2-step Stamping: Creating a multi-colored background with stamps

Above: Step 1 is to set up two acrylic blocks, one block for
each color you wish to use, with different stamps on
each block, spaced so they will "fit" within each other.
See additional instructions in my blog post below.

Above: Step 2 is to stamp one color, then stamp the other color
right overtop. If you set up your blocks right, they'll fit perfectly.

Below: Step 3 is to use a sea sponge and a stamp pad to sponge
and swipe additional color on, so there isn't so much white.

What do you do when you don't have the right paper, or the right colors to go with your photos?

Make your own! Today I wanted to work on a basketball layout, but the papers I had just didn't look right with my pictures. However, I had a couple of basketball stamp sets by Close to my Heart. I don't know if they even still sell them (I'm not a rep), but one was "Nothing but Net" and the other was called "Shootin' Hoops."

I wanted my paper to be two colors, not just one, so I set up two 4x6 inch clear acrylic blocks. One block had the stamps for the first color (Autumn Terracotta) and the other had the stamps for the second color (Outdoor Denim). They had to line up, but since the blocks were clear, that wasn't difficult. I just had to hold one above the other. They couldn't touch, since they would stick, and boy, would they be hard to pry apart! (Yup, I did it once--I was more careful after that.)

After I stamped each color, I used a sea sponge to dab specks of more blue so it wouldn't be so white in the background, and I swiped the ink pad on the outside edges of the 12x12 cardstock, too.

This kind of thing is one reason I'm such a slow scrapper. It's not that my pages are phenomenal, but I often end up making either my paper or my embellishments (or both).