Painting with Stencils

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's card was created as part of my AECP 3 journey. I am showcasing what I learned from All About Layering 7, Stencils Edition. I chose Bridget's class of using watercolor with layering stencils as my inspiration in creating this card. 

I am using a black watercolor paper for my card. I trimmed it to a size that will fit the Altenew Silk Art coordinating die. I die cut this die on the black watercolor paper. As Bridget mentioned on her video, die cutting the image helps in alignment of the the stencil. I inlaid the die cut to the negative space and secured it with tape on the back. 

The stencil has some dainty parts and mines choose not to lay flat on the paper. I sprayed Pixie Spray to the back of the stencil to temporarily stick it to the watercolor paper. It didn't work on all the dainty parts, so I did Bridget's trick wherein you press the stencil down with your finger while painting around it. 

I am using Coliro Mica watercolor for the paint. As Bridget recommended, I tried my best to do a dry technique of watercoloring. If I feel that too much water seeped underneath the stencil, I lift the stencil up and dry the area with a paper towel. I used two colors for the leaves layer (layer #1), and three colors for the floral layer (layer #2). Don't forget to dry the paint in between coloring the layers. You can set it aside to dry or speed dry it with a heat tool.

I lost the details of the stamen created by layer #1 when I painted with layer #3. I added dots of white mica paint to the dots of the stamen. Feel free to paint the details or do some touch ups of the floral bunch if you wish or if you think it is needed. You don't need the stencil to do this. Just free hand paint it.

Just like in Bridget's video, I painted more leaves to a black cardstock for a layered look. I trimmed the black cardstock large enough to fit the floral die cut. I created a mask by die cutting a Press 'N Seal. This just works like a masking paper but the down sides are it is more flimsy than a masking paper, and the front side tends to stick to the stencil. But it works. I ran out of masking paper that's why I used Press 'N Seal instead. 

Using the painted floral bunch as a guide, I chose which areas I want to paint additional leaves on. I am just using an 80 lb. cardstock so I really have to keep the paint on a drier side to prevent it from warping. 

I adhered the floral bunch to the black cardstock panel. I flicked some gold paint over it. 

The floral bunch is larger than an A2 card. The floral bunch with the painted background is too pretty to have some of it cut off just to fit an A2 card. So, I created an A7 card (5" x 7"), which I rarely do. I matted the black panel with a gold cardstock.

For the sentiment, I created my own sentiment using the Altenew Sentiment Strips die set. I used two dies from this set to create my customized sentiment using partial die cutting technique. Instead of layering this die cut sentiment on another cardstock, I inlaid the letters on the sentiment die cut. I painted a scrap piece of black cardstock with the same red mica paint I used for the flowers. I die cut the letters on this painted panel, then inlaid it to the sentiment strip die cut. The watercolor paper is thicker than the cardstock which gave it a dimensional look.

I trimmed a gold cardstock strip to matte this sentiment die cut. There was too much space on the sides of the strip. I wrapped a gold embroidery floss around this strip to fill in that space. I adhered the sentiment strip on it.

I encourage you to look through your stencils and give this technique a try. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day.

Maria Giselle B.

I added below links to the Altenew products I used on this card. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase this/these item/s. It is just a way to help a fellow crafter sustain her love for crafting. While in the Altenew blog, don't forget to check out their new release for this month. Thank you for your support. 

I am sharing this creation at

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog~Anything Goes

It is All About Mushrooms

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Mushroom seems to be on trend in the crafting world. Do you agree? To join this trend, I created this card with a mushroom background.

I am using the Blank Page Muse Cute Mushrooms stencil. I masked the stem of the mushroom so I can blend a red ink to the cap of the mushroom. I used two shades of red inks, Tim Holtz Distress Oxide? I blended the light colored red ink first, then blended the darker shade to the base of the mushroom cap to add some depth to the base of the mushroom cap. 

Once done, I removed the mask from the stencil. I cleaned the stencil, then reposition it over the panel. I masked the cap of the mushrooms this time. I blended Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in Antique Linen on the stem. 

When blending ink on a large panel like this, make sure you mask the areas that does not need inking. Even if you don't think you need it. Why do I know? I just made a boo-boo on this panel, putting red ink on a part of the panel. You should have seen me cringe when I realized what I did. 

To fix my boo-boo, I cut a frame on red cardstock using a Pinkfresh Studio die. I adhered this in a way that it covers the boo-boo. I trimmed off the excess. Now, comes a different problem. The frame has decorative holes. Since I offset the panel to one side, the other side is bare behind the holes. To fix it, I adhered the part of the panel with the boo-boo on the back of this. Whew! I am glad that I did not have to pitch this ink blended panel.

I added white dots on the cap of the mushroom using a white gel ink. Those dots definitely made a difference to the mushrooms. What do you think.

I die cut a stitched square on the same red cardstock I used for the frame. I heat embossed the sentiment using a BPM Butterfly Breezes stamp. I used white embossing powder. After I wiped off the excess anti-static powder, I inked the edges using the darker red ink I used on the mushrooms.

I die cut two more stitched squares on scrap cardstock. I adhered this to the back of the red text die cut for some dimension. I adhered this to the center of the mushroom panel.

I hope you like today's card. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

Blank Page Muse is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store to YOU, my blog readers. Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out. Enjoy!

Halloween Banner

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project features a digital paper from Blank Page Muse, Creepy Cute Halloween Digital Papers. The digital papers and ephemera included in this digital set are Halloween themed but some of the images in this set can be used all year long. 

I am using the tag from the set. After I downloaded the ephemera sheet, I cropped the tag that I am using to remove the rest of the ephemera included in the sheet. I am a thrifty crafter so I try to max out the number of tags I can fit in an 8.5" x 11" light weight cardstock. After resizing the tag, I was able to fit 8 tags in a sheet. I trimmed each tag. Since the paper I used for printing is light weight, I adhered a black cardstock to the back of each tag. I placed something heavy on top of these tags while it dries so it will dry flat.

Once the tags are dry, I die cut each tag using a tag die from The Stamp Market. I added a hole reinforcer which I die cut from the excess digital paper. The reinforcer die came from the tag die set. I adhered the hole reinforcer to the top of the tag. 

For the letters, I die cut an orange cardstock using the Spellbinders Stitched Alphabet dies. I spelled out 'Happy Halloween.' I stitched black DMC embroidery floss on the stitching holes of each letter. 

To put the tag together, I added foam adhesive to the back of each letter. Before adhering the letter to the tag, I added a looped metallic floss in between the letter and the tag. I reinforced some of the foam tape with glue if they are not adhering too well to the tag.

I added halloween icon sequins for some embellishment. 

I used a Halloween themed clothespin from my stash to clip the tags to a Halloween themed twine (also from my stash). I temporarily taped this to my door for photo purposes but this banner is displayed on our living room window, on top of our pumpkin decors. As much as I love to show how my window display looks, the glare of the sun proved to be a challenge to get a good photo of it. 

I hope you like today's project. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

Blank Page Muse is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store to YOU! Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out. Enjoy!

Update: I was able to take a photo of my living room window Halloween display. I hope you like it.

I am sharing this creation at

Simon Says Stamp IG Challenge

Stitching on Embossing

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's card is part of the Kat Scrappiness Thankful 4 U Inspiration IG Hop. I added the link to the hop at the bottom of the post. I hope you can join us.

If you have been following me, you know that one of my joys in crafting is being able to stitch on my project. Today's card has stitching on it. I'll get to this later on the post.

I stamped the images from the Kat Scrappiness Thanksgiving Gnome stamp set on white cardstock. I colored the images using Prismacolor pencils. I die cut the images with the coordinating die.

For the focal point of the card, I am using the KS Thank You Word with Shadow Craft die. Instead of die cutting the detailed sentiment, I embossed this on a yellow KS Autumn Glitter paper. To emboss it, you need add a silicone mat to your die cutting machine sandwich, laying it underneath the paper to prevent the die from cutting the paper. I highly recommend lightly misting the paper with water to prevent the paper from cracking. Also, only do one pass of the embossing sandwich thru the die cutting machine. Running the paper back and forth through the die cut machine made my paper crack.

The nice thing about the KS Glitter paper is that it only has the look of glitter without the glitter. This makes sewing on it easy. Not to forget that there is less mess because of the faux glitter.

I adhered a scrap piece of cardstock to the back of the embossed glittered paper. This prevents tearing of the glitter paper as I poke holes on it. The embossed impression guided me on where to poke stitching holes. Poke holes on corners and adjust the spaces of the holes from these corners. The stitching holes does not need to be perfectly spaced from each other. Another tip is do not poke holes close to each other even if these holes are on different sides of the letter. Poke the hole a bit higher than the other. This prevents the holes from connecting because of a tear. If you cannot add a stitching hole to a part of the image, it is okay. The floss will cover this up.

I am using a DMC Variegated embroidery floss for stitching which works really well on projects like this since you never know in what part of the sentiment the floss will change color.

I die cut this stitched glitter panel using the shadow die. I die cut the shadow die on a scrap piece of cardstock first then used used the negative piece of the die cut in positioning the die over the stitched glittered panel. I used the scrap shadow die cut to add dimension to the embroidered die cut.

I die cut the brown glittered paper with a KS Stitched Rectangle die. I also die cut a green glittered paper using a KS A2 Stitched Hills Border die. I adhered the die cut elements to the brown glittered paper to create my scene. 

I hope you like today's card. I look forward to you hopping with us. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

Kat Scrappiness IG

I added below links to the Kat Scrappiness products I used on this card. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase any of these products. While you are at the Kat Scrappiness website, do check out their wide array of products especially the exclusive Kat Scrappiness products. They have a new release, too!  

Another Card with Stitching on Embossing

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I got hooked to this technique of stitching on embossing after my first card using this technique. I only have tried this technique on sentiment dies, embossing it on paper, then stitching on the lines. But who knows? Maybe it can work with other dies too. 

My first card using this technique will go live later here in the blog but you can see it now through the Kat Scrappiness Thankful 4 U IG Inspiration Hop. 

What makes this card different from my KS card is that on this card, I repeatedly embossed the sentiment die on the whole panel of the cardstock which was cut at 5 1/2" x 4 1/4". The repeated embossing and passing of the cardstock panel through the die cutting machine flattened the embossing But the embossed lines remained intact. The die I am using is the Lawn Fawn Sripty Thanks die. 

I adhered a light weight paper to the back of the embossed panel to minimize any ripping that might happen during poking and stitching. I stitched the words using a DMC Variegated embroidery floss. Once the stitching is done, I flicked white paint to the panel. 

I colored the main sentiment with a green watercolor and a green mica paint. I did not put a lot of water ot the brush since I am not using a watercolor paper. I created a sub-sentiment strip using an emerald colored cardstock. The word stamp is from the LF Love Letters stamp set. I heat embossed this on the emerald cardstock using white embossing powder. I trimmed this to make it into a strip.

I die cut a frame using stacking rectangle dies. I used the same emerald cardstock for the frame. I added a stitching detail to the frame using the LF Stitched Borders die. I adhered this to the stitched panel.

To fill in the spaces in between the words, I adhered mint colored flower sequins. I added a drop of Nuvo Glitter Drop to the center of the flowers. I set this aside to dry.

I hope you like today's card. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Lawn Fawn Challenge Blog

Weaved Christmas Tree Platform Pop-up Card (WCMD Card #3)

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Some save the best for last. I think I did with this interactive card I created to celebrate World Card Making Day as prompted by Doodlebug's WCMD Challenges. I am using two 6x6 paper pads for this card, Frosty Friends and The Graduate. Yes, I used a graduation themed patterned paper. I will reveal which part of the card it is later on.

I die cut a plaid patterned paper using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Christmas Tree Frames die. I used the negative tree cut. I cut slits from side to side using a craft knife. I trimmed scraps of strips into a triangular shape. I threaded the strips through the slits. I glued the ends of the strips, and trimmed off the excess. I threaded glitter tape and ribbon through the strips. 

I die cut the Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-up die on gray star patterned paper from The Graduate paper pack. I die cut two pieces to create the platform and fits a 6x6 paper. This is the only paper from the The Graduate paper pad that I used for this pop-up card. Everything else is from the Frosty Friends patterned paper. 

The die creates score lines for folding. Reinforce the folds with a bone folder for a crisper fold. 

The top portion of the platform has two openings for additional pop-ups. I only have the Christmas tree as the pop up for this card so I won't be using these openings. To cover it, I traced this portion of the platform on a white patterned paper. I cut these pieces using the pencil marks as a guide. After I erased the pencil marks, I adhered these pieces to a double sided adhesive tape with the white portion adhered to the tape. I burnished the tapes with a bone folder. I removed the release paper and poured Elizabeth Crafts Silk Microfine Glitter to the tape. To activate the glitter, I rubbed it with my finger. I wiped off the excess glitter. I adhered these pieces to the top portion of the platform.

I assembled each platform using strong double sided adhesive. I adhered the tab die cut on the inner side of one of the platform pieces before adhering the other platform piece, sandwiching the tab die cut.

I adhered the weaved Christmas tree to the tab. I adhered another Christmas tree die cut to the back of the weaved tree for a clean look. 

I die cut two stars from the die set on a gray patterned paper. I embossed the stars with glitter embossing powder. I adhered the stars to the top of the Christmas tree, one on the front, and one on the back for a finished look. 

I embellished the Christmas tree with sequins. I added glitter drops to the center of the sequins. I set this aside to dry. 

I die cut the ribbon from the die set on a purple and blue patterned paper. I used a stylus to curl the ribbon for some dimension. I adhered the die cuts to the side of the platform. 

I apologize for a very long instructional post. I am still in the process of editing the process video of this card. Stay tuned! Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you like today's project. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Doodlebug Design FB WCMD Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog~Christmas

Challenge Blog~Holiday/Celebration Cards 4 Kids

Ink Blended Stamped Background (WCMD Card #2)

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am so inspired by Doodlebug's World Card Making Day Challenges that I created a second card. For this card, I was inspired by their mood board which I attached at the end of this post. The theme of the mood board is Halloween but what caught my attention is the colors on the mood board. I am using a Doodlebug stamp set called Cute and Crafty.

On a Strathmore Bristol paper cut at 4 1/2" x 6", I blended Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks following the colors on the mood board. I made pencil marks on one side to give me an idea of how much space I need for each color. I blended the inks to this panel. I set this aside to dry before I stamped the images. You can also speed the drying process with the use of a heat tool.

Using the Misti Stamping Tool and a sticky mat, I positioned the ink blended panel on the center of the sticky mat. I arranged the stamps to this panel, then picked the stamps with the door of the Misti. I treated the inked panel with an anti-static powder. I inked the images with Versamark ink, then stamped the images to the inked panel. I poured white embossing powder to the inked images, then heat set it. I repeated the process until I filled up the panel with embossed images. 

The stamp set includes small stamps which I used to fill the open spaces of the inked panel. 

I flicked some shimmer liquid to the panel. Oxide inks react with water. Without drying the water droplets, I patted this with a dry paper towel. 

I die cut the blended panel using a stitched rectangle die to make this into a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" panel.

The sentiment is from the stamp set. I heat embossed this on black cardstock using white embossing powder. I die cut this into a sentiment strip. For the main sentiment,  I die cut the letters on black cardstock. I die cut this twice, then adhered it on top of each other for some dimension. I used a T-ruler as a guide in adhering the letters straight. The letter dies I used are from Lawn Fawn.

I adhered another strip of black cardstock on the back of the sentiment strip for dimension. I adhered this to the top of the letter die cuts.

I lightly inked the edges of the blended panel with Tim Holtz Black Soot ink. 

I added shimmer to the letters using a clear shimmer pen.

I hope you like today's card. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Doodlebug Design FB WCMD Challenge

Doodlebug Design FB WCMD Challenge

A Doodlebug WCMD Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Belated World Card Making Day! WCMD is celebrated every first Saturday of October. I look forward to it every year because of the card making challenges held by blogs and/or crafting companies. The Doodlebug challenges are a favorite of mine. This is a great way to use my stash of Doodlebug products.

I am using patterned papers from Sugar Shoppe and Christmas Town. Who says you only need to use Christmas products for Christmas only? The B side of the Christmas Town paper is full of red hearts making it convenient to use on other occasions. I inked the edges of these patterned papers with coordinating color inks. I spritz and flicked blue Mica spray to the blue patterned paper panel for a bit of shimmer.

I am following a sketch, as seen below. I added a pink strip of cardstock to follow this sketch. I added a stitch detail to this strip using a retired Trinity Stamps die.

For the other elements of the sketch, I used the Sweet Stamps and Happy Mail washi tapes. The Sweet Stamps washi tape has perforations which you can tear making it look like a real stamp. I love it! I also love washi tapes with sentiments on it, just like the Happy Mail washi tape. You can substitute this for a stamped sentiment on a card any time. Not to forget, these washi tapes have the cute Doodlebug icons and fonts on it. Love it!

Washi tapes have a bit of transparency to it. I trimmed a scrap cardstock, smaller than the stamps, and adhere the stamp washi tape to it. I added a bit of liquid adhesive where needed to prevent the washi tape from peeling off. I adhered this to the patterned paper panel following the sketch. I stamped the wavy cancellation lines over some of the washi stamps using a Ranger Archival Black ink. I used the Misti Stamping Tool to stamp this lines just in case I need to re-stamp this since the stamp has a bit of dimension. 

I trimmed the Happy Mail washi tape to make it slimmer. Before adhering it to the patterned paper panel, I stamped a circular imprint and a subsentiment to the panel. I adhered the Happy Mail sentiment which has a two layers of cardstock underneath it for a bit of dimension.

I hope you like today's card. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Doodlebug Design FB WCMD Challenge

Doodlebug Design FB WCMD Challenge

Guardian Gnome of the Pumpkins

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I created this card to welcome fall. I don't know about you but it has finally gotten cold in our area. I am also today's blog author at Blank Page Muse featuring this same card.

Today's card features Mr. Elderwillow, a gnome from the Blank Page Muse Guardian of the Autumn clear stamp set. I colored Mr. Elderwillow with Copic markers, adding a plaid design to his hat. Coloring his hair was most the most challenging for me. 

I fussy cut the image leaving a white border around it. 

The pumpkins were created using BPM Pumpkin Trio Stencil. I blended inks to the stencil masking off the areas in between colors. I concentrated the inking on the sides only to create depth. I think this technique will also work best when done on a cardstock of the same color as the ink you are using.

Without removing the pumpkin stencil, I layered another stencil, the BPM Butterfly Trails Circles Patterns stencil, over the pumpkin stencil. I added embossing paste over the circles, then carefully removed the stencils. I poured orange glitter over the embossing paste and set this aside to dry. I cleaned the stencils after.

I fussy cut the stenciled pumpkins.

For the card panel, I am using Fall patterned papers. I heat embossed the sentiment on the circle patterned paper. The sentiment I used is also from the BPM Guardian of Autumn stamp set. I inked this patterned paper circle with Tim Holtz Distress Black Soot ink. I flicked orange mica paint on the black patterned paper panel. I adhered all the elements of my card to the panel.

Do you think Mr. Elderwood is fit to guard the pumpkins? I think he is up for the job. 

I hope you like today's project and today's technique of layering stencils. I encourage you to give it a try and give those craft supplies another use. The stencils need not to be made for a layering purpose. Look at your stash and see if there are stencils that can be paired together to re-create this look. Usually a stencil with a big image will work with a detailed image stencil. 

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B. 

Blank Page Muse is generously offering a 15% discount to their online store to YOU! Just use the code BPMMaria when you check out. Enjoy!