Easy Effective Backgrounds from Scraps

I thought I'd make another card based on the colours from our colours of autumn colour challenge to remind you all to play along (just a little over a week left) and also because I had a lot of scraps to use up and that's one of my favourite ways to make interesting backgrounds.

I started with scraps of card in the red to cream range of colours from the challenge and cut them at different thicknesses before sticking them to another scrap of white card.  Once I'd arranged all my colours I trimmed it straight (my scraps were all different lengths) and then ran the whole thing through the die cut machine with the pierced plaid plate from The Greetery which adds a fabulous textured pattern.   If you don't have this die (and you should add it as its really useful) but you can just look at your background dies and run one though the machine with an embossing matt so it doesn't cut but just adds texture]   This is a great way to add extra interest to your scraps without making the background too distracting for the focal element.   

To take it one step further I cut it vertically into 3 slices and spread those across the width of my base card so the different gaps mirror the horizontal slices of scraps.

For the focal element I added in the green from the colour challenge to cut out a Ginkgo leaf using the BotaniCut Ginkgo die from The Greetery which I love as a statement leaf, and popped 3 teal dots to add another colour and a bit more interest.

Finished with a simple stacked die cut sentiment also using a Greetery die - I left it at Happy so I can use it for a variety of ocassions down the line when I need a card, either by adding a smaller sentiment underneath or just by what it says inside.  I like to have cards like this is my stash for emergencies.

Hope that's given you another idea how to play along in a colour challenge and that you'll pull out some background dies to add some interesting texture to your backgrounds

NEWS FROM THE STORE

For those of you waiting on a Concord and 9th update - the box FINALLY landed at East Midlands today so it should be out for delivery tomorrow!  Make sure you're signed up to the newsletter to get the latest updates when it goes live in store.

Other upcoming releases in the next 2 weeks include Waffle Flower and The Greetery - again the newsletter is now the best way to keep in touch with new arrivals as we send them more regularly than we used to.

Happy Crafting!

Tara