Stretch Your Stamps Day 1

Good afternoon!  Yup, I'm taking another online class!  I've found SO much inspiration in the classes lately, I don't want to stop taking them!  I wanted to share with you my card for day 1 of the Stretch Your Stamps class.  The subject of class today was different ways to use background stamps.  I don't have a ton of large background stamps in my arsenal because I can never seem to make them work well.  I actually prefer using background strips and lining them up to make a background.  However, there are always some I just can't resist!  I loved Kristina's idea of stamping backgrounds, die cutting them into shapes, and piecing them back together into a new background.  I decided to give that a try but on a smaller scale.

For this card, I stamped my background image on two different pieces of cardstock and cut them into 1/2" strips.  I stuck these strips on some large scor tape sheets and then die cut them with a frame die to make a stripey wood-grain frame.  It turned out really nice!  Check it out:

Stamps: Designer Woodgrain (Hero Arts), Little Labels (PTI), Retro Foundations (The Craft's Meow)

Dies:  Mat Stack 4, Mat Stack Layerz 4 (PTI)

Inks:  Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist (PTI), Tuxedo Black, London Fog (Momento)

Paper:  Stone, Summer Sunrise (PTI), Seaglass, Aquamarine (Avery Elle)

Misc:  Scor Tape Sheet, Flower (Basic Grey), Foam Tape, Bubbly Bling