STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS' CHALLENGE 137: TEXTURED BACKGROUNDS

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Today, I am pleased to host the Stampotique Designers' Challenge, and it is all about backgrounds!  Here are the details of this challenge. 

I am thrilled to be posting the challenge today!  That said, it is going to be a challenge with a bit of a twist.  This challenge is all about using texture in the background of your artful projects.  But, here’s the twist:  I am not challenging you to create a texture like mine, but challenging you to share with the rest of us through your art your “signature” or “go to” techniques for creating that texture in your backgrounds.  For example, Design Team member Coby vanWilligenburg has the ability to create amazing texture in a background by using Yupo (synthetic) paper and alcohol inks, yet her background remains as flat as a pancake!!  On the other hand, Design Team member Magda Polakow will create a textured background by building up many layers, yet it remains in the background and never overpowers her focal images.  So, share with us what YOU do to create that physical texture or just the appearance of it!  Above all, have fun!

A month or so ago, I bought some new Stampotique Originals' stamps.  Among them is the one I am using today.  OK, like so many others, I debated about buying it.  Not that it is of a nude and I am a prude, but because the nude is, shall we say, a bit "chubby"  (not unlike myself or so many of us who struggle maintaining a healthy weight).  In fact, when I posted online that I bought her, I received a few snickers and was challenged by one of my fellow Design Team members (who shall remain nameless, Coby!) to actually use it.  So, here I present "Rear View Mirror" and her companion text stamp "I'm not fat...".

Ah, but this challenge is all about backgrounds, so let me tell you how I created this one.  This past year, I attended a class led by Ranger Signature Designer Wendy Vecchi.  We learned so many techniques in this class, but one of my favorites is the "burnt edge" technique.  Here are Wendy's directions:  Ink over entire tag with Antique Linen.  Frame tag with Vintage Photo, then Walnut Stain, then Black Soot (all Ranger Distress Inks), moving further out with each darker color.  Use Tim's "distresser" on the tag edges, then add Black Soot to the edges to create a burned effect (click on the image to enlarge it and see the edge detail).  I used black Archival Ink to stamp my Stampotique image and text, and added a rub-on along the right side for both interest and balance.

Here's another quick and simple background.  I have been scrapbooking for about 15 years and have accumulated quite a collection of designer papers.  I continue to use them in other artful projects like tags, ATCs, art journaling and cards.  In this example, I have used a small strip of washi tape to ground my image, as well as two Stampotique Originals' stamps, "Bowtie" and "Clothes Text."  Everything else you see is just the paper itself.  

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I hope you will play along with the Stampotique Design Team this week and share your favorite background techniques.  We have a lot to learn from each other!  You do not have to use Stampotique stamps in order to participate, but you do have to use clear and/or rubber stamps (no digi's).  By participating, at the end of the month you may just be the lucky winner of one of two $30 gift certificates for Stampotique products.  Come play!

Cheers!