For this week’s Stamp It Saturday post I thought I would share some more of the cards I created for the recent Holiday 2017 release and talk about how I created the backgrounds for them.

For the backgrounds on all of these cards I used the snowflake stamps from the new Little Bits Snowman Set – they are so pretty, and oh so handy. I love to create inked and stamped background pieces for cards, as while I do love designer papers, I never seem to have quite the right colours, or enough of my favourite ones, and something about my brain seems to get a little stuck when working with them. I can sit for hours staring at a pile of printed papers, deliberating over which to use, so creating my own often works out much faster!

Stamp & Die Sets Used: Polar Bear & Mousie Stuffies, Little Bits Snowman Set, Holiday Sentiment Set

To create the background I used a few different shades of Distress Oxide inks on Strathmore Bristol Vellum Surface paper. The Distress Oxides have become my personal favourites because they go on so smoothly – the pigment ink content makes them so creamy to use. You could however, achieve a similar look using regular Distress Inks, or just try something similar with inks you have on hand (bear in mind, other inks may not react with water like the Distress range to create the splotchy textured effects).

Instead of spritzing the background pieces with water I used a Glimmer Mist spray, which works in the same way but of course adds a gorgeous shimmer to the paper which you can’t quite see in the photos. This is perfect for festive cards. You could use a pre-mixed spray like Glimmer Mist, or create your own using a spray bottle, some water and some Perfect Pearls powder or similar products.

I then stamped the snowflakes randomly using one of my favourite inks – Delicata – I love the Delicata metallic pigment inks, the gold has been my favourite for quite some time. On these cards I used Delicata White Shimmer. Because these inks are pigment based, you will need to allow longer for them to dry, or heat set them (which I did, because I am impatient!).

Stamp & Die Sets Used: Little Bits Skating Quartet Set, Little Bits Snowman Set, Holiday Sentiment Set

Stamp & Die Sets Used: Littles Elf with a Reindeer on Top, Little Bits Snowman Set, Holiday Sentiment Set

Creating your own inked and stamped backgrounds is a great way to create perfectly coordinating cards and projects. It’s also excellent for Christmas cards or other occasions when you need to create multiples of similar designs – simply create all your backgrounds in one sitting using a batch processing approach!

Over To You!

If you try out the techniques shown in any of the posts with your Stamping Bella stamps, be sure to share! We would love to see the results and hear how you feel about them. Show off your creations in the comments below and even better, share your own favourite tips with us. Let’s talk stamping!

If you are posting your images online, we would love to see them on Instagram and all the platforms mentioned above.  To make it easier for us to find you just use #markergeekmonday and/or #stampingbella as a hashtag. Even better tag me @markergeek and @stampingbella . We love it when you connect, so don’t be shy!

If you’re on Facebook join us in our private chat group Stamping Bella Sistahood to share your creations there and chat all things Stamping Bella related!

Until next time, HAPPY STAMPING!

MWAH

Elaineabella