Happy Hallowe'en

Remember when stencils were all the rage and we all bought a ton?? Well, now they seem to just sit there as I don't really use mine anymore. Then I discovered this cool technique!! It's using Distress Inks and those stencils and gives an awesome background.

First, create a background using Distress Inks and an Ink Blending Tool. Then put a stencil over top and spritz with water. Heat set a bit (be careful not to melt your stencil), then remove your stencil and either heat set or set aside to dry (I'm impatient, so I heat set). As it dries, the areas where there was water will lighten. It gives you an awesome tone on tone dimensional background.

I did this technique for my Hallowe'en card. I used a harlequin stencil and I really like how it turned out! And it worked out so well because the little postmark stamp fit perfectly in my bottle cap!!

More Goosebumps & A Sale

For some reason I don't have very many stencils. It never bothered me, since I never really used them. However, with my recent discovery of how much I love Goosebumps, I was dismayed when I only found a couple that were currently in my "I own it" stash. I even checked my "you need to sell this" stash, but I apparently sold most of those too.

Then I had a bit of a brainwave and thought, what about Spellbinders Impressabilities? They're a stencil, right?? And I tried it out and it worked awesome. I have a few of these that I tried to use like an embossing folder, but I just find them too fragile. As a stencil, however, I love them. Yeah! I'm happy to have found a use for them.

As with the plastic stencils, you can generally get a positive and negative from them. This card was made with the negative. It got kind of messy, but it still looked nice when I added a few stamps. I love how it gives you an instant type collage type background without a ton of work.

In honour of my newfound inspiration, I have all my in stock Impressabilities on sale for $5 each. I have limited quantity of each, so when they're gone, they're gone (well, I can order you one, but it will be regular price).

Paisley

Cherries

Diamond & Stars
Flower SilhouetteFleur De Lis Pattern
Fleur De Lis StripeButterfly