Background stamps are such a great tool in your arsenal.  When I first saw these bricks from Hanna Stamps I began to immediately formulate how to color them.

What was less obvious was what sentiment I would use on a card with them.  I kept thinking of 'hitting a brick wall' (encouragement).  Or 'it hit me like a ton of bricks' (love).  But then suddenly inspiration hit — and I made this shopping-themed card with my own custom sentiment:

And I used these papers from Graphic 45 Transatlantique collection to make a card about shopping in NYC.  That shopping trip is put off until Fall / kids back in school.  But it's on the calendar!  One of the benefits of living in Connecticut is that NYC is 2 hours away and that NYC is 2 hours away, if you get my meaning.  LOL!

So back to the bricks, before the NYC girls start hurling them at me.  First and foremost – I'm creating a background; but one I will be cutting out.  So I don't care if my work goes over the lines.

I used R24 to color the background.  I went back and forth rather quickly, rather than the usual smooth circles.  I wanted some texture.

Next, I took my Colorless Blender (0) and dragged it across each brick to create a mottled look.

Then, I took R46 and 'flick feathered' it from the right side of each brick towards the center.

Followed by R59 in a similar stroke from right to left on each brick.

The image was then cut out, and I ran a colorless blender pen (0) with a ruler along the 'mortar' of each rose of bricks.

Do you have any ideas you'd like to share for using this brick stamp?  Post a comment here, and I'll decide a winner by Friday for this *other* cute background stamp by Hanna Stamps — the wood flooring.  It would work for flooring, a dock, siding on a house — very versatile.

Have fun!

Card details:

• Ms. On the Go stamp set from CTMH

• Brick Wall from Hanna Stamps
• Transatlantique paper collection from Graphic 45
• Old Lace Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels

  Copic Markers:

  • R24, R46, R59 (brick wall, blouse, misc packages)
    YG03, YG63 (pants, misc packages)
    R81, R83, R85 (packages)
    C3, E17, E29 (hair)
    E00, E01, E21, R81 (skin)