Hello, crafty friends. I’m so excited to tell you that I’m hosting Altenew’s Inspiration Challenge this month. I chose a photo of my craft supplies I took in my craft room as an inspiration photo. Don’t you just love all the colors and elements you see in the photo?
Besides my recent go-to technique, watercoloring, my favorite cardmaking technique is creating a stamped background by mixing small images from different stamp sets. And here is what I came up with:
I took three main colors – yellow, blue and red – and circle elements from the inspiration photo to create my card for today. I used Spicy Yogurt cardstock as a stamping panel to give an earthy texture to my background.
Here are the stamp sets from Altenew I used for my card : Floral Sprig, Vintage Flowers, Floral Shadow, Precious Moments, Sentiments & Quotes, and Thinking of You.
I made another card with the same design but using different color scheme on a white cardstock. With various colors and images, the possibilities are endless.
I made a video tutorial to show you how to create a stamped background. I’m also sharing something special/different at the end of the video you won’t want to miss out. 
You can watch it here or on YouTube channel.
I hope you can play along with the Altenew September Inspiration Challenge. Thre are FOUR $30 gift certificates up for grabs. I can not wait to see where the inspiration photo takes you! That’s all I have for today! Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy crafting!
Giveaway
I am giving away a $15 Altenew gift certificate to one winner. Leave a comment below and I will announce the lucky winner on this post on Tuesday, September 6th.
Giveaway Winner (Edited to add)
Congratulations, Sharon! Please email Altenew at winner@altenew.com to claim your prize with subject line : Giveaway Winner from May’s Blog.
Supplies
I have listed the supplies I used below. I participate in several affiliate programs including Simon Says Stamp(SSS), Ellen Hutson(EH) and Altenew(AN). It means I get a small commission at no additional cost to you when products are purchased through links I share here. Thank you for your support.
 Altenew Floral Sprig Stamp Set Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Floral Shadow Stamp Set Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Precious Moments Stamp Set Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Sentiment & Quotes Stamp Set Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Thinking of You Stamp Set Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Vintage Flowers Stamp Set Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Forest Glades Ink Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Crimson Ink Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Warm Sunshine Ink Shop at: SSS | AN |
 Altenew Ocean Waves Ink Shop at:SSS | AN |
 Altenew Jet Black Ink Shop at:SSS | AN |
 Altenew Acrylic Block Set Shop at: SSS | AZ |
 Ranger Embossing Powder Super Fine White Shop at: SSS |
 Cuttlebug Die-Cut Machine Shop at: AN |
 Dahle Self-Healing Cutting Mat 18×12 Shop at: SSS |
 Altenew Spicy Yogurt Cardstock Shop at:AN |
 Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS | AZ | EH |
 Hero Arts Embossing Gun Shop at: SSS | HA | EH |
 Versamark Watermark Ink Shop at: SSS | HA |
 Hero Arts Circle Infinity Dies Shop at: SSS | HA | EH |
Hyeyeong Lee
Hi your cards is so sweet! I Thanks for your inspiration.
Sep . 02 . 2016Heather Kennedy
Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing your creativity!
Sep . 02 . 2016Amante del Papel
your cards are so beatuiful, thanks for the chance!!!!!
Sep . 01 . 2016Denise Bryant
Such fun background ideas! I just love your delightful cards, May!
Sep . 01 . 2016Rowena M.
Love watching your videos May!!! Thanks for sharing your tips to creating and extending stamps we already have on hand. Love all three cards! Congrats on the book as well. It’s beautiful! !! :))))
Sep . 01 . 2016kkboydstun
These are such easy and beautiful cards!
Sep . 01 . 2016Miriam Prantner
You really are the best background builder I know! It’s a gift. Mine never come out looking as good as yours!
Sep . 01 . 2016Mo
May, I always love your cards. Thanks for sharing!
Sep . 01 . 2016Celeste Goff
Your cards are absolutely gorgeous!!! So vibrant and pretty!
Sep . 01 . 2016Sue D
I like these pretty stamped backgrounds.
Sep . 01 . 2016jintyoo7
So lovely 🙂 Your book looks fabulous with so much information and photos 🙂
Sep . 01 . 2016Carla Hundley
Lovely cards, love
Sep . 01 . 2016the fun way you
make the backgrounds.
Congrats on your book
also!
Carla from Utah
Karen B.
Oh how neat to have your own book published! Gorgeous card set. I think I like the middle the best but they are all lovely.
Sep . 01 . 2016grace gan
So so lovely. Once again, you have got my brain ticking… Going to be digging up small stamps this weekend!
Sep . 01 . 2016Carolina A
oh wow! these cards are so cute and beautiful! I like to make one layer cards because I don’t have many supplies yet. I like to make the most out of everything I have. I starting buying stamp sets that I think are the most versatile and flowers are my favorite ^u^
Sep . 01 . 2016your book looks amazing! I hope next time I go to South Korea, I’ll be able to find it 🙂
Shelly
Oh, these are sooo sweet!
Sep . 01 . 2016Marcia Scantlin
Such fun and cheery cards.
Sep . 01 . 2016lisascreativeniche
I love your background cards! This is so bright and pretty!
Sep . 01 . 2016FeM
Great cards. Thank you for sharing the process along with your tips to create these cards. You are truly an inspiration.
Sep . 01 . 2016Esther
What a super way to create a unique and totally bespoke background! I love it. Fab effect and ever so pretty. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂 Esther
Sep . 01 . 2016Jennifer K
I love all three of your cards May, I’m not sure which is my favourite. I’ve never tried this technique but I need to make a get well card so I will give it a try, thank you for the great tutorial! Your book looks beautiful, I wish there was an english version, is that something that could possibly happen in the future?
Sep . 01 . 2016Theresa
Very pretty cards. l like the idea of using all your stamps to make the background.
Sep . 01 . 2016Sharon Brand
This is a great idea and makes unique and very pretty cards. It also makes the sentiment pop!
Sep . 01 . 2016Shirley
Great cards, great inspiration, nice book (even though unable to read) and neat video.
Sep . 01 . 2016ssonnier2015
Great set of cards
Sep . 01 . 2016