Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Make Your Own Background

Vintage Christmas - what's not to love1

Hello my lovelies! I sadly missed last week's challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and I vowed not to let that happen again - well in a few months time, I will have no choice because we will be moving house and everything will be packed but that is another story for another day.

Details again! Little things that make people look twice is what it is all about.

This week, the challenge is all about backgrounds. And quite right too! A background should never be an afterthought; just something sitting in the, well, background and just seen as a lame supporting act to the main event up front.

A good background is the start of something......

No siree. The background is what gets it all going. It is a textural element which sets the scene for your focal point. Spend time on the background and the rest of the card will often build itself.

And layers - you need layers!

Sometimes I will play around with just backgrounds and I have a file for them for when I have zero mojo but want/need to create a card. Quite often pulling something out that I have created months ago will spark something.

I love stitching on my cards. It is the one element that I cannot leave out.

So backgrounds are important and there are as many types as there are stars in the sky (there's a great idea for a background right there actually....).

Love the slightly faded and very rustic colours available to us at the moment.

It is coming up to you-know-what so my card this week is all about snowiness and winter. I will discuss the elements briefly but my main focus is, as it should be, the background!

So what do we need to make this background?
NB: these items are only needed to make the background as this is the focus of this tute. As I make the card, I will mention what I used as I go along.

-card stock. Plain white and A5 sized (make two backgrounds and put one aside for later).
-Distress Oxide Inks- pumice stone, old paper, antique linen, frayed burlap, stormy sky, hickory smoke
-Distress ink- weathered wood, walnut stain
-white acrylic paint. I love DecoArt Americana snow
-stamps- I am using Grunge Flakes by Stampers Anonymous
-Your usual card making needs and some cute elements to finish the card

Righto, let's get started then!

Cut the A4 card in half. It is easier to use this way.

One for now and one for later is the way to go- save on ink and time!

To begin with, lay the first two colours of oxide down onto the non stick mat. I always start with antique linen and old paper for a background like this. I just want to get some colour on there....

Loose the white card already!

Dry that with the heat tool and then go in again.

Darken it up and add some interest.

I always make to so as not to waste ink and I also have one to put into the 'bank'. Now start to add other colours like pumice stone and stormy sky....

Add a little moodiness to the background. Honestly, you could stop right here!

You may need a couple of goes

Always all ow the other layers to shine through though.

Then some interest in the form of frayed burlap (of all colours). Frayed burlap oxidises in a special way and it also warms everything up.

Add a warm colour to warm the background up a bit.

Dry this layer too...

Remember Tim's advice - wet on wet blends, wet on dry, layers. We want layers!

Next let's increase that texture. Stamps! I love these grungy snowflakes and I used weathered wood Distress Ink first and at random...

These snowflakes are not the main feature so they are designed to fade into the background and add texture.

Then followed up with some more snowflakes from the same set in hickory smoke Oxide straight over the top and overlapping....

Layers of texture!

Not finished yet though! I like to splatter with white acrylic paint over the top

A toothbrush kept for this is all you need.

This is a great way to soften areas where the ink may have misbehaved of come out a little harsh.

Finally (for the background at least), ink the edges of the card with walnut stain Distress Ink...

The darker brown on the edge warms the card more and gives it a vintage vibe. It also forms a frame around the focal point.

Time to layer up! The background is finished and as you can see, it is full of depth and texture. 
I wanted a touch of red in the card and because my quote chip is red, there had to be some somewhere else too to tie it all together. 
The answer was a red mat. My paper was just plain though so I went in with some spun sugar oxide and stencils. 

Just make it random like graffiti.

You won't see much of this and trust me, it won't look too pink.

As you can see, you only get to see a tiny amount on the finished card.

I glued some burlap and a strip of black and white paper (black and white is my real weakness!), over the bottom third of the card.

Black and white, yeah!

The came stitching, also with black thread. I went around twice and was not neat on purpose. Then I curled the edge of the background in a bit to emphasise the layering....

Add some zigzag stitching too.

Finally I made a snowflake using the new Sizzix Bigz Ice Flake die.

Love this gorgeous die!

It needed sanding of course!

I use a small cutting mat upside down to sand on. I don't want to scratch the glass mat!

Then it was a bit flat so I went back and gave it some dimension with my Sizzix Paper Sculpting kit....

If you have not bought this kit yet, put it on the Christmas list!

And a squeeze here and there to emphasise the dimension.

You can see that gorgeous centre crystal here too. It makes a lovely contrast with the jute twine.

Finally, it needed a bit of bling to contrast with the rustic vibe. This is a flat back AB crystal.

You cannot beat kraft- core paper!

Then I glued the flake to the centre of the card.

I added some Ideology detail off centre and a sanded quote chip too.

And I tied some jute twine discretely along the top of the tent fold card. This is not meant to take anything away from the main event so keep it low key.

A finishing detail like this can make all the difference.

And that's it! Thank you so much for stopping by and staying with me through this really long post. There is a lot of information for you though and it is important not to miss any out.

I will be saying this next year for sure! This is to be our last Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere. i will miss Christmas at the 'right' time of the year!

See you next time! And do consider entering the challenge yourself. It is such fun!
Hugs
Debbie
xx