Category: Stencils

Master Card Design: Using Stencils for Unique Creations
Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencils I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Card Face: 5 ⅛ x 3 7/8

Card Face:
- I laid the card face onto my grip mat and positioned the postage stamp mask, centering it carefully. I inked around the outside edges with a heavy hand and dark blue ink.
- I placed the corresponding stencil around the mask, then removed the mask (exposing the center of the cardstock while protecting the sectionalready inked).
- I put the Angular Trees stencil over the Postage Stamp stencil and added the three trees in shades of green, using a smaller brush and masking as necessary to prevent colours from mixing.
- After removing the Angular Trees stencil, I placed the Tree Edger #5 mask at the top of the opening and added purple ink with a light hand. Then I added blue ink, pulling it down from the top and in from the sides. When I removed the mask, I had created a white mountain range and a night sky.
- Leaving the Postage Stamp stencil in place, I positioned the Tree Line Edger #3 stencil so the bottom of the trees was slightly below the halfway mark. Masking off the Angular trees as necessary, I added blue ink, making the trees very intense at the top but allowing the colour to fade as it moved down the tree.
- I used a piece of torn paper and a soft hand with the same blue ink to create the look of snow and shadows on the ground.
- My final stencil was the Christmas Postmark: I positioned it at an angle over the scene and added it with dark gray ink.
- I inked up a tiny bird stamp with red ink and positioned it on the snow.
- I used a light hand and the residual ink on my light blue brush over the white mountain range at the top of the card face – this softened the area, removing the stark contrast.
- I used a white gel pen to add snow to the scene.
Assembly

I glued the card face in the center of the card base.

Final Thoughts:

I am so happy with this card: each step was an experiment and could have gone wrong, but in this instance everything worked together to create the result I was hoping for.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencils:

Angular Trees, A Colorful Life Designs

Tree Line Edger #5, A Colorful Life Designs

Tree Line Edger #3, A Colorful Life Designs

Marvellous Masks Postage Stamps: A Colorful Life Designs

Christmas Postmark: A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

White Gel Pen: Arteza, Amazon

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Waffle Flower Sampler Pack, Scrap & Stamp

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Angular Trees by A Colorful Life Designs

Tree Line Edger #5 by A Colorful Life Designs

Tree Line Edger #3 by A Colorful Life Designs

Marvellous Masks Postage Stamp by A Colorful Life Designs

Christmas Postmark by A Colorful Life Designs
11/23/2025
Create Stunning Snowflake Cards with This Simple Design
Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Green Border Layer: 5.5 x 4

Card Face: 5.5 x 5.25 (before tearing)

Scraps of holographic cardstock

Card Face:
- I laid the card face on my Grip Mat and positioned the stencil. I added green ink around the snowflakes as well as the edges – leaving the center white.
- I tore the un-inked edge of the cardstock at approximately 3” and used my scissors to roughen the edges.
Other:
- I die cut a snowflake from the holographic cardstock, as well as a 5.5 x .25” strip.
- I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of cardstock and fussy cut around it.
Assembly
- I glued the green border layer to the card base, centering vertically.
- I added the card face on top of this, lining it up with the green layer on the left-hand side (this did not allow any of the green to show, but since I had added green ink to the edges of the card face, that wasn’t necessary.
- I slipped the narrow holographic strip under the right-hand edge of the card face.
- I added the sentiment as shown.
- I added three small green gems to the white border on the right, and a larger green gem to the center of the snowflake.
Final Thoughts:

I really like the combination of this lovely stencil with the soft green – the result of this mixture is a very pretty card.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil: Split Snowflake, A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Versafine Onyx, Simon Says Stamp

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Holographic Cardstock:Recollections, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Split Snowflake by A Colorful Life Designs
11/21/2025
Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Beautiful Winter Card
Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencils I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Red Border Layer: 5.25 x 4

White border Layer: 3 ⅝ x 2 3/8

Card Face: 3.5 x 2.25

Card Face:
- Using black Memento ink, I stamped the card face with the image of the woman and then coloured her with alcohol markers.
- I placed the card face on my Grip Mat and then positioned the Dot Mat stencil. I added red ink across the open areas, allowing it to fade as it approached the image.
Other:
- I removed the card face from the Grip Mat, and replaced it with the red border layer. I positioned the Eddies stencil and applied red ink with a heavy hand.
- After removing the stencil, I placed this piece in an embossing folder and ran it through my Big Shot.
- I looked through my sentiments binder and selected one that worked perfectly with the image.
Assembly
- I glued the red border layer to the card base, centering on all sides.
- I glued the card face to the white border layer, centering on all sides.
- I glued these two pieces together.
- I added the sentiment as shown.
Final Thoughts:

This image from Unity is awesome, and that sentiment from Spellbindersk created the perfect collaboration.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

   I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencils:

Dot Mat: A Colorful Life Designs

Eddies, A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Versamark Embossing Ink: Simon Says Stamp

Clear Embossing Powder, Wow, Simon Says Stamp

Stamp/Die: Christmas Glimmer Sentiments, Spellbinders, Amazon

Stamp: Freaking Cold, Unity Stamps

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Memento Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Alcohol Markers:

     Stampin’ Blends: Stampin’ Up!

     Copics: Wallacks

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Dot Mat by A Colorful Life Designs
11/20/2025
Make a Retro Christmas Card with Vintage Design
Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencils I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Red Border Layer: 5.5 x 4.25

Kraft Card Face: 5.5 x 4.25 (before die cutting)

Card Face:
- I laid the card face onto my grip mat and positioned the postage stamp stencil. Using a soft hand, I added brown ink just inside the border areas.
- Leaving this stencil in place, I added the Vintage Santa stencil to the mix, positioning the section with Santa in the bottom-left corner and allowing the image to extend slightly beyond the paper. I applied cranberry red ink after masking off all adjacent open areas.
- I used the same cranberry ink and one of the presents to create a row of gifts up the right-hand side of the card, repositioning each time. The gift overlapped the right-hand edge of the first stencil, allowing a partial image.
- I used a rectangular deckled-edge die to cut the card face down to the finished size. I applied metallic gold paint to the edges of this.
- I inserted the card face into an embossing folder and ran it through the Big Shot.
- I touched the raised surfaces of the paper with a brown ink pad, using a very soft hand.
Other:
- I looked through my sentiment binder and selected three small die-cut images, previously created on the same Kraft cardstock and embossed in gold.
Assembly
- I glued the border layer to the card base, and then centered the card face on top.
- I added the three small die cuts as shown.
Final Thoughts:

My goal here was to create the feeling of an heirloom Christmas card, treasured for years. The vintage images were paired with the other ways I’ve marked the paper – and I think I succeeded 🙂

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencils:

Retro Santa, A Colorful Life Designs

Marvellous Masks Postage Stamp: A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Retro Santa by A Colorful Life Designs
11/19/2025
Crafting a Unique Christmas Card with Non-Traditional Colors

Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Pink Border Layer: 5 ⅜ x 4 1/8

Card Face: 5.25 x 4

As this is a 6 x 9 stencil, it was too big to use on my Grip Mat.

Card Face:

I laid the card face on my work surface, positioned the stencil and applied pink ink across all exposed areas.

Grabbing a smaller brush and a darker pink, I added deeper colour to the center of the roses and randomly to the swirls.

Using a shading brush, I added purple ink to the dots in the pattern.

I cut the paper in half, creating two card fronts, and selected one for this card.

I added Fairy Wings Nuvo drops to the purple dots, and set the card face aside to dry.

Other:

I looked through my sentiment binder and found this large Merry Christmas, perfect for this design.

I cut a small strip of pink card stock (the same colour as that used for the border layer) 4 x .5

Assembly

I glued the pink border layer to the card base, and the (now dry) card face on top of this, centering it on all sides.

I glued the sentiment strip to the pink cardstock strip, then glued these to the card face approximately ⅔ of the way down.

I added three small, translucent white gems to the sentiment strip, as shown.

Final Thoughts:

The shading and Nuvo drops add so much to this card design: the additional depth and visual interest make a huge difference.

I enjoy using non-traditional colours in Christmas card design, and I’m happy with this one!

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace, and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil: Rose Swirl, A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Versamark Embossing Ink: Simon Says Stamp

Clear Embossing Powder, Wow, Simon Says Stamp

Nuvo Drops: Fairy Wings, Embellish Away

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Versafine Onyx, Simon Says Stamp

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Rose Swirl by A Colorful Life Designs

11/15/2025
Crafting Beautiful Cards: Foiling with Stencils
make a card that makes them say “WOW!”

Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Card Face: 5.25 x 4

When I work with Duo Gel or embossing pastes I don’t use my Grip Mat – purely a personal preference in the interest of protecting the surface of the mat.

Card Face:
- I put my card face on a sheet of scrap paper, positioned the stencil and fastened it in place with Mint Tape.
- I spread Duo Gel over the entire surface and then carefully removed the stencil. The stencil is immediately immersed in water to prevent the gel from drying on the surface.
- I put the card face aside to dry. Duo Gel is dry when it is completely clear – I usually leave it for two or three hours before coming back to it.
- I don’t have running water near my craft room, so when working with this gel or pastes I have a container of water on the floor beside me so I can immerse the stencils immediately. I usually do several of these at a time when I settle down to work with either gel or paste.
- Once the card face had dried I laid a piece of transfer foil on top and ran it through the Big Shot.
- The pressure from the machine caused the pretty part of the foil to stick to the Duo Gel, so when I removed the sheet, the silver stayed behind on the stencilled pattern.
Other:
- I used a scrap of heavy white cardstock to cut out the snowflake.
- I looked through my sentiment binder and selected one that would work for this card.
Assembly
- I put dimensional foam on the back of my card face, and then centered it on the card base.
- I glued the snowflake to the card face as shown. (I allowed a little extra time for the liquid glue to grab on the foiled surface.)
- I glued the sentiment across the center of the snowflake.
- I added rhinestones to the top and bottom of the snowflake.
Final Thoughts:

If you’ve never tried foiling with stencils and duo gel, I recommend it! It’s a lot of fun with gorgeous results – just be certain to buy transfer foil for this purpose and you’re good to go.

This was a really fast card to make, but it was time consuming to figure out how to use the panel. The foiling is gorgeous, and really packs a punch. I tried several ideas, put it aside for a while, tried a few more …. And finally decided on the design that you see in the photo.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil: Snowflake Net, A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Versamark Embossing Ink: Simon Says Stamp

Clear Embossing Powder, Wow, Simon Says Stamp

Duo Gel: Deco Foil, R& R Scrapbooking

Transfer Foil: Shattered Glass, Deco Foil, R&R Scrapbooking

Die: Recollections, Michaels (retired)

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Snowflake Net by A Colorful Life Designs
11/14/2025
An easy, fast, ELEGANT card
Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Gold Border Layer: 5.25 x 4

Card Face: 5 ⅛ x 3 7/8

Card Face:
- I laid the burgundy card face down onto my grip mat and positioned the stencil. I applied Duo Gel through the stencil, then carefully removed it to avoid smudging the paste.
- I put the stencil into water immediately, and set the card face aside to dry.
- Once the gel was dry, I set a piece of gold transfer foil on top of the (now very sticky) pattern, and ran this through my Big Shot.
- After removing the transfer foil, I had a beautiful gold foiled starburst, created by the stencil + the paste and foil.
Duo Gel is a white paste when applied, when dry it is clear and super sticky – which is how it pulls the foil off of the backing sheet.

Other:
- I looked through my Ready To Go binder, and found this gorgeous die-cut star, previously created and just waiting to be used.
- I also found the perfect sentiment in my Sentiment Binder and pulled that out for use.
Assembly

I glued the gold foil cardstock to the card base, and then added the card face on top of this.

I glued the die-cut star on top of the stencilled star burst.

I added foam tape to the back of the sentiment and put it in place.

And finally, I put a pearl in the middle of the star.

Final Thoughts:

This card has such an elegant, luxe feel: there is just enough glimmer from the two different kinds of foil to give it an eye catching glimmer.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil: Star Halo, A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Duo Gel: Deco Foil, R&R Scrapbooking

Gold Transfer Foil: Deco Foil, R&R Scrapbooking

Dies: Star of Wonder, Stampin’ Up! (retired)

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Star Halo by A Colorful Life Designs
11/12/2025
How to Make a Gorgeous Card with Dotted Wreath Stencil
Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Border Layer: 5.5 x 4.25

Cranberry Card Face: 5.25 x 5.25

Card Face:
- I laid my card face on a piece of scrap paper and positioned the stencil. I applied green embossing paste through the stencil, then removed the stencil very carefully so I didn’t smudge the paste.
- The stencil went into water immediately, and the card face was put aside to dry.
- Once dry the card face was cut in half, and became 5.25 x 2.75.
- I also cut ⅛” off the top and bottom of this piece.
Other:
- I glued the card face (or rather, half of it!) to the kraft border layer on the left, ensuring equal spacing on the top, bottom and left-hand sides.
- I placed this newly created combination into my stamp positioner and stamped the reindeer image with Versamark embossing ink. I stamped several times to get a good impression.
- I removed this from the stamp positioner, added copper embossing powder, and set it with my heat gun.
- I drew a narrow line snugly against the right-hand edge of the cranberry cardstock, added copper embossing powder and set it with my heat gun.
This was necessary because of the raised cranberry layer: no ink transferred immediately beside it, so I used the embossing pen to draw a line and fill in the narrow gap.
- I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of cardstock in cranberry ink and cut it with a die.
- I die cut a tiny bow out of the same cardstock.
Assembly:
- I glued the sentiment to the card face, allowing part of it to hang off the left-hand edge. I cut this off flush.
- I glued the card face to the card base.
- I added the tiny bow to the reindeer as shown.
Final Thoughts:

I wasn’t at all sure about this design when I tried it, but I quite like it in the end.

This is such a great stencil to play with – and I still have half of it to work into a card.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

   I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil: Dotted Wreath : A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Versamark Embossing Ink: Ecstasy Crafts

Embossing Pen: Versamark, Ecstasy Crafts

Copper Embossing Powder: Wow, R&R Scrapbooking

Embossing Paste: Later Gater, Simon Hurley, R&R Scrapbooking

Stamps: Cheerful Prancing, Unity Stamps (retired, but there are still similar stamps available!)

Dies:

     Sentiment: Stampin’ Up! (retired)

     Bow Topper: Scrapbook.com

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Dotted Wreath by A Colorful Life Designs
11/07/2025
Step-by-Step Card Making: Unique Design Ideas

Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencils I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 4.25 x 11, scored and folded at 5.5

Card Face: 4 x 5.5

Card Face:

I laid the card face on my Grip Mat and positioned the ornament stencil.

I masked off the metal hanger at the top.

I applied light blue ink with a soft hand, deepening the colour towards the edges, and maintaining a lighter section towards the top right.

Leaving the ornament stencil in place, I positioned the snowflake stencil towards the right, allowing it to extend into the ornament slightly.

I applied the same blue ink over this, again using a light hand.

I moved the snowflake stencil to the bottom right of the opening, and created the pattern there as well.

I added a silver to the ornament hanger (although I wanted a pure silver I grabbed the wrong brush and ended up with an unplanned mixture of colour).

I used a corner rounder punch on the top two corners of the card face and then placed it in an embossing folder and ran it through the Big Shot.

Other:

I used the same corner rounder on the top corners of the card base.

I looked through my sentiment binder and selected a beautiful sentiment created with my Glimmer machine.

Assembly

I glued the card face to the card base, centering on all sides.

I added the sentiment towards the upper right, as shown.

I added a white bow to the hanger, securing it to the card face with a glue dot.

Final Thoughts:

I always love texturizing my card faces, or a portion of them. In this instance however the stencilled pattern became harder to distinguish. I like this card, but it would have been beeter without the embossing.

I do love the combination of the two stencils.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil:

Split Snowflake, A Colorful Life Designs

Marvellous Masks Ornaments, A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Sentiment: Christmas & Glimmer Sentiments, Spellbinders, Amazon

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Split Snowflake by A Colorful Life Desig

11/06/2025
Create Stunning a Card for Your Special Guy
Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You’ll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.25 x 10.5, scored at 5.25

Border Layer: 5 x 5

Card Face: 5 x 5

Frame: 5 x 5 (before die cutting)

I had stamped and coloured this image, then set it aside in my “someday” pile. This stencil gave me the perfect opportunity (and the inspiration) to put this handsome fellow to use.

Card Face:
- I laid the card face down on the Grip Mat and positioned the stencil. I applied brown ink with a light, careful hand – avoiding the pre-coloured figure.
- Using the frame die as a guide, I cut the card face down to a size slightly smaller than the finished frame would be.
Other:
- I put the border layer onto the Grip Mat and positioned the stencil once again. I used the same brown ink with a heavier hand on this piece, covering all exposed areas.
- Next, I worked on the piece for the frame: I started with white cardstock, positioned the die, and ran it through the Big Shot.
- After removing the cardstock from the die, I used a medium brown ink over the entire frame, allowing a random variation in the depth of tone.
- I finished this off by bringing in a dark brown ink and using it here and there on the frame, increasing the variation in tone.
- I selected a sentiment from my Sentiment binder (I love having them ready and waiting when I need one).
Assembly
- I glued the border layer to the card base, centering it on all sides.
- I glued the frame on top of the cut-down card face.
- I glued this new combination on top of the border layer, centering carefully.
- I put dimensional foam on the back of the sentiment, and put it in place as shown.
Final Thoughts:

This is so far from my first thoughts about how to use this stencil – but how perfect is this for a masculine card?

I’m really happy with the way this turned out.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

   I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It’s a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil: Close Up Branches, A Colorful Life Designs

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Stamps: Zeke Guy, Unity Stamps

Dies: Oval Woodgrain Frame, Hero Arts, Amazon

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Versafine Onyx, Simon Says Stamp

Memento Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Alcohol Markers:

     Stampin’ Blends: Stampin’ Up!

     Copics: Wallacks

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Comments Section below – I’d love to hear from you!

You can also use the Comments Section to be notified when I release new work.

Close Up Branches by A Colorful Life Designs
11/02/2025

Your cart (items: 0)

Products in cart
Product	Details	Total
	Available on backorder Previous price: Discounted price: Save	Save