Video: Brayered Backgrounds

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Good morning! Jess here to share a fun technique video with you today! I've recently watched several crafty friends use acrylic paints with a brayer to create background panels and I decided to give it a try!

You can watch the video below:

If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can watch it here on YouTube.

To start I squish a small blob of each acrylic paint onto a silicone craft mat then I use a brayer to smooth them out and blend them together. You could also use an old credit card or piece of heavy weight cardstock if you don’t have a brayer. Next I carefully ink the Overlapping Petals cling stamp in the blended acrylic paint and then stamp it on an A2 panel of Dove White cardstock.  I overlap the stamping to get a variety of colors on the panel.  

When I’m done stamping I place a second panel of white cardstock over the leftover acrylic paint, cover it with scrap paper, and use my fingers to press the panel into the paint. Then I carefully lift the panel and am left with a pretty ombre background with the shadow of the stamp left behind!

I repeat this process on Pitch Black cardstock for a totally different look!

Next I stamp three sentiments from the Hero Greetings: Sending Smiles stamp set. I stamp them with Versafine and then heat-emboss them with clear embossing powder before trimming them down into thin labels. Then I die-cut the Thanks and Hello Fancy Dies several times from Dove White, Pitch Black, Peony, and Azalea cardstock and adhere them together. For intricate dies like these I like to use at least three layers of cardstock to give them a nice chipboard feel. I use Precision Glue to adhere the two colors on an offset to give the effect of a shadow.

I adhere the sentiment fancy dies to the various backgrounds and add the label sentiment with Precision Glue or foam tape. Finally I adhere the panels to top and side folding card bases and add a few sequins from the Icicle and Winter mixes to finish the cards! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fantastic Monday!


  • Mary

    Thank you, Hero Arts. The Waffle Flower Water Media Mat looks amazing!

  • Hero Arts

    Hi Mary – Jess is using the Waffle Flower Water Media Mat: https://waffleflower.com/pages/watermediamat

  • Mary

    I was wondering if you could tell me where to purchase a silicone mat like the one you used with this technique. I would like to try this and want the proper mat. Thank you.

  • Anna Rodgers

    Jess, Could your cards get any sweeter? I don’t think so! Lol! You are so very talented. Hero Arts makes some beautiful stamps and dies for us to create with, but they are blessed to have your gifts to showcase their products.

  • JANIS LITYNSKY

    Thank You so much for all your talent and great work.

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