Celebration Stencil Techniques (AECP Level 1)

Hi, how are you doing?

Today I have a couple of cards to share with you using stencilling as the technique. I'm also going to share my embarrassing first attempt at a full background with embossing paste. I screwed it up but if you're anything like me, you like to see the things that don't work as much as the things that do. We can all learn from each other through mistakes, don't you think?

I was looking forward to doing this Altenew Celebration Stencil Techniques online class. I've bought many stencils over the years, but never really used them other than with a bit of basic blending. It was good to try some new techniques.

I made two cards for this assignment, one using embossing paste and the other using my stencil as a stamp.

Card One - Embossing Paste

My first card was made using coloured embossing paste. This is what I made:

In this class, run by Laurel Beard, there were 4 different lessons; Using dies to create stencils, embossing paste, stamping with stencils and stencil overlays.

I had bought a little jar of Nuvo Glacier Paste at Christmas time and used it to stencil a falling snow background. It was really easy to use and I was pleased with how it turned out. In the stencilling class, Laurel shared how you can colour your embossing paste using your ink pads. Using the Altenew Glacier Caves mini ink cube set I mixed some blues to create an ombre blue background through my Altenew Trellis Stencil. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?! This was the mess it turned into haha.

Lessons learned:

• You need more paste colour mixed than you think

• Make sure you securely adhere the stencil so that you don't get leakage underneath it

• Take your time, you don't need to rush

• Use a heat resistant mat instead of glass. The sparkle from the glittery paste ends up going everywhere otherwise! I was shining myself for hours where I was smothered in glittery flecks lol.

I wasn't going to be beaten though. I decided that I wanted to have another go. Laurel made it look easy in the video. It is! This time I decided to go for a more manageable (for me) stencil from Altenew called Tiny Bubbles. I mixed the Nuvo paste with two colours - Pink Pearl and Coral Bliss (both from the Altenew Tea Party ink cube set). This created a really lovely shimmering peachy-pink, which you can see in the photo below.

I let the embossing paste dry to one side for about 30-minutes and then once it was dry I die cut it using a rectangle die. I then die cut a pretty scalloped border in black that I attached to the left-hand side of the peach panel. I then die cut another rectangular panel in green that I adhered to the front of a white card base.

Next, I stamped, gold embossed and coloured the flower from Altenew's Weekend Doodle stamp set. Instead of using my go-to Zig or Copic pens, I thought I'd use the mini ink cube sets to do a bit of watercolouring. I smooshed the ink cube onto my mat, and then using a paintbrush and water I set about colouring the image. You can see the colours I used in the image below:

I then die cut a tag and added a strip of black and white striped washi tape to the left-hand side before attaching it to the card base with pop dots. I LOVE this tape. My bestie bought it for me, and I'm always really precious about using it as I don't want it to run out! I love black and white added to cards because I like to do Zentangle and Zendoodling, it's SO relaxing. Here's a design I did a few years ago. You can see why I like black and white now. I really must do some more doodling, it's been a while.

Once I'd die cut the flowers, I added them to the tag, and to finish the card I added some black and white baker's twine.

I was really pleased with how well this embossed paste background turned out. I hope it's inspired you to play too :) I'm glad I had a second go at the technique or I would have thought that I just can't do it.

Top Tip: Washi tape is a great way to add a bit of something to your cards, without much effort. (I'm giving you an excuse to build your stash! You're welcome!)

Card Two - Using stencils as stamps

For my next card, I decided to use my stencil as a stamp. I always love the artsy look, but I find it a bit of a challenge to do. This is one of the biggest things I'm loving about this programme, it's helping me not to worry about everything being perfect (well, with the exception of that ombre blue background haha).

Using the same inks I used to colour in the first card, I added dots of colour onto the back of my stencil. I then spritzed the stencil with water before turning it over and making an impression on some watercolour cardstock. Isn't that a cool effect?!

I thought the artsy panel needed a little bit of something extra so I added a few gold watercolour splatters to give it a bit of a shimmer.

Once dry I attached the artsy panel onto another piece of peach cardstock that I die cut using a stitched rectangle die, just slightly offset. I then cut two slithers of cardstock, one in gold and one in coral and attached these to the card base. If I was making this card again, I would omit the strips, I'm not very keen on them but I couldn't remove them as I'd stuck them down really well.

Next, I die cut a square in yellow and then using the Altenew Burlap Texture die I cut the crosshatch panel in a piece of kraft coloured cardstock. I coloured in these flowers using my Zig pens, so all I needed to do was die cut them and attach them over the top of the burlap panel. I die cut the flowers from fun foam too and attached the coloured image on top of the foam to create a 3d image.

I then stamped the words 'hello' and 'gorgeous' in black ink onto two pieces of peach cardstock that I had die cut using a banner die. I attached these to the base of the card. The words 'hello gorgeous' were actually one single stamp, so I cut them into two.

Top tip: If you're worried about cutting your stamps, ink them up first so that you can see very clearly where the letters of the words start and end. That way you will know that you're cutting them in the right place.

To finish the card, I added a bit of sparkle using a Wink of Stella pen and a few iridescent gems.

I hope you liked the cards I've shared today. I've really enjoyed trying new techniques and will be keeping them in my toolkit for future cards.

Until next time, thanks for popping by.

Supplies Used:

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