Video: Brayered Backgrounds

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!


  • Darlene De Sario

    Loved your cards. The color scheme is my fav! Tyfs

  • Josmary

    I was thinking of getting a Brayer for another technique love it when I can get more uses for the stuff I buy. Awesome cards

  • Helen

    Jessica, thank’s for sharing this acrylic/brayer technique. I like the way you’ve used the stamp applied to the paper and then the paper applied to the paint. It makes such interesting designs.

  • Barbara-Jean

    Stunning cards, especially the one on black!

  • Maureen E. Chandler

    Wonderful technique – your cards are beautiful!! Thanks so much for your video!!