Growing in Unity: Bohemian Backgrounds

Happy Wednesday, Unies! I am always amazed by how fast the Growing in Unity week goes by, and this year is no exception--we're halfway there! This is my third project for my GIU week featuring Unity Stamp Company stamps! If you want to see more Unity love, check out the Unity {Show & Tell} facebook group!

Bohemian Backgrounds is a set that gets a lot of love from me. While I used the bigger mandala-style stamp for today's card, I love the bigger doilie stamp, too! It's a great replacement for doilies on cards if you want to add layers, but can also be used as a background.

I started this card by ink smooshing Abandoned Coral, Ripe Persimmon, and Fossilized Amber Distress inks on watercolor paper, starting with the lightest color and heat setting between layers. If I didn't heat set between layers the background would blend and look much softer, but I like the texture that is created when the previous layer is dry. I decided to stamp with Memento dye ink in Lady Bug for a tone-on-tone look. I went with a brighter red so the stamping wouldn't fade into the background. I also went around the edges with a blending brush and Abandoned Coral Distress ink. I'm really happy with how the background turned out.

I went for a simple sentiment since the background is the focus. I stamped my sentiment on vellum with Staz-on, using my Misti so I could build a few layers. I like using Staz-on with vellum so I don't have to worry about heat setting, warping, or embossing powder spreading--but I've found that having a reinker is crucial for Staz-on, especially if stamping a detailed image. I didn't use my reinker this time and stamped 3-4 times before I was happy with the intensity, but it would have only been 1-2 times if I had reinked first.

After playing with sentiment positioning, I decided to add washi for a bit more interest. I used three different patterns of washi and tore them at different lengths. They don't stand out too much, but they help draw the eye toward the sentiment. I put adhesive on the back of my card and wrapped the vellum around. To keep the sentiment in place, I used a small hole punch and added one black brad. I still haven't figured out adhesive with vellum, so brads are an awesome option if one end is loose/doesn't wrap around.

This is another card that would be easy to duplicate with lots of different colors and supplies, but minimal coloring. That has become my accidental theme this week--sometimes we just don't have the energy or time to dedicate to coloring, but we can still make gorgeous, bright cards.

I hope you enjoyed today's card. Remember to comment on each post this week for a chance to win an awesome grab bag from Unity! See you tomorrow for my next project!