Sunday, January 25, 2015

Aspen Trees Stenciled Card



Hello, Friends!

This is a card I created with a different technique but one that I love!  It's easy, fun, and it makes me feel like a cake decorator, which I always wanted to be. 

Now you know a little known fact about me.  When I was in kindergarten I read a book about being a baker and I have wanted to be a baker ever since.  Ten whole years!  (maybe a few more...decades...something like that.)  Anyway, I don't want to have to get up at 2 or 3 in the morning though to start baking.  I'd like to be a baker that opened my store around 11:00 am so I could come in around 8:00 in the morning.  When I lived in Arizona if you didn't get to the bakery by 7:30, all the good doughnuts were gone.  That's not fair to people who like to sleep late.  I'd be the baker that catered to people who don't get up super early in the morning.  I'd have food for people who like a fresh doughnut as an afternoon snack.  Of course I'd also have cookies, muffins, cupcakes, and cakes which brings me back to my card.

So what is the technique, if you haven't guessed already from the picture and the cake decorating feeling I get when I use it?  Simple embossing paste and a stencil.  When I used this technique for the first time, I took a class given by the company Dreamweaver Stencils at a scrapbook store about an hour away probably ten years ago.  This time it was a real ten years.  They used brass stencils back then but for my card, I used a plastic one. 

The directions are pretty simple.  Put down a protector on your table, so you don't get embossing paste on it.  I use a non-stick craft sheet from Ranger.  Tape your card front down using a removable tape.  I use blue painters tape.  Then, tape your stencil down on top of the card, again using removable tape.  Since the stencil was 6x6 inches and I was only making a 5 1/2x 4 1/4 inch card, I put my blue tape over the areas of the stencil that did not have card stock underneath it.  Use a palette knife, like a special small spatula, to scoop up some embossing paste, which looks a lot like frosting, on the back of the knife.  Pull the palette knife towards you, using it to push the embossing paste down over the stencil so it fills in the holes.  While the embossing paste is still wet, gently lift the stencil straight up to take it off.  Clean off the embossing paste from your stencil.  Let the paste dry on your card.

There are ways to add colors and textures to your design.  Embossing paste comes in several colors now, but I colored my own using Distress Inks.  I turned the ink pad upside down and put ink right on my craft sheet that protected the table.  Then I used my spatula to mix the white paste into the ink until I got the color I wanted.  I put the light blue embossing paste over part of my stencil.  Then I made a darker blue, and put it over the rest of the stencil.  I could have pulled the palette knife flat down so my embossing paste was smooth.  However, since trees aren't smooth, I didn't want my embossing paste to be smooth. 

I wanted the trees to be the centerpiece of my card so I just added a simple sentiment on a die cut oval with baker's twine underneath it so it wasn't just floating on top of the trees.  I put the sentiment on with foam tape.  I love that stuff!  I put the image on a dark blue card stock notecard and it was complete!

There was only one difficult part of this card and that was getting a good picture of it.  Unfortunately, the rough embossing paste made it very difficult  to photograph for some reason.  I actually took the picture with the card laying flat on it's back instead of standing up like you would normally take a picture of a card.  For some reason taking the picture straight on just looked blurry and it's not blurry at all in person.  It's still not the greatest picture ever and still looks much better in person, but it's a lot better than the first one hundred or so photos that I took.  (That number isn't an exaggeration either!) 

This stencil is great for masculine cards, which can sometimes be difficult!  I am entering my card in the blog challenge at The Male Room.  Their challenge is to use shades of blue on a craft project, card, tag, etc. designed for a man.


I am also entering my card in the stencil challenge on the CAS on Sunday blog.  My card has one main image, limited layers, limited embellishments and was quick and easy to create.



This card also reminds me of winter.  It may be because of the color scheme or the trees without leaves.  Because it makes me think of winter, I am entering it in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog Winter Stamping.

If you'd like to make a card like this, I encourage you to go to YouTube and look up videos using embossing paste.  This will give you a visual of how to use this fun product which is probably easier than just following my directions!

Happy Stamping!


I used the following products to make this card:

Sincere Salutations Stamp Set by Stampin' Up
Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans Distress Ink by Tim Holtz at Ranger
Solar White 110 lb Card Stock by Neenah
Not Quite Navy Card Stock by Stampin' Up
6x6 Aspen Trees Stencil by TCW
Non-Stick Craft Sheet by Ranger
Wendy Vecchi White Studio 490 Embossing Paste by Dreamweaver Stencils
Palette Knife Set by Viva Décor
Scotch Safe Release Blue Masking Painter's Tape by 3M
White Baker's Twine by Stampin' Up
Pierced Oval STAX Die-namics by My Favorite Things
Scotch Double Sided Permanent Foam Tape by 3M
  


6 comments:

Heidi MyLittleStampingBlog said...

Very pretty result with your paste. I have that stencil and it is sorely underused. I should get it out again.

I agree about the donuts. However, I would like a bakery that delivers them hot :)

Deborah Frings said...

I really like the texture - your stencilled trees are brilliant. Thanks so much for playing along with The Male Room this week!

anja curvers said...

Wow awesome result love it. Thanks for joining us over at CAS on sunday.

Vicki Dutcher said...

Awesome blue forest! Thanks for joining in at TMR~

Louise van Vuren said...

I have this special but have never tried this technique, it looks fab. Great masculine card for our Shades of Blue challenge. Thanks for playing along in The Male Room
Louise

AndreaH said...

Gorgeous card. Thankyou for ALL the info you have given us on this page. You have made me feel as if I could actually make this one. ( Im a complete newbie). Love the list of all the items you used too. All I can say after all that is I hope you have your own blog or you tube channel. If not then you should have.☺ I'm going to go look now lol. Thankyou again.

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