Making Patterned Background Paper With Stamps

When Simon Says Use a Stamp, what do I say?  USE THEM ALL!  I've used so many stamps to make this collection of patterned background paper and couldn't be happier!

Well, I started by picking 4 stamps and cutting one 8 1/2 x 11" piece of heavy cardstock into four sections.

I decided I would make a collection of green paper and change my cards up a bit, since I've been in an aqua phase for weeks.  I dug out my Distress  Embossing Powders and coordinating inks and went to work.  I embossed three designs in Peeled Paint EP and one in clear.  

You know the story, I got so into my project I forgot to take pics in between the stages, but basically I sponged layers of inks and made inky puddles to dip my papers into.  I love this one with clear EP.  The light spots came from dripping water with my fingers onto the inky background.

As you might have noticed from the top picture, this design didn't stamp fully.  I embossed it anyway, then decided to overstamp it in Peacock Feathers and see if I could get a continuous design and it worked.  I just love these two colors together!

I decided every good collection of papers needed a light sheet, so I tried to go easy on the inking here and just dipped into a very watery batch of Antique Linen.  I love this piece!

For the dots I added some Squeezed Lemonade to try and add a little color variation.  THEN...  I cut another sheet of paper into 4ths (and another, and another, and another, and another............)

I should have started this story with, "This one evening I went and got a latte and determined to stay up late having fun in my art room."  Because that is the bottom line.  I was so excited with the way these were turning out that I broke out a second set of colors (teal - NOT aqua - ok, maybe aqua!  What can I say?!) and went to town experimenting with different stamps and methods.  Above I used the off stamp from the stamp used below and spritzed it with water to get a really pale design.  I sponged that with more ink, spritzed it with water, then overstamped with Frayed Burlap.  

For this one I embossed in white first then used the stamp over it in Peacock Feathers and then sponged heavily in Peacock Feathers.  It's a nice "solid" design, with a bit of white for interest.

This was one of my favorites too, I took a collection of border stamps and lined them up on my clear block and stamped them all as one in clear EP.  Then sponged softly.

Another offstamp of the stamp below, spritzed with water.  I put the stamped card into a puddle of Vintage Photo and the colors ran together so beautifully.  This one didn't photograph so well, but is so pretty in person.

I could go on and on, but this last background was made similarly to the above with the white script, but on this one I spritzed the piece with Mister Hueys and the white mist seemed to make it look like velvet.  When the few larger white splatters dried they made the most beautiful "drawing" of the ink below.  SO much fun!

All in all, I ended up with 26 backgrounds!  Some were made with embossing folders, but I won't show you every single piece.  I look forward to sharing my finished cards with you and using every tiny scrap for die cuts and embellishments.  I'm linking up to Simon Says Stamp Monday for the Use a Stamp Challenge HERE.  A special shoutout to Tammy Tutterow for sharing her genius in creating such lovely backgrounds and inspiring me to play.  <3