Stampin' Dreams Blog Hop: Theme - Favourite Techniques - Make Your Own Stencil / Mask from dies

Welcome to the monthly Stampin' Dreams Blog Hop.  This month we are sharing our Favourite Techniques.  I love using lots of different techniques so it's hard for me to choose a favourite.  However, at the moment I'd have to say "making my own stencils from my die collection".  I like to make my dies work harder and provide extra value for money!

You are currently visiting Stephanie Fischer (The Crafty Thinker) from Australia.  I hope you enjoy my cards.

A Christmas card featuring baubles made with home made stencils - make your dies work harder!

Although there's quite a lot going on in this Christmas card, my main focus is the decoration on the baubles which I achieved by sponging Shimmer Paint through a home  made stencil.

Using home made stencils and Shimmer Paint to create baubles for Christmas cards

The first step is to cut the stencil from a piece of Window Sheet with the die of your choice.

TIPS:

• You may have to run it through your Big Shot several times to get a clean cut, moving it around on the platform each time.  If you have a Precision Base Plate, you'll want to use it.
• Cut the Window Sheet larger than you need and leave a generous edge all the way around your die.  This will allow you to also use that "negative space" piece for sponging or masking.
• When using the Blizzard Thinlit, keep all the pieces.  The large piece becomes a stencil and all the smaller pieces that you remove become wonderful masks.

I cut some baubles using the Layering Ovals and Layering Circles dies.

I like to place a glue dot under each of the pieces to keep them from moving around.  I first handle them a bit between my fingers to make them a little less tacky.  The stencil that I made with the Blizzard Thinlit was large enough that I could group three of the oval shapes and stencil them together.

Place your stencil over the piece(s) to be decorated and fasten with a little bit of washi tape (or similar) at the top and bottom - being careful not to cover any of the area you wish to decorate.

I then placed some of the Vegas Gold Shimmer Paint onto a palette (I use one of my large acrylic blocks) and sponged over the stencil with gentle pouncing motions.

TIPS:

• It's better to be sparing with the paint and do several layers if necessary.  If there's a lot of paint on the sponge, some is likely to find it's way under the stencil resulting in a less crisp image.
• For a similar reason, pounce the sponge straight up and down to try to avoid getting paint under the stencil.
• Shimmer Paint is water soluble and cleans up very easily.  I prefer to work directly on my cutting mat but you may wish to cover your work area with a sheet of scrap paper, some Stampin' Up Grid Paper or a non-stick craft mat.

Clean your stencil after use (I find all I need is a little water from the tap) and allow it to dry.  I prefer not to dry them with a towel to avoid catching little details and damaging the stencil.  With this little bit of care, you'll be able to use your stencil over and over again for a very long time.

WHY STOP THERE?

So we've used our stencil with the gorgeous Shimmer Paint, but why stop there?!  Use it with any of your favourite ink colours - simply tap the dry sponge onto the ink pad and then over the stencil.

Or, my particular favourite at Christmas time, use some glitter!

A Christmas card made with home made stencils and some super fine glitter

Apply Multipurpose Sheet to the front of the cardstock before cutting your shape.

Preparing to use my home made stencil with glitter

Peel off the protective layer.

Rub a little soap over the back of your stencil (I tend to dampen a small bar of soap with my fingers and then gently rub my soapy fingers over the stencil).  The soap assists with removal of the stencil from the adhesive.

Position the stencil, soap side down, onto the adhesive on the front of your shape.

Tip some super fine glitter on top and press it in with your fingers.

Tap off the excess glitter and burnish by gently rubbing your fingers over the glitter on the project.

Remove the stencil and tap again to remove any remaining excess glitter.

Tip a second colour of glitter onto the shape and press onto the project.  Tap off the excess and repeat the burnishing process.
TIP:
I like to have two sheets of paper, folded in half and then opened up to form a valley in the middle.  One for each colour of glitter.
Once I finish with a glitter, I use the sheet of paper to return the excess glitter to its container.

I hope this card has inspired you and brightened your day.  You are currently visiting Stephanie Fischer.  Please hop through all of the people on the list below to see all of our projects.  You don't want to miss any!

Thank you for visiting.
'Til next time!
Stephanie


Product List - All available in my online store

Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper

$19.25

Christmas Traditions Punch Box

$78.00

Detailed Baubles Thinlits Dies

$54.00

Layering Ovals Framelits Dies

$58.00

Blizzard Thinlits Die

$49.00

Vegas Gold Shimmer Paint

$14.00

Gold 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Cord

$10.50

Real Red 3/8" (1 Cm) Mixed Satin Ribbon

$10.50

In The Woods Framelits Dies

$57.00

Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies

$45.25

Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock

$14.75

Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock

$14.75

Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz

$14.75

Gold Foil Sheets

$7.00