Seasons Tweetings

Goodwill is everywhere!

TECHNIQUESTENCILTUTORIALCHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY SEASON

11/2/20243 min read

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

Cranberry Border Layer: 5.5 x 4.25

Card Face: 5.5 x 4.25

Card Face:

After laying the card face on my Grip Mat, I positioned the stencil with the trees. This stencil has two very geometric trees on it, and first I had to decide which one would be used on this card.
I masked off the star on top of the tree before using a medium green ink across the exposed surface, building up depth on the edges and allowing it to fade towards the center.
I removed the mask from the star and carefully masked off the top of the tree before brushing on a layer of cranberry ink.
I replaced the mask on the star and left it there for the next two trees.
I masked off the right-hand edge of this first tree carefully and shifted the stencil to the right and down, making the tree slightly shorter.
I used spruce ink on the exposed areas this time, which has a lot of blue in it. I built up the intensity on the left-hand side, to represent shadow from the tree in front of it.
Moving the mask to the left-hand side of the first tree, I shifted the stencil to the left and down quite a bit, making this tree appear to be further back.
I applied dark green ink with a fairly heavy hand across the exposed surfaces.
I put that stencil aside and picked up the cloud stencil.
Using light blue ink and a light hand I added clouds here and there in the sky, turning the stencil to give me different shapes each time.
I put the card face aside to completely dry, and then dusted the entire surface with anti-static powder.
After positioning the Falling Snow stencil I pressed my Versamark pad through the openings, covering all areas two or three times to be certain that I had good coverage.
I sprinkled the surface with sparkling white embossing powder, shook off the excess, and set it with my heat gun.
I used a punch to create the patterns in each of the corners.

Other:

I stamped the sentiment with cranberry ink and ran it through the Big Shot with a die to create the shape and the stitching on the edges.
I looked through my binder** for winter or Christmas images already stamped and coloured. I had several choices but in the end liked these fun birds best of all.

** See Ready to Go Binder under Techniques in the header to learn how I use this as a way to save both time and money.

Assembly

I glued the cranberry border layer to the card base and then added the card face on top. The cranberry peeks through the openings on the corners and adds that final touch I wanted.
I put the sentiment in place as shown.

Final Thoughts:

This is such a wonderful stencil, and paired with the birds it created a scene pretty effortlessly.

I had coloured these wee fellas last year and didn’t need them: they found the perfect home on this 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.

Stencils:

Geometric Christmas Duo, A Colorful Life Designs

Cloud Edger, A Colorful Life Designs

Falling Snow, A Colorful Life Designs

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

Versamark Embossing Ink: Simon Says Stamp

Sparkline White Embossing Powder: Wow, Simon Says Stamp

Stamp and Die Combo: Your Next Stamp (no longer in business)

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Memento Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Alcohol Markers: