All About Layering 7: Stencils Edition for AECP

Hello! I just finished a great class about layering stencils. There are so many ideas for using stencils that I had never considered. There are some that I tried, and was not successful... but that just means I will have to try again. (Example: watercoloring through stencils did not work well for me, but I need to try it again, because the lesson was so inspirational!)

What DID work for me was ink blending and adding some bling!

I chose to use blues for the flower today. The ink families from Altenew are a perfect way to choose colors that pair well together.

I followed the stencils in the order etched onto the stencils.

I began with Polar Bear ink for the first layers of the flower

Then I added in Icy Water and Winter Lake. Aren't they beautiful? (The pencil marks you see on the panel help to line up the next layer of stencils.)

Next I added in the leaves. I used multiple green inks for these steps because I didn't want them all the same colors.

For the final layer, I added gold Shimmer Relief Paste to the centers of the flowers. A little goes a VERY long way! I added it with a little spatula, and scraped away the remaining paste, adding it back to the jar for future use, and immediately cleaned off any remaining paste. It hardens very quickly, so be prepared! (I had a baby wipe handy for this very purpose.)

OOOH!! I love that gold! (Im not usually a gold person, but this gold is stunning!!)

I added the panel to an A2 card base, and now it's a very pretty, but simple one layer card.

The next card is almost a cheat... I was thinking it was a layering stencil because there is more than one stencil, but it doesn't exactly layer one on top of the other, but it made an interesting look anyway.

For this card I used the Marigold Butterfly set from Altenew. I chose this technique with this flower, because a marigold is so multi-layered, I thought this would add a lot of interest and dimension.

So rather than ink blending for this, I decided to add multiple layers of Embossing Paste to add the dimension. I added the paste along with a smudge of ink onto my glass mat. I blended them together with the spatula tool and added the lightest layer onto the first stencil.

This is the paste and ink smooshed together on my glass mat.

The texture looks amazing!!

Now I needed to be patient and let it dry.

Ha! Not me!! I am not patient! I used my heat tool to help the drying process along. Then I added the 2nd layer with stencil #2.

You may notice a little bleeding occurred under the first stencil, but I continued the journey, and in the end it was OK. Remember... this is my first time doing this technique!

Here are the first 2 layers. Again, I used the heat tool to quicken the drying time.

Here are the colors I used to blend with the embossing paste. I tried to use as little paste as possible, because when blending it with the ink, you really cannot add it back into the jar, so I wanted very little waste.

I thought this was the end result, but then thought it needed some more color and shine. I added a light touch of light pink ink (whatever was left on my ink blending brush) around the flowers for contrast.

I used a tiny amount of Shimmer Relief Paste on my fingertip to add shimmer to the center of each flower. This was enough to cover 1 flower. It really takes a very small amount.

I added a sentiment to finish the A2 size card.

Now that I know what I'm doing, I am ready to experiment with other layering stencils! But... I realized I only have the one layering stencil set, so card number 3 (and 4) is with the same set as the first card.

I had a ton of fun with this one!

So for this one, rather than using the pencil dots, I started by laying out stencil #2 on my card stock. There are etched lines on the stencil for easy placement. I put the 2nd stencil down first, and then I slid the first stencil over it so that I could have the flowers line up in the correct spots. (I lined up the flowers using the 2nd stencil). Then I removed the leaf stencil and had my flowers right where I wanted them.

I used this beautiful set of inks for the flowers... they are luscious!!

I taped off the edges where I didn't want any stray ink to appear.

Flowers are finished... on to the leaves.

Again, I taped off areas that I didn't want contaminated with the green inks. I will come back to those later.

I continued following the stencils in order, adding more and more green inks.

Then I added Shimmer Relief Paste (Pearl) onto the top layer of the leaves.

Here is where I thought I had ruined the entire thing!

EEEK!! So much shine! I added plain pearl to the lighter colored leaves, then for the darker leaves I mixed Green Onyx Crisp Dye Ink with the pearl shimmer paste. That helped! The green shimmer is stunning in person! I also added the Rose Gold Shimmer Relief Paste to the flower centers after the other had dried.

The last stencil in the set makes it's own set of flowers, so I made them, too, using the same colors as above. I again added the Rose Gold to the centers. This is such a dainty little set!

Now for more fun!

I added a smudge of Rose Gold Shimmer Relief Paste to the top of another piece of card stock. Using the embossing tool, I ran it across the length of the card stock to make a sheet of Rose Gold to match the insides of the flowers. I wanted this for the borders, but it's also great for cutting out sentiments or embellishments! (Or even flower petals... whatever you like!)

I wanted borders for both cards, so cut the first panel out of the middle, and used the outer frame for the border of the other card. No waste!

I etched lines along the 1/4 inch mark around all edges of a piece of white card stock for the panel of the 2nd card for added interest.

I attached the smaller panel onto the larger panel with foam tape.

We are almost done...😊😊

One thing I learned from class is that you don't have to leave a stencil looking like a stencil! You can add your own touches with paint, marker, colored pencils, pastes, etc. I chose to try adding detail lines with colored pencils. This is not my go-to, so I gave it a try. I need more work for sure!

It does add a little more interest, doesn't it?

And here are my final cards! I hope you enjoyed this and will give stenciling a try! There are so many possibilities for using stencils!

BONUS!!!

When I was typing above I mentioned that I do not have more than one layering stencil set... but I DO have tons of layering die sets! SO... why not make my own layering stencil set???

I used the Altenew Craft a Flower: Rose set to make the stencils. It is best to use a die set that does not have too many tiny pieces in the layers. Mine had a few pieces that I had to manipulate in order to make it work, but there are other dies that might work better. I will let you know if I find an easier set!

First I die cut the pieces from heavy white card stock. The bottom layer was easy!!

But the next layer was more troublesome. I ended up die cutting this layer again with double sided tape on the bottom. I removed the bottom layer of adhesive backing, tapped it on my pants a few times to remove some of the stickiness, and attached it to the base layer. I then inked with a darker ink. The next layer was all in one piece, so I added that on top and ink blended with another darker color. There were 4 layers in total for the rose.

For the leaves I confused myself as to what I was doing exactly. I used some of the negatives, and some of the positive pieces as stencils. There was no rhyme or reason to my madness, but the good news is... both ways seem to work!