I have LOADS of stencils, mostly Tim Holtz’s layering stencils but also some masks and stencils from other designers, dating all the way back to the Dreamweaver brass stencils (which, while original designed for dry embossing, can also be used with paints or inks or pastes…), so I started rummaging through my storage boxes for something that fit this time of year, whiteout being too Christmas-oriented. I settled on Valentine’s Day!
First of all, I stenciled a card base with “Abandoned Coral” Distress Ink, a blending tool and the layering stencil “Stripes”. After that had dried, I used a Dreamweaver brass stencil (which just happens to be of the Chinese character for “Love”), centered it on the card and inked it in with a “Black Soot” Distress Marker (the stencil is too "deep" to use an blending tool effectively, but I wrecked the tip of my marker in the process, sad to say - those stencil edges are SHARP!). There was some smudging near the end of my inking as a result of the messed up marker tip so I used "Versamark", a small heart stamp (maker unknown) and Commotion Clear Tops Embossing Powder (“Bright Hot Lips Red”) to heat emboss a “fall” of hearts (which covered the smudge) and a sentiment.
The result: an internationally inclined Valentine’s Day card:
- Stencils: Layering Stencil “Stripes” (THS004) and Dreamweaver Brass Stencil LL354
- Inks: Distress Ink “Abandoned Coral”, Distress Marker “Black Soot”; and Versamark embossing ink
- Stamps: unknown maker, heart and sentiment (H292)
- Embossing Powder: Commotion Clear Top “Bright Hot Lips red” (161324)