DIY Stamped Background: Cards

This project has been on my mind for some time and I finally got around to getting it together.  My first loves are scrapbooking & photography, but card making is just too practical to pass up with all of my supplies.  A few issues I run into with making cards:

• Not enough Birthday cards on hand
• Not enough masculine cards
• Cards that are too embellishment heavy (& too expensive to mail)
• Stamps I want to use but can't figure out how

So I've had these iconic image stamps for a while from Technique Tuesday and TPC Studio (clearance in a store closing sale!) that I wanted to use.  I created my own background patterned paper by stamping on 8.5x11 cardstock then cut it down to make four cards from each piece.

For a masculine theme I went with the All Aboard stamps and a brown/neutral color scheme.

For a feminine theme, I went with the French European style with teals and light green.  

I've been loving the vertical, tent fold cards lately, so I went with that.  To solve my mailing issue, I decided to make two cards from each set that were light, less embellished and safe to mail with regular postage.  

On the feminine cards, I used metallic thread from my favorite NYC store, Tinsel Trading, to embellish.  It's hard to tell, but it actually has a teal shine to it that compliments the ink colors.

Onto the heavier cards...  After looking at my stamped paper, I decided it is versatile and could be used for a variety of occasions, so I didn't stamp any sentiments.  I decided to just cluster some embellishments on the front, along with ribbon or thread to add detail.

For the brown batch, I used a CTMH Universal Backgrounds music note stamp to make a distressed circle embellishment.  Again, trying to keep it masculine and did not want to add flowers, pearls, etc.  

I sewed the circles, along with a chipboard, inked fleur-de-lis, and used a chipboard clock from Heidi Swapp.  I was happy to delve into my drawer of accumulated embellishments and use some of the stash!

For the blue batch, I embellished more feminine with flowers, butterflies & ribbon bows. 

To add dimension to the butterfly punches, I layered green vellum over light green cardstock, finished with a mini pearl.  I added an acrylic clock with a silver brad (also from the Heidi Swapp stash!).

I sewed 3 punched & stamped hearts with metallic silver thread and added butterflies & ribbon.  

Overall I was very happy with how they turned out and glad I found an easy way to create versatile cards.  I made simple embellishments, mostly from paper scraps with the help of background stamps & thread.  I will definitely use this technique in the future.  

Thanks for looking!