I often see beautiful cards that feature a wonderful stamped and coloured background that coordinates perfectly with the focal image. Oftentimes, it's achieved with masking or fussy cutting to add extra elements. I tend not to add much of a background to my cards, even though I love how it looks (pure laziness, I think), but today I decided to flex my creative muscles a little further than normal.

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Paper offcuts are unavoidable for me when I'm paper crafting, but thankfully there are loads a great ideas on the web for using up your scraps without it looking like you're using up your scraps! A few of the card makers who join in our big November challenge also keep me inspired with amazing designs using their paper offcuts.

Silhouette images are a great way to show off a background while still having an item of interest as your focal point. For my background, I used 1" squares of patterned paper adhered to silver cardstock that had been cut with a deckled-edge punch. The little birds were mounted on foam tape and secured over the top. 

Adding a toned or muted background, before colouring an image, can help to tone down the vibrancy of colours. This is particularly useful if you want an aged or vintage look.

Start by adding a background of light grey, warm if you want a warm tone to your project, and cool if you'd prefer cooler colours. Apply the ink in small, cross-hatched sections leaving lots of texture.

Apply some splotches of the same ink in various places around the background, trying to avoid the image if possible. You can either drop the ink from a height to create a splatter effect or apply it with a ball tool if you prefer a little more control.

Give the page a light spritz of clear alcohol for more texture.

Add some darker ink around the edges of the panel to give it an aged look.

Add a shadow beneath the image using darker shades of warm grey to help tie it in to the background and anchor the character to the environment (grounding).

Now colour the image as you would normally, disregarding all of the ink you placed in the background.

If you find a colour is too vibrant, simply add another layer or two of the greys you used in the background, which is what I did to tone down the red on the dwarf's shield.

Today I want to show you how to create a simple background for your silhouette images by using a combination of water-based inks, alcohol markers and a fine line pen. Since the inks and markers have a different base - water vs. alcohol - they can be layered without smudging or bleeding together.

1. Start by selecting a few base colours to ink the background. I've chosen a couple of greens, a pretty pink and a light blue for the sky. You'll also need blending brushes or daubers, and, of course, a printed silhouette image.

2. Blend some of the darker green into the base of the image. Don't worry about making it smooth and consistent, a few blotches will add to the effect.

3. Now blend some of the brighter green above the first layer of colour. (If you don't have another green, just continue with your first colour)

4. Bring in some blue for the sky.

5. Add some patches of pink here and there. This will be the basis for your flowers.

6. Use a fine line pen to create long blades of grass. These are formed with simple, slightly curved strokes. Remember not to have them all facing in the same direction, and you also want to vary the length and placement. There's no need to fill in the entire area, just have little "patches" here and there.

7. At the base of each patch of grass, add some tiny, broken, horizontal lines and various sized dots to simulate soil and pebbles. This will also give the impression of little shadows.

8. Now "blob" in some flowers with a pink alcohol marker. Don't spend a lot of time trying to draw realistic petals... five or six blobs of colour in a loose circle is all you need, and there's no need to complete every circle. Bunch your flowers together, and again, vary the sizes, shapes and distances between flowers.

9. Add in some tiny leaves and a few thin stems with a green marker.

10. Add some more pen lines around your flowers, leaves and stems. Don't outline every flower and keep the lines broken and inconsistent.

11. Using warm grey tones, add in some shadows beneath the image and around the base of each patch of grass. Start with a dark grey and blend it down the page with a few lighter tones.

There's something extra special about watching the sun set over the ocean - the beautiful colours, the balmy breezes and the smell of salt in the air. I created my evening sky by blending distress inks onto a piece of smooth cardstock, masking the horizon between the sea and the sky. The images are from two different digital stamp sets - Beach Bums and Tree Scapes. Both have been fussy cut and mounted over the inked background.