Two Ways With Stencils

Good morning crafters

Firstly, apologies that it's been a whole week since my last post.  Matt and I have had the week off work and I originally planned to do lots of crafting but the weather has been so lovely this week we have made the most of it and got out and about each day to make it feel like we've had a holiday.  Even though we live on the coast we are not really beach lovers (unless abroad where the sea isn't completely freezing!) so we've enjoyed some lunches al fresco, lovely sunny strolls, a trip to Dartmoor (where I spent most of the day trying to negotiate sheep, cattle and ponies that love standing in the middle of the road, and a deer that decided to leap across my path) and just generally getting out of the house!  Oh, and of course days out in Devon wouldn't be complete without enjoying a yummy cream tea :)  Yes, the diet has taken a serious battering this week!

Also, my week started last Sunday with a trip to the Sincerely Yours Papercraft Show in Taunton where I spent far too much money on some yummy goodies.  So, although I'm not looking forward to going back to work on Monday I certainly need to earn some money to be able to fund my hobby!

Right, back to today, and the reason for my post is to introduce another new challenge over at Less is More.  And, for this week's challenge we'd like to see you use some...

Stencilling

There are lots of ways that stencils are being used in the crafting world and I'm sharing two different techniques with you on today's cards.

I mixed some embossing paste with three different Distress Inks and spread these onto a white panel of cardstock through a stencil to create a pink ombre effect.  Once dry I adhered a die cut butterfly cut from black cardstock and also a black sentiment strip with the sentiment heat embossed in white.  I adhered the panel flat to the card base as the banner was popped up on 3D foam and I didn't want the card to end up too thick to send through the mail.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves; VersaMark
• Embossing Paste: Dreamweaver
• Stencil: Imagination Crafts - Deco Branch (new purchase from the show)
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Butterfly Duo Die Collection
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Sweet Little Sentiments
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White

Challenge entries:

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Ohh So Pretty

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Paste

Crafty Creations - Challenge #291 - Embossing

For my second card I used the Ghosting Technique shown brilliantly here by the super-talented Loll.  I didn't purposely CASE Loll's card but the image of her card must have been in my mind when I created this! 

Loll used watercolour sprays to create her background whereas I roughly blended three Distress Inks with my ink blending tool onto my white cardstock panel.  I then laid a stencil over the top and spritzed through it with a water spray.  I immediately removed the stencil, left it for approximately thirty seconds and then blotted the panel with a paper towel to remove the water which then removed some of the ink.  Once dry I stamped the sentiment in Black and adhered the panel flat to my card base.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: Imagination Crafts - Leaf Swirl (new purchase from the show)
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Sweet Rose (sentiment) 

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - June CAS Challenge - Sprays/Mists

The Friday Mashup! - Challenge #214 - Stencils and a Monochromatic Theme

Well, hopefully I've inspired you to get creative with some stencils and if you don't have any you can always use the negative of a die cut as your stencil, or even cut from acetate.  My teamies at Less is More are also sharing some great projects today so why not pop by their blogs too.

Thanks for visiting as always.