HAPPY BIRTHDAY - OFFSET STENCILING

OMBRE INKING AND OFFSET STENCILING

Welcome! I am very excited to share my very first blog post! I thought I would start by sharing with you how I created my "Happy Birthday" large dot background card. This is, by far, the most popular of cards in my Etsy shop (acutandfold.etsy.com).

To begin, here's a list of the supplies (the "ingredients list") I used (once I figure out how to, I'll add a links to the bottom of this post where you can purchase the items you may be wanting):

• Cardstock (I used Neenah Desert Storm 110# cardstock for the card panel and Accent Opaque White 120# cardstock for the card base)

• Stencil (I used the Simon Says Stamp "Large Dot Stencil")

• Distress Oxide ink (colors I used were Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed)

• White gel pen (I used a white Gelly Roll pen)

• Flower stamp set

• Sentiment stamp (I used the happy birthday sentiment from the Sunny Studio Birthday Balloon stamp set)

• Vellum

• White embossing powder (I used Gina K white detail embossing powder)

• Sequins

• Wendy Vecchi Make Art Stay-tion 7"

• Foam squares, dots or tape (I used Scotch Foam Mounting Tape)

• Some sort of ink blending tool (I used mini domed ink blending foams)

• Heat gun

• Low tack tape (I used blue painter's tape)

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Let's jump in! To begin, secure your card panel to a surface and then secure your stencil over your card panel. I really like using the Wendy Vecchi Make Art Stay-tion as I can secure my card panel and stencil to it, and then move the Stay-tion around if needed (I'm not locked in to where I've taped my project down, like if I'd taped it to my glass mat)--this is especially helpful when we get to the gel pen section! A note: I like to secure my card panel and stencil with tape so that neither move; it's a pain in the butt to have to re-position your stencil or card panel halfway through inking.

Now that things are in place and secured, grab your ink. I really love the creamy look Distress Oxide inks have on tan cardstock, but you can use whatever ink you have for this technique. If you'd like to do an ombre look (again, Distress Oxide or even Distress inks are perfect for this technique), grab two or more colors. I did a gradient of Candied Apple, Carved Pumpkin and Mustard Seed Distress Oxide inks for the card pictured. I also love combining Seedless Preserves, Worn Lipstick and Scattered Straw (probably my all time favorite colors...so far), as well as Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass and Twisted Citron. Have fun and play around with the colors you have. You may be surprised by what you come up with! Using the ink blending tool of your choice (I used mini domed ink blending foams, as I wanted heavier coverage), begin with your first color. Repeat with each color, blending in to the previous color. Once you've finished inking, I highly recommend taking a moment to clean your stencil (a baby wipe or warm water and soap should do the trick). Now set your card panel aside to dry.

While your card panel is drying, stamp and color your flowers and leaves. If you have a stamp set with coordinating dies, yippee! No fussy-cutting for you! I know there are people out there who think fussy cutting images is relaxing...it is exactly the opposite for me! I strongly dislike it, so I will buy stamps with coordinating dies when possible.

For the sentiment, I heat embossed it on vellum. Make sure when heat embossing on vellum that you get your heat gun nice and hot before bringing it to the vellum. This will help with warping.

Going back to your card panel, secure your panel and line your stencil back up to the image on your panel. Move your stencil slightly so that the stencil and image are not perfectly aligned (see picture on the right). Secure your stencil and begin outlining your stencil with your gel pen.

Finally, adhere your sentiment (I wrapped the vellum around the card panel and taped it down on the back side), glue your card panel to your card base, add your flowers (I used foam on the back of some of the flowers to give them dimension) and any other embellishments you'd like to add (I added some sequins for flare).

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on offset stenciling! Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Happy crafting!

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