You Kick Ash and Stenciling Tips

I needed a thank you card, but not just any ole thank you card, so of course I made a punny one.

Hard to capture all the shine in the light, but I used vellum and alcohol markers for the ground. Vellum and acrylic paint for the volcano and lava. Modeling paste and glitter paste for the stenciled background. The stencil is from Simon Says Stamp, Mod Stripe. The dinosaur is a layered stamp set from Stampin' Up called No Bones About It. I had to cut out the dinosaur and kind of regret leaving so much white, but I was really afraid of messing it up on the tiny parts in-between the scales and legs... the white trim also helps the eye since the background pattern is so bold, so I'm ok with it. The sentiment and volcano die are from My Favorite Things- I Lava You. 

I used a gray paper to mat it because I love gray and any color looks great with it. Used some foam tape to stick it on a side folding card-base and popped it in the mail.

Note on stencils: I love them and they are awesome, but sometimes they can be tricky. It is an elaborate process, and a time sensitive one at that. When I stencil, I tend to tape down a few different stencils on my desk at once. I try to use the same or similar color schemes so I don't have a million pastes drying up before I can even use them. Since I like to mix the colors and create ombre/fades a lot, I don't really have a lot of 'pure' paste leftover that I can stick back in the jar. If you use one color alone, of course you can do that. I personally like to stick 2 globs of different colors on opposite sides of my non-stick mat. I use the first color on stencil after stencil and slowly incorporate the next color until I use up all my paint. 

I also use a bit of white modelling paste at times- a big jar is cheap from Blick Art Store and can be used with acrylic paint or glitter pastes. For acrylic paint, it does the important job of thickening it up- that way the paint isn't seeping under the stencil all over the place. It will lighten the color a lot, so keep in mind that a little goes a long way. The glitter paste also gets 'dulled', so again, just use a tiny bit to achieve the ombre effect. I'm also cheap and this helps extend the life of an expensive jar :) Pro-tip, keep a few different spatula tools and that way if you need to grab a tiny bit more paste to finish the stencil, you won't contaminate your container. 

Oh, and most importantly: clean your stencil and tools asap so they don't dry and harden! I keep a small container of hot, soapy water on the desk and when I'm done with a stencil, I peel it up and drop it in. If you are doing one stencil, you can probably run to wash it off right away, but since I tend to do 3 or 4 in one sitting, this has really worked well for me. Then, I bring the bin to the sink and wash them all off thoroughly. The container I use cost 88 cents at target and fits a 6x6 stencil without a problem- it is actually what I keep all my craft supplies in since they are see-through and stack nicely. I also have a bunch more of those containers in my apartment since they hold a set of shoes perfectly, but you guys probably don't care about my closet organization lol.

Last tip- if the stencil isn't perfect in a spot or two, just stick your sentiment or a sequin over it :D

When I see professional looking cards online I like to imagine that they have a ton of mistakes that are just covered up well. Of course I'm happy for them and quite sure they are perfect underneath too, but it does make me feel better about the projects I made :)

Challenges:

MFT card challenges (volcano = shape/layout)

The Male Room Challenge (no papers)

Simon Says Stamp blog Mon Challenge (past times- prehistoric!)

Mod Squad Challenge (name the stamp)

Fusion Card Challenge (green/blue colors!)