Create a smile: One Stencil: Two Cards

Hello Crafters!

Can you believe we are only 3 days away from Christmas?! I'm not even done shopping. :/ I guess I better get moving huh? Hopefully, you all are a better prepared than I am!

Today I created two cards for you using the Nautical Stars Stencil.

I really wanted to show how versatile these stencils are. I decided to do two cards in the same layout, with the same stencil, but completely different looks.

For the elegant card I used repostionable adhesive to lay my stencil down on white cardstock. I "smooshed" my Versamark Ink pad over the top, removed the stencil, an heat set with silver embossing powder. The stark white wasn't really working for me so I added Evergreen Bough Distress Ink over the top of the embossing. I used the same distress ink to color the border strips and sentiment banner. The sentiment was heat set in white and some teal pearls finished the card off.

For the second card I used distress inks with my stencil to create the background. I think these stars are perfect for a fun birthday card background. The monster and balloons were colored with copics and fussy cut. I just drew in the strings once they were adhered to my card base.

You can use most ink colors, especially distress ink, to custom match your paper colors to your ink. If you decided to color your paper with distress ink make sure it's completely dry before attempting to heat emboss a sentiment. Distress ink stays wet longer and your embossing powder WILL stick to it. I always do a test before stamping my sentiment. Trust me, save yourself the frustration :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Before I go . . .