Stencil Practice

Happy Fourth of July!! I hope you have a great day with friends and family! I’m not sure what our plans are for tonight. Where we used to live, they had a block party and fireworks (I lived above a retail area, with a Minor League Baseball stadium a block away). We could also see lots of other fireworks from our second floor condo. It’s weird not to have a party right outside.

I do have a couple of cards to share with you, with new stencils from MFT. Stencils are not a product or technique that I readily reach for, but I am working on that. I made a point to pick up some new stencils and tools to help!

First up is a no brainer, the Cloud Stencil from MFT.

I started by creating the cloud background with the stencil and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I applied the ink with the new Tim Holtz Distress Blending brushes. This beautiful background was so easy to make! The brushes are awesome!!!

Once I had by clouds created, I used the Sunshine Shaker Die-manic to make my shaker window and the rays. I also cut the die out of MFT Lemon Chiffon cardstock. I added the circle shaker pouch with Scor-Tape, and filled it with Hero Arts Celestial sequins.

Next I die cut MFT’s Sunshine from MFT’s Brushed Gold cardstock, and layered it over 4 of the same die cut from Lemon Chiffon cardstock. The “Sending You,” is from MFT’s Full of Sunshine, stamped in Altenew’s Jet Black in. I added a Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardbase to finish off the card. Oh, and I used gold glitter Nuvo drops for the dot on the i. It’s so hard to keep track of those tiny die cuts!

My next card features Nuvo Glitter paste, my new best friend!

I blended Distress ink in three different colors onto watercolor paper (I can’t remember the colors, maybe Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves and Picked Raspberry). Then I added Moonstone Glitter paste with MFT’s Geometric Stars stencil. This is another easy stencil technique that has dazzling results. This panel didn’t turn out quiet like I had planned, so I decided to cut it in half. Here is the pink/purple half.

I decided to add the stenciled panel to a white card panel with fun foam, and added a large sentiment. This is hooray from Concord and 9th. I die cut the sentiment from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock and Gina K’s Moonlit Fog. I used the Moonlit fog as a shadow and glued the two together, slightly offset.

I added the sentiment to the glitter paste background with strong liquid glue. Then I added “It’s your Birthday,” stamped in Altenew Jet Black ink. The sub sentiment is from Mama Elephant’s Dragon Wishes, with part of the sentiment masked off.

The card base is Gina K Design’s Plum Punch, as is the matching envelope. I added some clear Confetti sequins to finish off the card. I love how the Plum Punch is such a close match to the stenciled piece. And, I still have the blue half to play with!

Thanks for stopping by and spending some of your holiday with me!

Nicole