Hi, in today’s video I’m sharing a fun fruity background pattern using the new Simon Says Stamp Fruit From The Heart set that I think packs a big punch despite being relatively quick to create. I’ve linked all supplies at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.
VIDEO
Watch below or in HD on YouTube.
FRUITY PATTERN
The Fruit From The Heart set has a variety of cute fruit images with hearts built into the designs. There are also a couple of great large Thank You sentiments with the option to have either the letter O or a piece of fruit in its place as well as some punny sentiments to coordinate too. I spied a fun pattern on Pinterest that used lemons with a lovely aqua with a white grid background and thought this set would be perfect for creating a similar style.
To create the pattern I placed a piece of Neenah Solar White card in the Mini Misti and took the grapefruit image and started stamping in the top right corner. I placed the slice so that it overhung the edge of the card to create a more interesting pattern. I stamped the image twice with Lemon Chiffon ink to get a good clear impression and then I rocked and rolled Lemon Zing ink around the edge of the slice to give the rind a deeper colour. I’m tilting the ink pad so that it only touches the outside rind of the image and not the centre. I repeated this process, moving the slice of grapefruit around the panel and now I should perhaps confess that when I stamped this pattern, I was thinking of it being a lemon slice, however, later on when I added the coordinating punny sentiment I realised the aim was for it to be a grapefruit. However, I think it could be any slice of citrus fruit you’d like, I’m not really sure if there are any anatomical differences between the structure of one citrus fruit from another but let’s face it as long as you are using the right colours then the mind will read it as whatever you want it to be. Fortunately for me, I think lemon and grapefruit have a similar colourway. Except of course the only grapefruit I had in the house when I took photos was a red grapefruit! Oh well!
Having stamped the slices of fruit on the background panel, I then removed the card and stamped the image again on pieces of masking paper. I’m going to lay a stencil on top of the grapefruit and blend ink through it, and I want to protect the slices from the background colour. I had stamped eight slices of fruit, and so I stamped and cut out eight masks. For the masks, I cut around the image leaving a white border. I kept the outline organic inline with the images and so wasn’t overly concerned if my outlines weren’t perfect. I added each of the eight masks over the stamped images and then with the masks in place I pulled out the Simon Says Stamp Grid stencil. I took this outside for ventilation reasons and sprayed a little repositionable adhesive over one side. I then laid the stencil over the background, and I chose Cloudy Sky ink to blend over the stencil with a Picket Fence blender brush.
The original inspiration piece for this card used a brighter blue for the background, but I’ve come to realise that my heart lies with more muted shades and the muted blue of Cloudy Sky suits me better than a brighter blue. Also, I think this colour gives the pattern a more on-trend style, and I could see this pattern on some stylish stationery or fabric. I kept blending and blending and blending until I had a smooth even background colour and then I lifted the stencil and masks. I say this every time I do this, but nothing beats lifting a stencil to reveal the pattern underneath or tentatively lifting a mask to reveal the pristine image underneath. I guess it stems from the relief to see that everything has worked out as hoped and the worries over the stencil shifting or the masking paper getting too soaked and colour seeping through were unfounded.
I was pleased with how this background came out and now complete it was simply a case of adding the sentiment. I chose the nice simple fun Thank You font and lined up the first part of the sentiment using the grid pattern and stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink. This is my favourite ink for sentiments as it gives great crisp results. I then aligned the second line of the sentiment and stamped that in black too. I trimmed the panel down to centre the sentiment better and also to make the piece just slightly smaller than an A2 card base and then I added foam adhesive to the back of the panel and adhered it to a white card cut and scored from Neenah Solar White in the 110lb weight for a good sturdy card base.
For the coordinating punny sentiment, I chose to ink up a scrap piece of white card with Cotton Candy ink by swiping the ink pad directly onto the card and then drying it thoroughly before placing it in the Misti. I treated the card with an anti-static powder bag as I intended to emboss the sentiment and the powder will help prevent embossing powder randomly sticking everywhere. I then stamped the sentiment in clear embossing ink, sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat set before trimming to a skinny banner, adding foam adhesive to the back of the banner and then using the grid on the background pattern to help me align the banner on straight. To finish off the card I dotted around a few Pink & Main silver glossy dots, and the clear sparkly sequins from the Simon Says Stamp Girls Best Friend sequin pack. I kept the sequins in place with Gina K connect glue and thought these clear embellishments brought in a juicy feel.
SUPPLIES
You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.
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PIN ME
Summary of the project which gives all the views of the card in one photo :D I’d love if you pinned and called by on Pinterest :D
What a delicious card, Debby. Like the clever linking of the grapefruit background with the sentiment. tfs
Great card, love the unusual colour choice, works really well. Thank you for sharing inspiration.
This is the Perfect color combo! Thank you for sharing the details of your work (so we can try to copy!)
Happy New Year for you and your loved ones Debby. Love the colours you used, this card is great and the Grid Stencil is awesome. Thank you so much for showing.
Love your card.
Love it. I thought you had used patterned paper, the stamping and ink blending is perfect.
Great card – so many great techniques and tips. I had never heard of using repositionable spray glue on a stencil! Wow! How do you clean off? Thanks for all the ideas!
I must admit Beth, that I don’t clean it off then it’s tacky for the next time I want to use it. I just give the inky side a wipe over with a cloth and then put it back in it’s packaging :D
Really cute card. I have to share something with you… while you were talking about a grapefruit and a lemon being around the same color, it gave me quite a chuckle because I live in Austin, Texas, USA. And, here in Texas we have something that we call Ruby Red Grapefruit (we don’t have the yellow grapefruits that I used to get when I lived in Montana), and they are pinkish-red inside (about the color of your sentiment background) LOL.
I love the background and the colors you chose. Thank you so much for sharing and brightening my day. :)
I love this card so much!! So bright and happy
Very cute card. Thanks for the detailed video.