Stampin Up Watercolor Wash Background Stamp

Here we are today with another promised project using some of my favorite SU items that are retiring – but that I will be keeping – today we are focusing on the Stampin Up Watercolor Wash Background Stamp.

This amazing stamp can bring so much life to plain white card stock!

One of my favorite things to do is to make my own backgrounds.  Don't get me wrong, I love my patterned paper, but sometimes paper doesn't do the trick.  Take, for instance, creating for pre-teen girls.  Stinky feet aside, they are a hodgepodge of interests, right?

But keeping frayed jeans in mind, now take a look at this background stamp:

 

Stampin Up-Watercolor Wash -The Stamp Set

 

Love this look!  This is one of the easiest ways to get the ideal wash for your background.  No mess, no watercolor paper, easy peasy!  And it looks perfect every. single. time!  You can get it in wood mount or clear mount, if you go with clear, you will need block F)

Don't Scroll To The Pictures (Yet!)

Many of you have asked HOW I come up with designs for my cards.  So I am going to walk you through the creative process – I am going to urge you not to scroll to pictures, just yet 🙂  Here is where my mind went in making this card..

About the Recipient

Here is the info about my sweet girlie, Emily, that I pulled into this card.

  • She is quite the tomboy, but loves lace along with it.
  • She loves black mixed with bright colors.
  • She loves simple yet bold things.
  • She loves messy, yet controlled messy 🙂

So with that in mind, I grabbed a few key things, and one technique JUMPED into my head…

The Technique

I went with the Eclipse Technique.  This is a fun one, but I have learned that many stampers are overwhelmed by it.  My most recent class, Layering Techniques for Card Making, includes a basic version of this technique AND a stepped up version.  It is the most watched video in that entire class – it is also the one that I get the most feedback on.  And the feedback is more than good – I don't need the pat on the back, this statement is not about me.  What has been amazing in the feedback is how many of the stampers INSTANTLY felt confident enough to make her first card using this technique right after watching the videoBUT had been intrigued by the technique for over a year and never tried it before!  If you want to learn this technique, along with 8 other layering techniques, be sure to check out this new online class here.

Making the Card

Starting with the colors, I went back to my statement above on how she loves black mixed with bright colors.  She loves hot pink, but is just at the age where she is started to rebel against pink, it's for little girls 🙂 So I pulled in Lemon Lime Twist, Basic Black and Whisper White.  I know she will LOVE this color combo.

Then we move onto the controlled messy thought – I grabbed the Stampin Up Watercolor Wash background, but then also pulled in little splatters from the Timeless Textures stamp set.

What about the tomboy with lace?  There is a ribbon that I think was not at all shown well in the Occasions catalog.  I admit that it was there for over a month before I saw it. On page 29 of that catalog, the page has a green background an the ribbon is green swagged across the page.  So it was totally LOST on that page.  But it is my favorite ribbon from the Occasions catalog.  It's the Lemon Lime Twist Striped Ribbon and it is stunning!  It is soft, but not too girlie, just the right tone where this ribbon could be used on all gender cards.

And the last comment about her style, simple yet bold – that's the Eclipse Technique 🙂

 

Actual Amount of Time

The planning of this card took far longer than actually making it 🙂  When it comes down to it, there were two stamps used, two colors of ink, two colors of card stock, one ribbon, and one die set.  That's it!  So to make it took just a handful of minutes!  I think the hardest part of all of it was picking a color to go with black, and my ribbon selection solved that problem.  (Once again, ribbon to the rescue!)

 

The Project

OK, so for this post, I intentionally did a lot of explaining before showing the project.  I really wanted you to see what went through my head before ink ever touched card stock.

Here is the entire card:

 

Stampin Up Watercolor Wash | Another view of the entire project

 

See all that texture you get when you mix the Watercolor Wash with the Timeless Textures splatter stamp:

 

Stampin Up Watercolor Wash | Texture you get from making your own background

 

And that ribbon – sigh!  If you struggle at all with tying bows, be sure to grab a 10 Second Bow Maker 🙂

 

Stampin Up Watercolor Wash

 

That's it!  Simple, stunning, and if we go back to the initial list of what this pre-teen likes, this card hits it all in my opinion.

 

Your Turn

If you have pre-teens, teens, or anyone that likes a little controlled mess – then make sure you get this background stamp before it retires.  I also HIGHLY recommend the Large Numbers Dies too, as it makes personalization so much easier!  That die set is also retiring.  (Here is another project featuring the Large Numbers Dies.)

Below is the list of supplies I used to make this project.  To order any of them, simply click on a picture below, add them to your shopping bag – no code needed, no nothing, just order and have it shipped right to you!

 

The Supplies

 

 

To see the entire list of what is retiring, click here – then go to Last Chance Products on the left hand side.


Thank you so much for checking in today!  I hope you enjoyed seeing the creative process behind this project and also understand why I think every stamper should have the Stampin Up Watercolor Wash Background Stamp.  And again, if you haven't checked it out, be sure to check out my newest online class, Layering Techniques for Card Making!

 

 

 

Share This: