Friday, August 18, 2017

JAI #373 Stencils


Hello there,
home has been awash in germs for the last two weeks and all of them, and I mean ALL, decided to come and live up close and personal with me - urgh! I literally spent a solid week on the couch feeling miserable, so it's just as well I had to make my project for this week's Just Add Ink challenge a few weeks ahead to meet a family birthday deadline. This week Karren has suggested we Just Add Stencils. I went with a simple emboss resist technique to create a starry background. If you'd like to see a more complicated way to use a stencil to create a background, drop past my last Colour INKspiration post here



Here's what I came up with for my uncle's birthday - a big milestone birthday!



Many years ago in his professional life he worked for the European Space Agency so I figured a big starry sky was a good way to go. 

The how to:
To start I pulled out my stencil and dabbed Versamark on using a sponge dauber, carefully lifted it off and embossed the stars in gold. Then out comes the sponge brayers this is where the magic of creating a sky comes in, and is truly really simple. I used three tones of blue. First start with your lightest colour, concentrate that on the lower half of the card. Next using the mid tone work down from the top, creating a solid layer there and blending it, carefully over the lightest tone, you don't want to lose all that light blue! Now add the darkest shade, very carefully blend it over the mid blue, so you get a lovely gradient from really dark down to that bright gleam at the bottom. Once that's done, get a dry cloth and wipe over the panel to take any excess ink off the embossed stars.

To finish it off the night sky I splattered some fine flecks of white gouache over the panel and then layered up my focal panel. I added lots of gleams of gold, nothing fussy and a simple knotted ribbon.

The JAI design team have an inspirational array of ideas for using stencils so make sure to stop past all their blogs and then show us your project!

Thanks for visiting,
Kim

Recipe: All SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Number of Years
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Versamark
Accessories: Large Number Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Circles Collection (R), Hearts and Stars stencil (R), Gold foil, Gold glimmer, Gold and White embossing powder, Gold 3/8" edged metallic ribbon, Sponge brayer, White gouache, Dimensionals, Tear and tape

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful, Kim. Not the germs of course, & I really hope you're feeling much better now! This is the perfect card for your uncle (what a fabulous milestone birthday), I'm sure he very much appreciated the starry sky you incorporated - it's stunning. x

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  2. Such a fabulous card for your Uncle Kim! I'm sure he loved the starry sky you created! The depth of colour and smoothness of your ombré background is stunning and Inlove how your gold stars really pop against it. Hope you are feeling better now and the germs have departed the household. xx

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous card, Kim. Love all the details you add to your cards - especially your stitching inside and out. Is that gold thread? (Insert fluttering heart emoji) Your brayering skills are phenomenal- love your blending! I adore the blues with gold accents. Such a fabulous card for your Uncle's amazing milestone bday!

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  4. Wow this is gorgeous and such a wonderful card for a 90th birthday. Gorgeous stenciling and ombre background.

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  5. Such an amazing card Kim. Love this idea - another thing to add to my evergrowing list of things to try.

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  6. As always Kim, your details and layers just blow me away! I bet your uncle loved it! Hope you're feeling better lovely! xx

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  7. Wow, what an amazing background! The embossed stars look fabulous against the blue.

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  8. Stunning Kim, completely stunning. This card just seems so magical to me. The gold just looks amazing against that blue. Beautiful xxx

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  9. Wow, I love this colour scheme and the stunning gold details! Gorgeously coloured and the inside is stunning too! Hope you are on the mend!

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  10. Absolutely gorgeous Kim! What a lucky man to receive this beautifully sponged and heat embossed card xx

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!