More is More

October Sneak Peeks are in full swing at Taylored Expressions, with all the new products being released tomorrow morning, Thursday, October 4th!  This is the TE Christmas release and I haven’t had so much fun stamping in years!  Seriously!  I LOVE this release!

TE has FOUR new background stamps this month and I adore them all.  Today I’m sharing cards made with three of them, including an easy-peasy set for mass production.  But first, one of my favorite cards.

This card features several new products including the Buffalo Plaid Background (stamped with Oreo ink on to Red Pepper cardstock), The Scallop Oval Stacklets, Woodland Silhouettes 1 (die set), Little Bits Holiday Bloomers (die set), and the sentiment is from the Cutting Edge Trees stamp set (embossed in white.)  The really funny thing is that, when this release was in development, I really couldn’t picture myself using these animal silhouettes much, but when everything came I couldn’t wait to make this card and it turned out to be one of my favorites!

Now for a set of cards that is super simple to mass produce.  I don’t know about you, but mass production is not my favorite way to stamp.  That being said, when I send Christmas cards, I usually try to make  3 or 4 designs and make 25-30 of each design.  This Scandinavian Christmas Background along with the Simply Said Christmas stamp set makes that really easy!

For these three cards, I’ve stamped the background in three different colors – Cherry Pop, and the new TE colors Blueberry and Cilantro and mounted them onto matching cardstock bases.  If I were mass producing 25-30, honestly I would have just done them all the same color, but I wanted to see how this would look in varying colors. This card just couldn’t be more simple, but the detailed background still makes it striking.

Next I decided to do one simple step-up by adding some black (one of my all-time favorite tricks.)

It might be a little hard to see in the photo, but for each card, I added a layer of black cardstock which makes the design pop a bit more.  I also switched out the scallop border from matching colored cardstock to black.

Then I decided to try one more step-up.

So easy!  I just added black silhouettes die cut from Woodland Silhouettes 1 and Woodland Silhouettes 2 and the previously released Eventful Night Before Christmas dies.

And now the card I created with the Pine Bough Background.  This one is cool because it’s not a full background, but rather covers about a third of the card.  It could be stamped twice – top and bottom to create a frame, or there is a companion die to cut it out and pop it up.  I took the simple approach on this one.

I used TE Watercolor cardstock for this one along with Ranger Distress ink cubes in several shades of green.  I started by spritzing the cardstock with water so it would be just damp.  Then I dabbed the ink cubes onto the stamp creating a variation in color and stamped onto the damp watercolor paper.  Once it was dry, I sponged the edges with ink.  I used the Merry Backer die to cut through the watercolor paper and then backed that panel with TE Basil cardstock.  Then the Merry Script die was cut from Basil cardstock 4 times and layered with the top layer being gold cardstock.  To finish off this card I went old-school with some green Kaisercraft rhinestones.

I’m telling you, these new backgrounds are AMAZING!  And not just for Christmas.  The buffalo plaid will make a great gingham in the spring and the Twiggy Background can really work year round.  Think about using the Pine Bough Background on camping related cards and scrapbook pages!

For a limited time, you can earn DOUBLE CRAFTY POINTS on the Big Background Bundle! Just create an account at the TE webstore and you’re automatically enrolled to begin earning crafty points with every purchase. You’ll receive 120 Crafty Points when you purchase our Holiday Big Background bundle! Offer valid on qualifying purchases made between 9am CDT on Thursday, October 4, 2018 and 11:59 pm CDT on Sunday, October 7, 2018. Crafty Points are only available on purchases made at www.tayloredexpressions.com.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  If you didn’t arrive from the TE Blog, please be sure to head over there for links to all the designers sharing projects today!  I feel so blessed to be included!