Tutorial: Watercolor Background

Hello, Market Street neighbors. It's Sarah Jay with my first post to the Market Street Stamps blog and an easy technique for our large background stamps. Steph has already shared how to get great solid impressions with our background stamps, but what if you want something a little more fluid? Just add a little water.

I started with the Zebra Print background stamp, three related shades of Distress ink, a mini mister full of water, and heavy cardstock cut to A2 size (4.25" x 5.5"). I also used our extra-large acrylic block, but you can leave your stamp on the carrier sheet for this technique and get the same results.

First, lay your background stamp face up on your work surface and ink it up. Start with the lightest color and work your way to the darkest until the entire stamp has been inked. For this particular image, I thought a little variation in the stripes would be nice, so I inked everything with the lightest color and added little smudges of the other colors all over.

The ink may bead up, but that's fine for this technique. Just make sure you have plenty of it on the surface. Then, using a spray bottle or mini mister, coat the entire stamp with a few sprays of water. Be generous, but not so much that it starts running off the edge. You want to add just enough water so that the ink begins to create large pools, like this:

Then lay your cardstock right on top and cover everything with a piece of scratch paper.

Being careful not to nudge the cardstock, rub the back with your fingers or a brayer. You could flip things around and press your stamp down onto your cardstock, but I found that it forced the ink into the first areas it touched, creating speckles and uninked areas on my stripes. Placing the cardstock on top of the stamp allows the paper to suck up the water and ink for more even coverage.

The image will be different every time with a lot of natural-looking splotches and variations in color. Gorgeous and golden, just like an animals' coat. Make a few sheets with different amounts of water. You'll be amazed at the difference a few extra sprays of water make.

If you don't love one of your attempts, save it! You can use those extra sheets to create embellishments for your projects. I punched a few butterflies and inked them for extra depth.They're the perfect pop of color and match my background perfectly.

I really wanted to show off that lovely background, so I trimmed it to 4" x 5.25", sponged the edges, and adhered it to a turquoise card base for some serious color contrast. My butterflies and a coordinating turquoise sentiment found a home on a label cut from the same rustic cardstock I used to make those wild stripes. It's simple and surprisingly quick, especially if you do several at a time. Think of all of the different color, stamp, and label combinations you could make!

Hello, Stripes Card
Stamps: Market Street Stamps Zebra Print background. Hello sentiment from the dollar bin.
Ink: Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Rusty Hinge Distress. Turquoise Gem VersaMagic.
Cardstock: rustic cream and Hawaiian shores from Papertrey Ink.
Other: Ranger Ink Blending Tool. 3-in-1 Classic Butterfly punch from Martha Stewart Crafts. Mat Stack #5 Die from Papertrey Ink.