Hello crafty friends! Today I’m sharing a card that I made after participating in Altenew Academy’s Beyond Basic Backgrounds class.

I was inspired by the additional card project that was shown for lesson 1. In the first lesson, the instructor Lydia made a stencil by diecutting multiples of the same flower die from a piece of cardstock, to create her own stencil. She then blended an ombre color scheme through the stencil onto another piece of white cardstock, and then stamped an outline flower stamp over the inked flower base layer. Her additional card project used a similar stencil to stamp multi-layer flowers onto cardstock. She then attached the stencil as an overlay, using foam tape, to add dimension. This is the approach that I used.

The stamp set that I selected had small flowers with both individual petals and leaves. I thought it would be pretty to create a cascade of falling flowers, with a few leaves and petals sprinkled in. I started by laying out the placement on my stencil, and then die cutting the various dies into the stencil. I used Neenah Solar White 110 lb Classic Crest for both the stencil and the background. I made sure to cut a few flowers hanging off of the top and side, to add some movement. Once I had my stencil cut, I used it to position the base layer stamps for the flowers, leaves, and petals. I used my Misti stamping tool to apply the stamped images through the stencil, so they would line up. After the first layer was stamped, I removed the stencil (to keep it clean) and finished stamping the reset of the flower, petal, and leaf layers.

After all the stamping was completed, I attached the stencil to the card front with dimensional foam tape. I used a Mother’s Day sentiment from my stash. To get a clear stamped image that wouldn’t rub off the Vellum paper, I found a similar color purple Pigment ink, and then used an iridescent embossing powder on top, and heat set it. I placed the sentiment band at an angle, and folded it around the stencil, cutting off the extra. The photo really doesn’t do this iridescent embossing powder justice. It was beautiful and very eye-catching over the purple ink, and really made the card. I added a few flat iridescent sequins to complete the card.

This technique would work fantastic with any small stamps that you have. It’s a great way to stretch the usefulness of any smaller stamp by repeating the image and adding interest with the raised top stencil piece. You can repeat the stamping in a set pattern, or stamp randomly, like I did. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you give this background technique a try – I’d love to see what you create! It’s a pretty straight-forward technique with impressive results!

Altenew products used:
Vintage Roses Layering Stamp Set
Vintage Roses Die Set
Crisp Dye Ink Sets – Enchanted Garden, Green Fields