Creating with Stencils by Skull and Cross Buns

Hi guys

At the weekend I had a little creative session playing with some of the large stencils available at Skull and Cross Buns, you can find the whole range, here.

First up is the Mermaid Scales Large Stencil.  I wanted to emulate the shape of a mermaid without actually using a mermaid image and wanted to keep my card clean and simple too...

I started by using a landscape die to cut some curved edges from some scrap card which I used to mask off the shape of a mermaid tail.  I then blended with three shades of Distress Oxide ink.  Once happy with the blend I placed the scales stencil over the top and blended through with silver pigment ink.  The silver shimmer can be seen clearer in the next photo...

To finish, I removed the masks, shaped the sentiment to follow the curve of the tail and stamped in black.

Materials used:

• Die: MFT - Snow Drifts
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Wilted Violent, Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers; Versa Color - Silver; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Mermaid Scales Large Stencil
• Stamp: Skull and Cross Buns - Quirky Sentiments

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge

For my next card I used the Brick Pattern Large Stencil.  I wanted to create some light and shade, a 3D effect, with the bricks so I used the shifted stencilling technique and I'm so pleased with the result...

I started with some sandy coloured textured cardstock and began by stencilling with a neutral shade of Distress Ink.  I then blended through the stencil with white pigment ink but before doing do I shifted the stencil very slightly up and over to the left.  This left the shadow of the darker ink in the lower right corner of each brick.  I stamped some foliage silhouettes in the bottom corner and added some shadow to these also by shifting the cardstock very slightly in my MISTI and using second generation stamping to create the shadow effect.

To finish, I stamped the sentiment in black and heat embossed the heart in gold to add an accent.  The panel was then trimmed down and adhered flat to a white card base.

Materials used:

• Coloured Cardstock: Bazzill Basics - from an assorted pack
• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Brick Pattern Large Stencil
• Ink: Distress Ink - Pumice Stone; Hero Arts - Unicorn; Versa Color - Charcoal; Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Quirky Sentiments and Brush Hearts; Clearly Besotted - Simple Silhouettes
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich

Challenge entries:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Keeping it Neutral

Alphabet Challenge - L is for Leaves

And for my final card I inked up the Speech Bubbles Large Stencil.  I kept this one pretty simple with some graduated blending...

I inked through three different speech bubbles from the stencil using Distress Inks, concentrating the colour on one side to add some dimension.  The sentiments were simply stamped in black and the cluster of images die cut to create a central panel which was then popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Skull and Cross Buns - Speech Bubbles Large Stencil
• Ink: Distress Ink - Mermaid Lagoon, Festive Berries, Twisted Citron; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Skull and Cross Buns - Quirky Sentiments
• Die: MFT - Inside and Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangles

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stamp It On

Just Us Girls - Challenge #456 - Celebrate

STAMPlorations - Summer Theme & Sketch Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting today.  And if you have a few minutes free, please do pop over to the Skull and Cross Buns website for a browse :)