Stencil Technique: Watercolor Lifting Ink Blended Backgrounds With STAMPlorations

Hi friends!  I am the Throwback Thursday Guest Designer on the STAMPlorations blog today sharing 6 cards on the that I created using the Christmas tags created by Karola Rehnstrom for  as my inspiration!

The Throwback Thursday feature allows me to select a project previously created by one of the other design team members and shared on STAMPlorations.  My job is to “re-vision” it in 3 different ways.

I had a total blast doing this.  Here is the project that inspired my cards:

 

I was really inspired by the technique that Karola used on the tags.  Stamplorations has a huge selection of absolutely fabulous stencils and this is a perfect technique to create beautiful backgrounds for your projects with a quick and easy ink blending technique using your stencils.

I started by creating several ink blended backgrounds using my Distress Oxide inks.  You can use any dye based ink for this technique like Catherine Pooler Inks, Stampin’ Up! inks, Altenew inks…and so forth.

 

Once I had created my ink blended backgrounds, I spritzed my stencil generously with water using my distress sprayer and then flipped the wet side of the stencil over onto my ink blended card front.  I let it sit for 20 to 30 seconds and lifted the stencil off.  I blotted the excess water from the card front and from the stencil.  I allowed the card panels to dry completely for a couple of hours and then started stamping on them.

Twist 1:  I created cards using spring colors and stamped or heat embossed my images and sentiments directly on the card panel I created with this technique.

Card 1:

 

This card uses Distress Oxide inks in Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preservers, and Peeled Paint.  I used the ARTplorations Bubbles stencil and the Life is Art stamp from the Say It Big series.  The sentiment was stamped in Versa Mark ink and heat embossed with black embossing powder.

 

Card 2:

 

Distress Oxide inks in Mermaid Lagoon, Pine Needles, and Cracked Pistachio were used on this card with the ARTplorations stencil All Swirls.  This is stamped with the Small Birds stamp set from The Bee’s Knees series and the Bloomfully: Kindness stamp set for the sentiment.  The birds were heat embossed with black embossing powder while the sentiment was embossed with gold as inspired by Karola’s tags.

 

Card 3:

 

Distress Oxide inks in Lucky Clover, Evergreen Bough, and Fossilized Amber created the background for this card along with the ARTplorations stencil Artsty Swirls.  The stamp set is the Bloomfully: Kindness stamp set and it is heat embossed in gold embossing powder.

 

Twist 2:

For the second twist on this technique, I created 2 panels using the same technique, but I the stamped my images on one of the and fussy cut them out.  The other panel was used with the CUTplorations Circles All Over Cover Plate.  This cover plate creates a fun texture on the panel and adds interest to the background piece for my card.

Card 4:

 

This card used Distress Oxide inks in Dusty Concord, Victorian Velvet, and Scattered Straw.  This uses two birds from the Small Birds stamp set in The Bee’s Knees series and the sentiment from the Bloomfully: Kindness stamp set.  I heat embossed the sentiment on Vellum in gold and added it over the background piece that uses the ink blending technique with the Bubbles stencil and the Circles All Over Cover Plate.  The two little birds that I stamped in black ink and fussy cut are popped up on foam dots.

 

Card 5:

 

The focal image is stamped on one of the technique panels and embossed in gold.  The image is from the Bloomfully: Kindness stamp set and it is fussy cut and popped up on foam for extra dimension.  The sentiment is die cut from the technique panel using the Big Hugs CUTplorations word phrase die.  The base panel uses the Circles All Over Cover Plate on a white panel for the card background.

 

Twist 3:

The third and final twist on this technique involves masking part of the card front using some 3M removable labeling tape and ink blending just a portion of the card front.  I used the Bubbles stencil to create my background technique and lifted the tape off to reveal lots of white space on the card front.

 

Card 6:To finish this card, I simply stamped the sentiment from the Bloomfully: Kindness stamp set in black ink to create a very quick and easy card.

 

I created a video tutorial of my technique process that you can see here:

Shery gave me a coupon code to share with you so that you can save 20% on your orders between now and the end of March 2021!  Use code:  STAMPGIRLKIMBERLY

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STAMPlorations Products Used:

CUTploratons Circles All Over Cover Plate

CUTplorations Big Hugs word phrase die

STAMPlorations Small Birds from The Bee’s Knees Series

STAMPlorations Art is Life from the Say It Big Series

STAMPlorations Bloomfully: Kindness

ARTplorations: Bubbles stencil

ARTplorations Slimline Artsy Swirl stencil

ARTplorations Slimline All Swirls stencil

 

Thank you so much for joining me today!  I hope you feel inspired to get your stencils out!