Sunday, April 26, 2015

Stenciled Happy Birthday Card

Hi there!

I needed a masculine birthday card and got to work this afternoon trying to come up with something using stencils and distress inks. I found some neat looking Faber Castell stencils at Hobby Lobby recently. They have shapes that can easily be used for backgrounds on cards using whatever technique one may desire. Using stencils is really making a comeback it seems. The only drawback is the stencils I got are paper. So, while you can reuse them for a time, they aren't going to last forever. Ah well. I'll have fun for a while anyway.

I decided some good "guy" colored distress inks include Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn and Spiced Marmalade. I used some old stencil brushes because I had seen a video where a lady made a great looking background using them, creating a stippled look. Weeeeeelll, I tried that to start out with the technique she used in the video and I'd probably still be stippling next week. I obviously didn't have the right touch (or the patience) to continue that technique. I started moving the brush in a circular motion while pressing down a bit(kind of like how I used to do this years and years and years ago-ahem). Ahhhh, now that looked a lot better and was much quicker. It probably doesn't look any different than using a sponge, but I didn't get any hard lines either, so there is that. Here's the final card.

And below is a close up of a mistake an opportunity to embellish I made. I wanted to clear heat emboss the happy birthday sentiment. But.....I didn't wait long enough for the ink to dry from sponging the colors on and the embossing powder stuck everywhere. Um, oops? Nah...I embossed it anyway and liked the texture it added to the sentiment. So I used it! The die is a Nestabilities Shapeabilities die. I cut a white rectangular piece of cardstock and used the same stencil brushes to add the colors to the rectangle. This is a nice low profile card that should be easily mailable. 


That's it from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a great week!

Hugs,
Jeanne

9 comments:

Marika said...

Greatly stencilled! Love the colours and the black frame really brings the sentiment to pop up! Thank you for your incredible kind words on my cards. Thank you.

Darnell said...

No matter how you pounced those colors on there, Jeanne, you ended up with one stunning colorful card! I love how you achieved that soft transition from one color to the next! And, of course, I love the choice of colors and how you made the most of your, er, opportunity!! Enjoy your day! Hugs, Darnell

Sharli Schaitberger said...

This is very striking! The stenciling is excellent and I love how the sentiment turned out! Very creative!!

cm said...

Jeanne, your guy card is definitely handsome and dashing! Colours, image, the 'design innovation' of your embossing: a recipe for marvelous! Your sponging/pouncing is quite eye-catching, especially the the seamless transition from one colour to the next! I so often wind up with 'lines'! Pure awesomeness my friend (just like you!)!
Hugs~c

Pop's Cards said...

Good morning sweetie, this is gorgeous hugs Pops x

Kelly Latevola said...

This is an awesome background! Sometimes mistakes make the best opportunities to get out of our comfort zone. I love all the shine! In the future if you wanted to "fix it" just brush the embossing powder off into the garbage can and dry your background first. Restamp your sentiment and you're good to go :)

Alanna said...

I'm not sure how I missed this when you first posted it. What a fabulous card. I love the stencil and all the various inks. The black scroll frame sets everything off so nice.

Hope you have an awesome weekend!

Faye Wynn-Jones said...

Love the colours on this one x

Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous blend of colours.
Heather T