Stencil It! CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to our May blog hop! You've come from the blog of Hayley Dyer. To continue the Hop, just follow the links from blog to blog until you get back to where you started. If you get lost, you can find a list of participants on Melissa's page. This month we are highlighting stencils. That may sound old school to you, but I'm sure you'll find new ideas for personalizing your art work! Before showing you my project, I have an announcement to make:

...And the award for the Official stamp set of the Pacific Northwest 
goes to..."Make a Splash!!" {Applause}

I knew I needed this set as soon as I saw it in the May/June catalog. It is pretty adorable even if you don't live in a rain forest. Don't you think?? Plus the sayings are appropriate for almost anyone, anytime and I was surprised by how perfect the set is for these crazy pandemic times. If you need more rainy weather stamps, check out "When Skies Are Grey."

I wanted to showcase this set and was also inspired by the Blue Skies cardstock, part of May's special for National Scrapbooking Month. I love the UV coating and wanted to make something similar. 

Can you see the raindrops? 

This card pattern is #7 in Make It From Your Heart Volume #4. I always think rain boots are yellow; too much Curious George as a child I guess! I paired it with one of the papers in Stitched Together. Do you see anything stitched or quilt-related in this design? That's what I love about our B&T Duos and paper packs: any pattern that highly themed is usually universal on the reverse side. Can you see the upside-down raindrops on this paper?? I think they're supposed to be flower petals. That would be something else I could do with my stencil!





Here's how I made my card:  The rain drops are from an overlay image in the Cricut Artistry Collection.  In Design Space, I added the image then used [Contour] to hide the outer line of the image; this gave me just drops to cut out. I used [Duplicate] to copy the image, next I used [Contour] again to "remove" a few drops at the bottom. I made a copy of the edited image with [Duplicate]. Now I had three images, the original, and two edited copies. I lined these up by utilizing the [Position] coordinates. Finally, all three images were "connected" with [Attach] to cut as one item. When cutting the stencil, I made sure to move it over so that there was at least 1" around all three sides when finished.

Before putting the raindrops on my paper, I stamped the two sentiments in Sapphire ink. I rubbed the Anti-Static pouch over this piece and then tacked it in place on a piece of desk pad paper. The stencil was positioned over the cardstock. The drops are fewer near the bottom so I kept away from "splash" but went right over the sentiment at the top. I used the VersaMark pad right on the stencil. After removing the stencil, I used clear embossing powder and embossed as usual. 








Note: Your stencil will be sticky from the VersaMark ink. I first tried cleaning it off with Spritz and a rag.That wasn't bad, but I had so many layers from experimenting, it wasn't quite enough. On my way to the sink, I passed some baby wipes. The wipes worked, at least with my pre-wash. I wouldn't use the chemical disinfectant wipes everyone is hoarding right now, but alcohol-free, mild baby wipes may work. Otherwise, go with my first thought, clean it with a mild soap and water.









To make the puddle at the bottom, I grabbed my Mint Shimmer Brush.

Inside, is another boot, this time stamped with Mink instead of Black so the image is defined, but not overwhelming the sentiment. These could have been stamped right on the card base, but I wanted the flowers to be a separate piece so that the marker didn't show through the back. 















Now, I would never have fussy cut these flowers out of the paper. Even cutting out the boots would have been pushing it, and those are a much simpler design. But with Thin Cuts, it was no problem! It's one of the main reason I bought this stamp set, I can use these flowers for many other projects. The flowers are colored with Tri-Blend markers. 

• Dark Red (light end) > Candy Apple
• Coral (dark end) > Smoothie
• Citrus (dark end) > Lemonade
• Dull Green Blend - leaves
• True Blue (light end) > Mint*

*I've since decided that Green Turquoise (light end) is a better match for Mint. I'd call the Dull Green colors > Green Apple (light), Sage, and New England Ivy (light). For Sweet Leaf I like Citrus Green (light end). Those of us in the matchy-matchy OCD world can get really freaked out about color matching! But, the truth is, on these tiny images, none of which are even shown with the patterned paper, it doesn't matter (too much!).

Please leave some love in the comment section below!


Thanks for stopping by!! Next, head over to see what fabulous-ness Maz Wood has for you this month.

🛒🛒Ready to shop? Head to my website to find the products I used:

• Make a Splash stamp set (available with or without Thin Cuts)
• Stitched Together paper pack (available with or without sticker sheet)
• Lemonade Cardstock
• White Daisy Cardstock
• Mint Shimmer Brush
• Intense Black ink pad
• Sapphire ink pad
• Mink ink pad
• Tri-Blend markers (see colors above)
• VersaMark pad
• Anti-Static Pouch
• Clear Super Fine embossing powder
• Heat Tool
• Stencil Sheets
• Card Bases and Envelopes value pack
• Artistry Cricut Collection (use this link to shop Cricut)