Lawnscaping Challenge #98 - Create A Background

I am loving this particular Lawnscaping Challenge mostly because it has me doing something I haven't done before - backgrounds!

I have found some really great patterned papers over the years and love incorporating them into my projects but what happens when you don't have a paper handy that embodies the essence of your card?  I don't have many choices for crafting stores locally and am not a fan of going all the way to the local Michaels to maybe find something.  That's where I feel this challenge comes in.

I picked up the adorable Year Four stamp set from Lawn Fawn late last year and have been itching to use it.  It is just the perfect dose of funny, don't you agree?

I decided to stamp the hippos and musical notes on a grey piece of cardstock with some chalk grey ink for my background.  I then added some dimension to the hippos with a bit of marker shading.   Lastly, I stamped the hippo, birdie and sentiment on a white die cut tag and went to town on the colouring with my Spectrum Noir markers.

I added a bit of dimension to my coloured tag with some foam tape and layered the tag over a blank white one.  And here is my entry in this week's Lawnscaping Challenge!

What kind of backgrounds have you created? Do you have a favorite method? I quite enjoyed stamping this background and am looking forward to trying a stenciled background next.

With love,