Mudra Craft Stamps: Stencil extravaganza

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Stencil extravaganza

Hi Everyone,

Mirella here, with my last post for a few of the coming weeks - I'm going to be travelling a lot in July, and so I'll need to take a break from both crafting and blogging. But - don't worry - I'll be back before you know it! Fingers crossed that my mojo will be patiently waiting for me in the craft-room! ;o)

For today, I have a collection of thank you cards, using Mudra's gorgeous stencils and sequins. Since I made the card with the stencilled roses for my last post, I got stencil-crazy, and I just had to play with the Mudra stencils some more. I needed a few thank you cards for my daughter's kindergarten, and so I took the opportunity to make some, using Mudra's products. I think I usually underestimate the power of stencils, and they're so much fun to play with!

CARD 1 - Rainbow colours

1. I used the gorgeous Mandala stencil for my first card. I placed the stencil securely over a white card base, and I went crazy with all the colours of the rainbow, using Distress Inks and a blending tool (from the center: Wilted Violet, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed and Candied Apple).

2. I then gently sprayed the whole panel with some water mixed with Perfect Pearls, and quickly dabbed the excess water off with a paper towel - I wanted the edges of the stencilled pattern to remain relatively crisp and sharp, and so I didn't want the colours to start bleeding too much.

3. I used one of the newest "Thanks" sentiment builder stamp set for my sentiment (I LOVE that stamp set, together with the "Wishing you" equivalent!).

4. I ran the panel through my die-cutting machine, to add the stitching detail.

5. Finally, I adhered the panel to a yellow card base, and embellished the card with some of the golden sequins by Mudra.

6. You actually can't see it in the photos, cause I decided to do that just before handing the card to the recipient, but to make the sentiment stand out a little bit more against the colourful background, I added some white detailing to the sentiment, using a white gel pen. It's an easy enough trick that helps in such circumstances.

CARD 2 - With vellum and heat embossing

1. Again, I used the Mandala stencil for this card, but this time I had the stencil slightly off-set, for a different look.

2. I went for reds, oranges and yellows this time, still using Distress Inks and a blending tool (Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade). Once I removed the stencil from the panel, I went all over it with a bit of Squeezed Lemonade, so that this time the white of the card panel wouldn't show through.

3. Next, I randomly splattered the whole panel with some gold paint.

4. I prepared a vellum strip for the sentiment, and heat embossed the words "thank you" on it, using gold embossing powder. I stamped the remainder of the sentiment, using black StazOn ink (I find StazOn works best on vellum).

5. I ran the coloured panel through my die-cutting machine, to add the scalloped edge. I then wrapped the vellum strip around it, before adhering the whole lot to a purple card base.

6. As a final touch, I added a few sequins by Mudra to the vellum strip (TIP: I used the thicker parts of the "thank you" sentiment, as well as the sequins to hide little dots of liquid adhesive - the adhesive helps the vellum stay more flush against the card base, and doesn't allow it warp too much).

CARD 3 - Ombre & glitter

1. For the final card, I used the fun Geo Angles stencil. I opted for a more "ombre" look this time, using purples and pinks (Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry and Spun sugar).

2. I trimmed the inked up panel to the sizing I was happy with & adhered it to a purple card base.

3. Next, I added two thin strips of gold glitter paper on each side of the panel - I think it frames it really nicely, and adds a nice elegant touch.

4. I stamped the sentiment, and adhered a few sequins here and there.

I think the 3rd card is my favourite, but I am really quite happy with all of them. I had fun playing with all the colours and different stencil patterns, and I will definitely revisit my stencil collection again soon - maybe with some texture paste this time? What is your favourite way to use stencils?

Mudra products used on today's cards: