Stressed, blessed & coffee obsessed!

A good cup of coffee is a beautiful thing

TUTORIALSTENCIL

4/13/20233 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 stencil 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.)

I got a wonderful new stamp set from the Colorado Craft Company and couldn't wait to use it. Pairing this image with the Coffee Pot stencil from A Colorful Life Designs was an easy decision.

Getting Started:

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

Scrap of cardstock for the stamped image

Card Face: (in this instance, the card base and the card face are one and the same)

I stamped the mouse and coffee cup on a piece of scrap cardstock, and then coloured them with alcohol markers.
I fussy cut the image: I didn't worry about the really fiddy bits (wiskers, steam), I trimmed close to the edges and cut them off.
I positioned the Coffee Pot stencil and added the aqua ink for the coffee pot; I used a blending brush and a light aqua colour all over for the first layer of ink . Then I came back in with a detailed blending brush (much smaller and easier to control) to add some darker tones for visual interest and depth.
I positioned the "coffee" portion of the stencil and filled it in with a medium brown ink. I came back with a darker brown ink on the edges. Both of these colours were applied with standard sized blending brushes.
I created a mask for the coffee pot by tracing it on a piece of copy paper and cutting it out. I lined it up carefully with the stencilled image and secured it with Mint tape so it wouldn't budge.
I added the second stencil (which had been prepped with Pixie Spray) over top of all of this and brushed on a soft yellow ink.
I removed the stencil, and then the mask and the second stencil now appeared to be behind the first one (the coffee pot).
I put glue on the back of the mouse and the coffee cup, and put them in place.
Using a black microliner I added the ends of the whiskers by extending the lines that were already there. I also added steam over the teacup.
I used a light grey alcohol marker to add shadows under the coffee pot and the mouse/cup image.
I put the card into my stamp positioner and added the sentiment in black pigment ink. I quickly added clear embossing powder. I melted this with a pre-heated heat gun which intensified the print nicely.

Final Thoughts: I like this fun design! I'm happy with the backdrop provided by the second stencil, and I'm also satisfied with the match between the stencilled coffee pot and stamped mouse. I am a novice with alcohol markers, so I can see that there is lots of room for improvement there. Hopefully that will come with time and practice.

Supplies:

Stencils: Stick Rays and Coffee Pot, both from A Colorful Life Designs

ink: Stampin' Up!

blending brushes: Stampin' Up!

detail brushes: Shading Brush #1, Waffle Flower, Amazon, Scrapbook.com, Simon Says Stamp

Stamps: image + sentiment both from Coffee House, Colorado Craft Company, Scrapbook.com,

Simon Says Stamp

Stamp Positioner: I use a Stamparatus, manufactured by Stampin' Up!, but no longer available

alcohol markers: Stampin' Blends, Stampin' Up!

Copic Sketch Markers: Simon Says Stamp, The Papercrafters Workshop, DeSerres

metallic watercolour spatter: Amazon

Mint Tape: Scrapbook.com