Combining Rubber Stamping & Digiscrapping

So, here it is Christmas, and I'm finally getting around to scrapping Thanksgiving... actually, that's not quite true. I started on this layout right after, but it sat and sat, not feeling finished. Last night I finally had the first bright moment I'd had all day (I've been sick, ick) and just repeated the background stamp, much larger. Fiddling about with the blending modes (Vivid Light) is what produced the orange focal point that my friend and critic, Julie K. in Taiwan, had suggested was lacking.

The background, and the focal maple leaf, are the same that I referenced in my first post. In fact, the background is that same stamped background, just desaturated then recolored. I've found that many of my backgrounds (which is really what I've delighted in, when it comes to stamping--the stamp over top is usually just frosting on the cake) are wonderfully suited to digiscrapping, as you can use them for texture on almost anything. Or even, by themselves!

Here is an example using a swatch of textured wallpaper with alcohol inks over top:

And here is an overlay with a very dark Marvy Markers background (spritz glossy black cardstock with water, dab on Marvy Markers--here, I used silver, blue, and teal--very heavily, tilt the paper from side to side to allow it to run somewhat, then let dry, or dry carefully with a heat gun).

In the above layout, that same scan of the markers was used three times: once as the overlay for the main image, once as a different overlay for a sort of background paper (ended up being difficult to see, as it blended with the main image so well, but it's that small strip to the left of the image), and once as a texture file for the flat blue paper (go to Filter-->Artistic (?)-->Texturiser, then click on the little triangle to load a .psd file as texture, and it will sort of emboss your image).

You can also create wonderful background papers by repeating a desaturated image of your background several times, rotating it differently on each layer, then reducing the opacity on the uppermost ones and playing with the blending modes. Then, just add a final layer underneat it all in your chosen color, and you've got a nice, subtle paper like this green one:

So there you go! I hope you enjoy recycling your work as much as I do... and Happy Holidays!