay-off that I'm looking for and it's quick and easy. Win-win! So I searched through my vast collection of stamp sets until my Artisan Textures caught my eye. Perfect! Color and texture, I love it!

I just stamped repetitively in different shades to get the effect I wanted. I used Mango Melody, Terracotta Tile, Merry Merlot & Blackberry Bliss for my inks. I was so  happy with the end result that I had to make multiples! 

Here's a really short video on how I created my background:

Now wasn't that easy?!? Here are the cards that I made using these vibrant background pieces...I think they are just striking! I used my Poppy Moments Dies for some cards, using Basic Black cardstock and Copper Foil sheets for the accents. Some of my sentiments were from the Peaceful Moments and Sending You Thoughts stamp sets, heat-embossed with copper embossing powder to tie in with the other accents on my cards. And lastly for embellishment I added some of my Champagne Rhinestone Jewels.

This background piece is more muted and less textured compared to the rest because I sprayed it with lots and lots of water. It just depends on the effect that you are looking for, add as much or as little water as you like :)

This card was made using my Butterfly Beauty Die, and the sentiment came from Dandelion Wishes stamp set. 

And lastly, I used my Springtime Impressions Die on this card, sentiment from Dandelion Wishes stamp set again on a punched out piece of Copper Foil using my Everyday Label Punch. I just lined the edges with a black permanent marker to add dimension. I also added a linen thread bow for embellishment.

And those are my cards for today, I hope you like them as much as I loved making them! I love this simple technique, I think I'll be using it lots with other color combinations. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you next time! Happy crafting!

Stamping on DSP

Hello. My name is Phoebe and I'm a recovering paper-hoarder. I love all of my beautiful designer series paper so much that I felt like I was wasting it by using it! I know, crazy! Anyway as part of my steps to recovery, I have resolved to actually USE my beautiful papers...to turn them into beautiful cards rather than just staring at them as they gather dust on my shelf!

So I took out some of my DSPs...mostly the abstract/background-looking ones...and looked for inspiration. And then it struck me! What if I used a background stamp on a background DSP?! Better yet, heat-emboss it with Copper embossing powder. So I set out to try this with my Breathtaking Bouquet stamp and boy, what a result! I loved the look so much that I decided to try it out on various DSPs from the See a Silhouette and Lily Impressions DSP packs. Here are the results:

This first card was made using a piece of Lily Impressions DSP. The darker tinges in the paper was a bit too much for the embossed images, so I decided to cover it up with a piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock that I die-cut using the Detailed Bands Dies. I sponged the middle piece with Pretty Peacock and stamped my sentiment from the Sending You Thoughts stamp set, covered it in Wink of Stella for shimmer and finally adhering it with dimensionals. This whole piece was backed onto a mat piece of Bermuda Bay and then adhered to my Whisper White card base.

This beautiful teal DSP is from Lily Impressions DSP again. The die cut pieces are from the Christmas special Roses Dies, on a piece of Copper foil sheet. The sentiment is from Sending You Thoughts stamp set, stamped on a piece of Coastal Cabana cardstock using Pretty Peacock ink. My mat piece is another sheet of Coastal Cabana, and my card base is Whisper White.

This DSP is from See a Silhouette DSP. I added pieces of Copper foil sheet for accent, and the sentiment is from First Frost stamp set, which I copper heat-embossed on a strip of Night of Navy cardstock. My mat piece is Night of Navy as well, and my card base is Whisper White.

This last card was made using another piece of See a Silhouette DSP. I wanted the vibrant paper and embossing to be the main feature, so I put my sentiment piece off to the side. I cut out a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock using my 2" Circle Punch, sponged the borders with Terracotta Tile ink, stamped my sentiment from Sending You thoughts in Tuxedo black Memento ink, then added some Champagne Rhinestone jewels. I added a piece of Poppy Parade cardstock die-cut using the retired Doily Builder Dies, sponged with Memento ink and finally inked with some Wink of Stella. I used Poppy Parade for my mat piece and Basic Black card base.

I love this look so much! The bouquet stamp and the DSPs alone are already pretty, but put together, it was just a perfect combination in my opinion. It's perfect for making simple cards...all you need to add is your sentiment. Quick and easy cards, now who doesn't want that!

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my cards crafters. If you're a paper-hoarder like me (or like I was!), I hope these cards have inspired you to get those lovely DSPs out and play with them! I hope to see you next time, happy crafting!!!