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)

Lovely Layers - CTMH Technique Blog Hop

If you've arrived from Terry's blog, you're right on track!

This month the Technique Blog Hop is focusing on "Lovely Layers." No, that's not what the fashionable people wear in Chicago when it's 50 degrees below! Here we're talking about layers of paper, ink, or even...Liquid Glass.

You'll find Liquid Glass under the tools section when shopping on my website. You may have used it for one of our National Papercrafting Month specials to secure flowers. For years, CTMH Consultants have been using it's adhesive super powers for even more, like repairing the sole on your shoe during convention! If you haven't seen my favorite example, just ask! It works great for securing ribbons on mini-albums. The opening allows you to place a fine line for attaching twine, or a dot to keep a sequin in place.

However, this amazing product is more than an adhesive,  Did you ever use it as an EMBELLISHMENT? As the name implies, you can use it to replicate glass on your projects. It forms a clear covering over an image. A few months ago, you may have seen snow globes with Liquid Glass. You can cover the entire image or highlight selected parts. It can be LAYERED on paper and complements. Above, I used it on the lens of the glasses from the Heart Happy complements.

You can also make a sheen on water surfaces. These pictures show an old pool layout where I used the  Liquid Glass on stamped water drops.

I mentioned using this amazing product with 3-D flowers. On this year's special, it was suggested to add a thin LAYER of Liquid Glass to the leaves, to give them a sheen similar to real Magnolia leaves.







For my blog hop artwork, I made a card using the Egg-stra Special bundle and Decorative Borders thin cuts. The color combination came from the So Much Happy collection.

I used two Easter Eggs on the card, but in preparation I LAYERED the Liquid Glass several ways:

1. I colored some areas with Shin Han markers and used Liquid Glass to accent them.
2. I covered the entire image. 
3. I highlighted stamped spots. 
4. I colored some areas with Shin Han markers and used Liquid Glass to accent them.
5. I suggest using Intense Black ink with Liquid Glass. Some ink and marker colors may run, usually the darker shades. By working with one section at a time, this is easily avoided. 

I like to cut my die shapes before I stamp them, but I did save one egg and cut the shape after it was covered with Liquid Glass. I had to use washi tape to hold the die in place, but there didn't seem to be any other issues. One more FYI:  Liquid Glass may change the color of dye ink. I didn't notice this with any of the colors I used, but I remember it being an issue with some of the retired reds (they looked orange).

When working with Liquid Glass, use the All-Purpose Mat. Not only will it protect your work surface, but your project won't accidentally become glued to anything else. And, any spillage will pop right off after it dries!

You may have noticed that the eggs curled a bit from the Liquid Glass. This didn't cause any problems, in fact, one of my "failures" may give someone else an idea for a new technique. This is another nice feature of Liquid Glass, it stays flexible, not brittle, after drying. The piece to the right has MANY individual LAYERS of Liquid Glass and was purposefully bent, it didn't become this deformed from the application of the product.

Don't you just love our two-toned cardstock?! I used both shades of Clover for the LAYERS of "grass" and the lighter side for both egg shapes. I used the Peach ink on the lighter side of the Peach cardstock to give the tone-on-tone stamping more contrast.

Did you see the bunny's paws? I made these using the ears stamp and thin cuts, then I added little lines with a journaling pen. I also used the egg die and put them through the Cuttlebug to trim them to size.


Thank you for stopping by! Please leave some love in the comments below before continuing to  Melissa's page. (She also has the list of all participants in case you get lost hopping around.)



Products used on Easter card:

• Z697 Liquid Glass
• Z4262 Egg-stra Special stamp and thin cuts
• Z4241 Thin Cuts-Decorative Borders
• X6027 White Daisy Cardstock
• X5986 Mint Cardstock
• X5995 Clover Cardstock
• X5988 Peach Cardstock 
• X6008 Lemon Cardstock
• X254 Value Pack card bases and envelopes
• Z2461 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Peacock Green Marker BG61
• Z4189 Intense Black Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad
• Z6502 Peach  Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad
• Z2895 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad
• Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen