Saturday, August 8, 2020

Stencils and ink blending

Today I'm going to share three cards that don't use any stamped images. Instead they feature colorful backgrounds made with stencils and ink blending.

Supplies:
Stamps: Big Hello, Mini Strips - Fun & Funny (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Guava, Candy Corn, Pineapple, Lime Zest, Cookie Monster, Oreo (Taylored Expressions)
Accessories: Folk Art Tulip stencil (Taylored Expressions), Mini Strips die (Taylored Expressions), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), blender brushes (Taylored Expressions), sparkling cleaar sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute), foam tape (3M)

Rainbows always make for a happy hello! I love how the pattern on this stencil lends itself to columns (or rows) of color, so I chose five colors and blended them over the stencil in rainbow order. With all that color and pattern, I decided to skip an image and just let a sentiment by the focal point. I chose a bold, script "hello" and stamped it with black ink in the middle of the stenciled panel. (I used a stamp platform so I could stamp the image several times and get good coverage over the blended ink.) I stamped a small "hola" and "bonjour" around the "hello" and then added a sentiment strip for a little dimension. I love all the different ways to say "hello"! I rounded two opposite corners of the stamped panel, adhered it to a black card base, and finished it off with three clusters of clear sequins,

Supplies:
Stamps: Say It Big (Unity Stamp Co.)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up!); Oreo (Taylored Expressions)
Accessories: Basic Pattern Decorative Masks (Stampin' Up!), blender brushes (Taylored Expressions), Artistry Blooms sequins (Stampin' Up!), foam tape (3M)

For this card design, I used basically the same techniques as the previous card, but with three ink colors instead of five for the background. I also blended them horizontally over the stencil rather than vertically. I stamped the large part of the sentiment directly on the blended background and added the small "happy" on a banner. I adhered the blended panel to a layer of black card stock (leaving a tiny border) and then mounted it on a white card base. To embellish the card I added three orange sequins; they're hard to see in the photo because I placed them on orange polka dots, but I liked how that looked.

Supplies:
Stamps: Drop a Note (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Sugar Cube, Guava card stock (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Guava, Pineapple (Taylored Expressions); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Birds & Blooms stencil (Taylored Expressions), blender brushes (Taylored Expressions), Mini Treat Bag dies (Stampin' Up!), Glaze & Glue (Craft Fantastic), foam tape (3M), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)
 
For the last card, I blended just two ink colors over the stencil, Guava on top and Pineapple on the bottom, meeting in a bit of peach in the middle. I rounded the corners of the panel and adhered it to a Guava card base. I stamped the sentiment on a strip of white card stock, trimmed the right side into a banner end and adhered it to the card base (using foam tape) so it was flush with the left edge of the card base. To finish the card, I die cut three small hearts from Guava card stock, coated them with clear glaze so they looked like enamel shapes, and glued them to the card base when they were dry.

I don't do a lot of ink blending, but these cards make me want to pull out my stencils more often. Thanks for stopping by!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy (belated) blog anniversary! Congratulations!
Great cards in this post and the anniversary post - Thank you - I always appreciate birthday card inspiration. The second card (polka dots) in this post really appeals to me - perfect for any recipient.
Judy

Andrea said...

Thanks, Judy! I'm glad you think the polka dot card would be good for anyone. That's what I was going for, but I was a little worried that the colors and polka dots were too feminine.

Sunshine said...

Great back grounds and cards Andrea! I've never used stencils that way, so I must give it a go! And so many options for making all kinds of cards.
Sunshine.

Andrea said...

I don't use my stencils very often, but it is fun. Give it a try!