OVERSTAMPED BACKGROUND ON TEXTURED CARD

 Perhaps I should have called this the "Background" blog but for whatever reason its backgrounds that are interesting me most at the moment.  I guess I'm trying to wean myself from reaching for the patterned paper all the time, and I'm pleased to find there are many quick alternatives.  This one in particular, takes less time that cutting paper to size and putting on some doublesided tape.

OVERSTAMPED BACKGROUND

In this example I've stamped multiple times onto a textured ivory card, inking about every third time, and stamping over the edges.  I tried with a few different stamps but it seems to work best with a fairly solid one (the flower and shell are both from Darkroom Door).  I used Versafine ink, which is good for detail because even although the result of the overstamping and the texture is abstract, I wanted the shape to remain evident.

To complete the card, I would stamp a single image onto co ordinating smooth card, double mount it on ivory and green (or blue for the shells) and place it in the centre of the card.  Of course, that's just one option.

SALT AND ACRYLIC WASH BACKGROUND

SALT AND ACRYLIC WASH

I love this paper!!   Just brush a very watery layer of acrylic paint over a sheet of thick paper (I use a dark green paint from Kaiser), then sprinkle with salt (I used ground sea salt).  After its thoroughly dry brush off the salt and you're left with tiny little specks where the grains of salt lay.  In this example they look a bit like miniature moon craters.  I think you could do some great faux rust with oranges and red.
I've seen this technique used with different colouring mediums (watercolours, ink) and different salts, and suspect all the combinations may produce somewhat different results - certainly worth exploring!!

DISTRESS INK AND ACRYLIC BLOCK BACKGROUNDS

DISTRESS INK & ACRYLIC BLOCK BACKGROUND

As you can probably tell by now, I've just bought myself some new Distress Ink sets. I've been reading about inking backgrounds using a craft mat and wondered, given I usually worked on a small scale, whether or not an acrylic block would work.  It does!
Just blob a colour or two of distress ink straight from the pad onto a large acrylic block, spritz it with water until the colours start to run together and blend then either turn it over and "stamp" onto your paper/card, or alternatively, put the paper onto the block.  If you do the latter you can smooth it over with your hand which helps the colours to blend.

CLOSE UP

BACKGROUND FROM CRUMPLED PAPER AND DISTRESS INKS

INKED CRUMPLED PAPER

DISTRESS INKS + CRUMPLED PAPER

 I was playing around with distress ink pads (easy to do now that they come in little cubes) when it occurred to me that I hadn't yet put the "classic" inked background on the blog.  I can't pretend that I haven't tried this a time or ten before but still......
Crumple up some thickish paper (thin is OK but it tears easily), unfold it without straightening it completely, wet it well, then just rub a bit of distress ink here and there.  I haven't gone overboard in these examples, so the ink has just caught the top of the folds..  When the paper is dry, flatten it more.  You can use it "as is" or carefully iron it with a coolish iron.  (Make sure the steam is switched off!). Any water-based ink will work, but distress inks are nice and runny to start with and are consequently easy to use for this technique