Planner Essentials Sidekick Essentials Soft Finish Cardstock

Creating Layered Stencil Backgrounds and “Make Aheads”

August 15, 2022
Hello! Annette Green here today with some new pages in my Nature Journal. The focus today is learning how easy it is to make your own background papers with the new Planner Stencils. I have a video tutorial at the end of this post taking you through all the steps. Then I share what I call “Make Aheads” which are small collaged embellishments which you can make in advance for any of your planner pages.
As shown in the video, my backgrounds are made with Distress Oxide inks onto different surfaces such as Soft Finish White cardstock, dictionary page, or book pages from old books.
For added embellishment, I used the scraps from dictionary pages to die cut leaves and mushrooms plus some fussy-cuts from papers in The Book 3. I made small journaling spots with the new Framed stamp set and coordinating die (Photo Film Slides).
With a few dies, some fussy cuts, stencils, you can create really pretty and simple pages for your photos. Here’s an example of one of the “make aheads” and in the video below, I share several more ideas for embellishments.
Most of the items I’ve used here have been made ahead of time which I keep in a tray on my craft table. The photo slides are some of my new favorites!
I recommend stamping the slides before die-cutting for the best outcome. I experimented both ways and this worked best for me.
In the video I also share how to use pages you don’t necessarily like very much by die-cutting smaller images from them and enhancing them with color, and also layering the page onto another page once the shapes have been cut out, like this one with the maple leaves cut away. I hope you take a moment to watch this fun and informative video, and if you have any questions, please put them in the comments.

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  • Randy Rimington August 15, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    What a fun idea for a journal. I love your beautiful pages and you cute make aheads. Thank you so much for sharing.

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