ALL the tea ....
... and more!
TECHNIQUESTENCILTUTORIAL
4/19/20233 min read
Would you like to play around 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 below 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.)
Card Base: 8.5 x 7, scored and folded at 3.5
Black border: 8.5 x 3
Card Face: 8.5 x 2 7/8
I knew that I wanted to combine these two stencils, so I had to give some thought to colour scheme. I decided on the bold and feminine pink and red.
Card Face:
I secured the Teapot stencil in the middle of the card and applied the pink ink , building up layers of ink to create variations in the tonalities across the teapot.
I moved the stencil to the top first, and then the bottom and repeated the process, but I flipped the stencil over so that the image was reversed, and deliberately tilted both to vary the look.
I brought in the Tea Affirmations stencil, and used red ink on every other word, alligning them on the left of the card.
Then I moved the stencil so the words alligned with the right hand side of the card, and inked in the words I had skipped.
This is when I discovered an error: I realized that I had inked "loyal-tea" at the bottom on both sides, so I had to chop it off. At this point Ihad to adjust everything, and it became a mini slimline instead of the full sized version I initially planned.. (Adapt and persevere!)
I added some metallic spatter randomly across the card face, trying to hit only the open spaces (not entirely successfully!)
Other:
I had already decided on the sentiment (wishing you all the TEA your heart desires), but didn't have a stamp that was even close. So I printed it on 80 lb cardstock (the heaviest that my printer will accept), and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder to intensify the print.
Technique:
what do you do when you want a very specific sentiment, but don't have it? You can print it !
My process begins with going into Canva (an free online graphics program) to select font, colour size, etc. Once I have created a template that I feel will work, I download and print it. I like to print on copy paper first, to be certain that I like the size and general appearance when compared with the card face. Sometimes I have to go back into Canva and modify what I've done - I often find that my first attempt is too large to suit the card. Once the template meets the need, I print onto cardstock. I find that the ink from the printer appears slightly faded when compared to the ink that we stamp with:. To correct this I heat emboss the entire image by pressing the versamark pad directly onto the printed cardstock and applying clear embossing powder. This intensifies the ink, so that it is closer to what we typically get when we stamp. (if I will have more than one word to cut out' as I do ihere, I make sure that the words aren't too far apart on the template so that I don't end up using more versamark and embossing powder than I need to.)
I used a punch for most of the words: I used the same punch to cut out matching layers in black , and glued them, offsetting as shown. Once the glue was dry I trimmed them down on the edges as necessary to get the look I was going for.
TEA was die cut, and a black base layer was cut with a slightly larger die and the two were glued together.
Everything was glued directly onto the card face, except TEA, which had a bit of dimensional foam on the back to give it more presence.
Assembly:
I centered and glued the black layer to the card base, and then repeated that process with the card face.
I scattered some black gems here and there along the length of the card, and it was done.
Final Thoughts:
I was disappointed to have to cut off the bottom of the card because of the error, but in the end it worked.
This stencil was designed with solid centers in the letters, however, I decided to add the "holes" by using a white gel pen . You can see that this wasn't entirely successful: although it looks ok at a glance, I wouldn't repeat that again.
Overall, the card is quite loud and busy, which isn't my usual style. I like the layout, but if I were to repeat this design I would soften the red stencilling so that it doesn't compete with the sentiment.
Supplies:
Stencils: Tea Pot, Tea Affirmations, both from A Colorful Life Designs
Metallic Spatter: Aoutle, Amazon
Versamark Embossing Ink: Scrapshotz, Scrapbook.com, Simon Says Stamp
Clear Embossing Powder: Wow, Simon Says Stamp
Black Embellishments: Stampin' Up!
Black card stock: Stampin' Up!
Card Base: Accent 100 lb, Amazon
Card Face: Accent 80 lb., Amazon
Thanks for popping by!