Masked Distress Blending - Creativity in the Time of Coronavirus

I have been having so much difficulty lately summoning my creativity and making cards. I am well aware how fortunate I am to be able to stay home and stay safe during this time. I have noticed though that the isolation has affected me in subtle ways. To help me get over this creative slump, I pulled out a pile of stencils, some of which I have never used, and started just brushing and blending Distress Ink onto panels taped to the stencils.  This card is one result.

This stencil is Rose Trio ssst121480 from Simon Says Stamp. It's the first time I have used it, and I was really happy with how easy it was to achieve beautiful results.

I have been seeing a technique on several blogs that I remember from the past: this is where you mask off a section of your panel to have room for your sentiment. This is a great way to make a beautiful one layer card. I masked off a 1" space using post-it tape.

I used 3 colors on this card, and I blended them using some new-to-me tiny brushes from iCraft. I have only found them available on Simon Says Stamp. They are like finger daubers, but instead of sponges, they are fine, dense brushes, like the larger ones I have been using.  They work super well, and so easy! I like that they don't get torn up by the sharp edges of stencils like regular finger daubers.

Here's my panel with the mask removed. I used Prismacolor pencils to darken a few places, but honestly, it needed very little touch-up. 

I added this sentiment from Magenta that I really like to send to someone who is ill or recovering from a health problem. I like it much better than a sentiment that orders them to "get well soon" as I'm very sure they are doing their best to do so already ;-) I stamped the sentiment in Gina K Amalgam Jet Black ink and matted the panel with black cardstock.

Here are some of the backgrounds I have been making with stencils and brushed Distress ink (regular Distress, not Oxides). You will be seeing these made into cards in future posts. Making these masked blends really helped boost me up. I enjoyed doing them so much. 

Made using Magenta stencils TM277 and TM278

Made using Magenta stencil TM187

Made using Carta Bella Plaid #1 Stencil CBCD58035

Products Used for Rose Card:

Simon Says Stamp Rose Trio Stencil ssst12121480

iCraft blending brushes

Magenta 07.973.G Sending you warm thoughts

Distress Inks: Abandoned Coral, 

Carved Pumpkin, Mowed Lawn

Prismacolor Pencils: Apple Green, White

Gina K Amalgam Jet Black ink

PTI True Black cardstock

Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock