Simple Stenciled Backgrounds for Your Stamped Images

Hi all!  I'm sharing a set of cards today featuring your basic stencils and stencil paste on kraft.  I had a bunch of images that I've colored over the last week or so as part of Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Coloring Challenge and wanted to put them to use on some Christmas cards.

I love the look of white stamping and embossing on kraft, and basic embossing paste creates essentially the same effect, with some wonderful texture too.

I started out by creating my stenciled backgrounds using Dreamweaver white embossing paste over Papertrey Ink Kraft cardstock.  When I"m creating backgrounds I'll cut my panels to a full A2 size, 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" even though I rarely use them that size.  Often when you stencil a panel the edges aren't quite as crisp as you might want them, so this gives me the opportunity to trim them down to get that nice finished edge

The embossing paste may warp the cardstock a little, so to make sure that the panel was good and stuck to my card base, I used liquid adhesive, the kind you have to kind of pump and the blue liquid comes out, and placed a book over top while it was drying.

I used both stencils that have more 'white' space where there's more paste showing as well as stencils where the design leaves more kraft showing.  For this first card, I'm using my Star stencil for Neat & Tangled.  

The image is from a retired Neat & Tangled set called Little Baby Jesus, and the sentiment is from Altenew's Peach on Earth set.  Both the die cut image and sentiment strip are popped up with foam tape for a bit of dimension.

The next card features my Radiating Star stencil for Neat & Tangled.  When I created the background for this one I didn't realize there was a bit of red ink/spray left on the stencil form the last use, so there's a bit of a rose glow to the background.  I decided I liked the look, but that's why you don't see a more pure white in the background.

The image is from another retired N&T mini called Angel Wing as is the sentiment.

I needed a slightly larger sentiment strip because of the size of the sentiment, but it looked a little too white, so I added a bit of Copic shading around the edges to soften the look.

Next I created a panel using my Fa La La stencil, also from N&T.   

This snowman couple from Paper Smooches' Cool Dudes set was perfect for the background as was the sentiment from Hello Bluebird.

Finally, I used the Tim Holtz Pines Layering Stencil to create this last background, pairing it with one of my very favorite Christmas/Winter Images, the Merry Kisses set from N&T.

The sentiment is from Hello Bluebird, and I used one of the banners from the Scalloped Dies set from N&T.

These backgrounds are quick and easy to create and are the perfect backdrop for your colored images.  I really love how the balance but don't overshadow the images.

Thanks for stopping by!