I know many of you make cards and so for today’s project, we’re going to take a look at the background portion of a card. Sometimes, all it needs is a simple graphic and an interesting background. So for this, you will need to find an illustration or graphic or clipart, some white cardstock, some colored cardstock, some pretty matching papers, a paper cutter, a card base, and glue.
You can find clipart on the internet. There are tons of places to get some illustrations. Just make sure the resolution is high enough to print it without blurriness. Enlarging it on the computer will not make it clearer so check that the resolution is for printing which is at about 200 ppi. If you are not getting it online, then it shouldn’t be an issue. There are many places to find good clipart: old books, old cards, ephemera or stationary stores, even magazines!
Balance scrap kit by Dani Engebretson at thedigichick.com
So, print your illustration onto photo paper or regular printer paper. I do not recommend printing on cardstock as it will suck up too much of your ink. Make this illustration about 2.5 x 1.5 inches. You will cut this piece to about 3x2 inches on your paper cutter. Cut also a piece of colored cardstock 3.25 x2.25 inches. This will be the mat you will mount your illustrated piece on.
For the background, cut a piece of colored cardstock ¼ of an inch smaller all around then the actual cardfront. This will be the colored mat for the background papers. Next, measure ¼ of an inch smaller all around than the mat for the background. In this case, I divided it into 3 parts. It is not exact rectangles as the top one is larger than the other two. Measure out your matching papers. I used 3 different ones in the same colorations. Cut the papers using a paper cutter (for straighter lines because I can’t cut straight using scissors!) and glue onto the mat. Adhere the mat and papers onto your cardfront.
You can now find some decorations to accentuate the card. You can add glitter to the illustration, or some bling, or even a paper/silk flower. On my card, I used a digital kit for the papers. I have a difficult time finding paper crafting supplies so I usually tend to purchase digital scrapbooking kits and use it in my craft. This one is from thedigikit.com The kit also included some illustrations and the butterfly was one of them. I printed that out and cut around it. I printed out a base butterfly also. When adhering the butterflies together, bend the wings out for a dimensional effect. The body is the only part where it is attached. I adhered the butterfly onto the card itself.
Note that you do not have to do only rectangles for the background. Take your leftover bits of paper and combine matching colors together to form a new base for an illustration. You can do overlapping circles, or strips of printed paper, or torn little bits. The point would be that you can be creative with background choices for a simple and unique card.
