Technique of the Week: Stencil Stamping

This post is in conjunction with Art 'n Soul's Newsletter article Technique of the Week, Stencil Stamping.

This is a great technique, and can be done with any stencil or template you may have.  I used some great Magenta templates TM53 Background Trio Templates and MC01 Blossoms Mask.

Magenta TM53 Background Trio Templates and MC01 Blossoms Mask

1.  First, apply color to white cardstock with any color of Distress Ink you like.  You can apply the inkpad direct to the paper, or use a blending tool to apply color.  For my project, I used the mini round blending tools and applied 2-3 colors of Distress ink to each card.

 You can see a tutorial on applying Distress Ink with the blending tool on my blog here.  

2.  Select a template or stencil and spritz it liberally with water.  I use water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder to add a beautiful sheen (a mixture of 2 oz water with 1/4 tsp of Perfect Pearls powder)  Perfect Pearls is a mica powder that has a binder that is activated with water.



3.  Once you spritz your stencil or template, lay it wet side down onto your cardstock that you have pre-prepared by applying Distress ink.  Have a paper towel handy.  Once you have placed the template onto the cardstock, press it down well with the paper towel.



4.  Lift up the stencil and you will immediately see the stencil image on your card.  Once it looks the way you want, dry it with a heat tool.

  Distress Ink is specially formulated to react with water, and that's why this technique is so perfect for this medium.  If you use the water mixed with Perfect Pearls, you also get a beautiful sheen in the areas that your stencil touched.


Working from light to dark, I used the following Distress inks:  green:  Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, and Mowed Lawn; blue: Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, and Faded Jeans; pink: Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, and Picked Raspberry.  

After preparing my panels, I made 3 birthday cards with them.  First I die cut the panels with a Memory Box die, Stitched Rectangle Layers 30009.  Using the next smaller rectangle, I also cut a piece of fun foam for the back of each panel. 

After cutting each panel, I have the added bonus of these frames I can use on another project!

For the matting layer, I took colored card stock in Lime Green So Silk, Beauty Pink So Silk, and Silver Stardream.  Fun fact is that if you stamp with dye based ink on these metallic and coated papers, your ink does not dry well, so that you can actually emboss with your dye ink.  Using Hero Arts background stamp S5507 Envelope pattern, I stamped onto the colored card stock using green: Mowed Lawn Distress; silver: Peacock Feathers Distress; and pink: Versamark.  This gave some texture to the matting layers.  

Using score tape, I matted the fun foam onto the panel, and then onto the matting layer.  This popped the panel up off the matting layer just a bit.  

For the sentiment, I used my favorite birthday stamp from Magenta, 07.907.L Multilingual Happy Birthday, and selectively inked just the first two sentiments with Black Onyx Versafine.  This was stamped onto a 1 1/2" strip of Vellum and affixed to the card by folding it around to the back and taping it down.  All was mounted onto a white base card.  Hero Arts mixed accents were sprinkled liberally onto each card.

Materials Used:

Magenta Templates

TM53 Background Trio Templates

MC01 Blossom Mask

Magenta Stamp

Multilingual Happy Birthday 07.907.L

Other Materials

Hero Arts Stamp S5507 Envelope Pattern

Memory Box Die 30009 Stitched Rectangles

Distress Ink:  Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Faded Jeans, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, and Picked Raspberry.

Black Onyx Versafine Ink

Versamark Ink

Perfect Pearls Pearl

Mini blending tool

Scor tape

So Silk Beauty Pink Paper

So Silk Lime Green Paper

Stardream Silver Paper

17# Vellum

Hero Arts Mixed Accents:  Blush, Foliage, and Pool