Stamped background birthday card

Mask off areas on your card and stamp away to create beautiful backgrounds for your cards

I remember seeing this sort of masking technique done in a magazine I read some time back and thought it was about time I gave it a go. It was so simple and worked extremely well. I made this card in such a short time - it would be ideal if you needed to make a card in a hurry or if you need to make several the same.

I made this card first with a very simple mask across the centre. I think it works well as I used several stamps to create the background which made the contrast between stamped part and the white part very obvious.

I then went on to make a similar card with a cake stamp. I stamped the cakes and candles, removed the tape but it just looked too white. The cakes were outline stamps so it left the 'decorated' area too white and plain. You then lost the distinction between the decorated part and the white band that should have been created across the card. I remedied this by colouring in the cakes and then this card works too. (scroll towards the bottom of my post to see this finished card).

Follow the below link to find out how the card was made



You will need the following to make the floral birthday card:

• White A6 card blank
• Flower and leaf stamp set (I used Thoughtful Blooms from Stampin Up)
• Ink pads in your choice of colours (I used stampin up - island indigo, crushed curry, melon mambo and garden green)
• A greeting of your choice (I used a die to cut Happy Birthday out of bright pink card but you could stamp a greeting or use peel off's)
• Washi tape or any other low tack tape

You will need the following to make the birthday cake card:

• White A6 card blank
• Piece of Cake stamp set by stampin up
• Ink pads (I used stampin up - so saffron, island indigo, cherry cobbler and perfect plum)
• Washi tape or any other low tack tape
• Post it note
• Colouring medium of your choice (I used some Staedtler Noris colouring pencils)
• Stamping aid (such as stamparatus or misti)- this will help align your greeting

To make the floral card:

1. Add washi tape across your card blank to create a band across the middle of your card. I used my cutting mat that has 1 cm squares marked on it to line the tape up to ensure it was straight. I put the tape 5 cm from the top and bottom edges
   


2. Put your card blank with the tape, ontop of a piece of scrap paper as you will need to stamp off the edges


3. Take one of your stamps, for example a leaf, ink it up and stamp it randomly across the bottom and top 5cm of card. Ensure you stamp the images off the card sides and also onto the washi tape. Be careful not to stamp anything within the middle section of your card. If you are worried about this, you can always cover the middle section in washi tape.
   


4. Carry on with your different stamps and different coloured inks until you have covered most of the bottom and top sections of your card. Ensure you have several images along the washi tape line as this will ensure a real distinction between the white band across the middle and your decorative panels, still making sure you don't accidentally stamp anything into the middle white band
   







5. Once you are happy you have stamped enough, remove the washi tape.
   


6. Put your greeting in the middle of the central white band
   

I was really pleased with this card. Some times the simplest of cards have the most impact.

I then tried making a birthday card using the same technique but stamping birthday cakes. This card uses a little bit of extra masking:

1. Add washi tape across your card blank to create a band across the middle of your card. I used my cutting mat that has 1 cm squares marked on it to line the tape up to ensure it was straight. I put the tape 6 cm from the top and bottom edges as I felt this card needed a narrower band in the middle
   


2. Put your card blank with the tape, ontop of a piece of scrap paper as you will need to stamp off the edges


3. I used the 'happy birthday cake' from the stamp set and stamped it in three different coloured inks across the top and bottom sections of card. Don't stamp the cakes too close together as you need some room to stamp the candles onto the top of the cakes. Ensure you go off the edges of the card and across the washi tape without marking the white band in the middle.


4. Stamp a birthday cake on the top part of a post it note ensuring it has the sticky section on the back, beneath the image
   


5. Cut out the birthday cake image from the post it note
   


6. Using the 'so saffron' ink pad and the candles stamp, stamp the candles onto the top of each birthday cake image on your card. Use the post it note birthday cake image as a mask to cover any cake near by so your candles stamp doesn't go over one of the other cake images. See the below photo's to see how this works:

   

   I'm going to stamp the candles on the cake at the bottom of the photo,
   so cover the near by cake with the post it note cake mask

   
   

   

   Stamp the candles on the top of the cake at the bottom of the photo

   
   

   

   You can see the candles stamp goes over the post it note cake

   
   

   

   Remove the post it note cake and you can see the candles look like they go behind the red cake



7. Colour in the images being careful not to move the washi tape. I used similar coloured pencils to the colour of the stamped image
   


8. When you are happy with the colouring remove the washi tape
   


9. Using a stamping aid, align your greeting stamps so they fit in the white band in the middle of your card. I used the island indigo ink pad and stamped the 'cake is the answer' and 'who cares what the question is' sentiments form the Piece of Cake stamp set.
   
   
   
   

I quite like this card too although I do not feel it gives as good a white band distinction as the floral one due to there being more white space in the stamped areas.

The bonus with both of these cards is they are flat so will go through the post well.