Creating Monochromatic Backgrounds with Repetition

2020 Spring Catalog Congratulations Die Cutting

Feb 18, 2020 Jayne Nelson

Like many of you, I'm anxiously awaiting spring. However, while I wait patiently for the first flowers to bloom, I'm very happy making cards with my favorite floral stamps. Today, I’m sharing a pair of springtime cards that I created with the new Lavender Bunch stamp set.

To make these cards, I started by stamping the lovely Lavender Bunch bouquet stamp, with Intens-ified Black ink, three times on Dove White cardstock. I colored each image with colored pencils and then used the coordinating Lavender Bunch Frame Cuts to cut precisely around each bouquet. For extra dimension, I cut three identical pieces from plain cardstock. After gluing the extra layer to the back of each stamped image with Precision Glue, I set them aside to dry.

One of my favorite ways to create a background for a colorful image is to repeatedly stamp the same image on colored cardstock with a monochromatic ink. For my first card, I stamped the same lavender bunch twice along the left edge of a piece of Paradise cardstock with Blue Raspberry ink. The repetition adds interest to the design while the subtle ink color prevents the images from becoming too bold. On my second card, using the same cardstock and ink, I stamped smaller portions of the lavender bunch, multiple times, along both side edges.

Next, I stamped a congratulatory script sentiment from the new Congrats Happy Stamp & Cut set with Embossing & Watermark ink onto each background. While the ink was still tacky, I covered each sentiment with white embossing powder and used a heat gun to melt the powder. At this point, I secured the die cut flowers to each background panel with glue, trimming the two images on the second card.

Then, I secured the background panels to card bases made from Adriatic cardstock. I also added narrow strips of Peony cardstock along each side of the stamped panels. I embossed two sentiments, one from the Lavender Bunch set and the other from the Congrats Happy Stamp & Cut set, onto strips of Adriatic cardstock. To highlight the sentiments, I layered each strip over a trimmed piece of vellum and secured them to the cards with foam tape.

To finish the cards, I stamped one sentiment, from the Lavender Bunch set, multiple times onto each background with Blue Raspberry ink. The small typewriter style sentiments in this set work ideally for repetition. Finally, I added several Clear Enamel Dots to each card simply because they are so pretty.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by today. Happy crafting and Think Spring!