Stamping up - bringing backgrounds to the fore

Perhaps the easiest way to create patterned paper is through the use of background stamps. Of course, the size of the resulting paper is small, but it should be big enough for a greeting card and for matting smaller photos (a good excuse for cropping away tummy bulges).

For those of you who have not used background stamps before, a good technique for using these particularly large stamps is "stamping up". I'm not sure if the technique has ever been called this before (in which case I'm trademarking it) but I think that it makes a good name for a rubber stamp company that produces background stamps...
So, what does the technique involve?
1. Ink the background stamp.
2. Lay the stamp, rubber side up, onto a level stable surface.
3. Place paper, right side down, on top of the inked rubber.
4. Cover the paper with some scrap paper if there is any inked rubber showing. This makes cleaning up much easier as a result of step 5.
5. Smooth over the paper (or scrap paper if used) to make the impression. I use the wooden side of another rubber stamp but fingers, brayers or any item with a flat surface should do. Make sure that the paper being stamped does not shift otherwise you will get smudging or ghosting in final product.
6. Carefully lift the stamped image off the rubber without allowing the paper to touch the stamp again to minimise smudging.

To the right is a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock stamped with a Paisley background stamp using Elegant Eggplant ink. So simple and versatile!

The opportunity to step things up is always there...Here's an example using multiple background stamps, masking, sponging and lots of colours.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Ballet Blue
Close to Cocoa
Chocolate Chip
Not Quite Navy
Old Olive
Rose Red
Rust Red
Sahara Sand
So Saffron

Stamps:
Canvas background
En Français background
Paisley background
Heartfelt Thanks set

Cardstock:
Very Vanilla

I'll be using these two bitty pieces of patterned cardstock and posting the results within the next couple of days.