Stencils are probably one of the hottest trends in paper crafting right now. They are so versatile and work with many different mediums like ink pads, paints, ink sprays, pastes, air brushing, markers, glitter adhesive and much more plus they can be used on a variety of surfaces not just paper but canvas, cork, wood, glass and fabric.
I recently go a chance to try out some of the new stencils from My Favorite Things. They currently have over 50 different stencil designs with many wonderful background patterns as well as stand alone images like butterflies and flowers with styles that range from simple to elegant to traditional to trendy. Each stencil measures 6″x6″ so they are large enough to cover an entire card front or a small scrapbook page or canvas. They are semitransparent plastic so you can see through if you need to line them up and they wipe and wash off easily. And a helpful tip: use repositionable tape to temporarily hold your stencils onto your surface, washi tape works well for this too.
For my first card (shown above) I made a Thanksgiving card using the Petal Circles stencil for my background. I used a sponge dauber and three colors of ink pads to sponge a light yellow, darker yellow and then green gradually down my cardstock . Then I added a cute Pure Innocence stamp from My Favorite Things and at her feet I put some leaves made from the Wild Flowers stencils that I sponged with ink and then drew “veins” on the leaves and cut out.
For my next card I used the Mini Chicken Wire stencil but instead of using it as wire I used it for a honeycomb for a bee card. I laid the stencil on yellow cardstock and once again used a sponge dauber and ink pads in different yellows and browns to sponge on the color. So this stencil does double duty, at Easter it will make a cute card background for chicks!
For this card I used the Cloudy Day stencil and on blue cardstock using a palette knife I applied a clear paste and while still wet sprinkled glitter on top and let dry. On white cardstock I used yellow and orange ink sprays over top of two of the butterfly images from the Winged Beauties stencil, cut them out and then adhered them to my card, adding some wire for antennae.
Lastly I used the Wild Flower stencil again, this time inking it over top of pattern paper in navy for a pretty silhouette look. This is a fast and easy technique when you need a quick card.
I hope you enjoyed checking out my projects using stencils from My Favorite Things, click here to see their entire line of stencils. And if you’re looking for more inspiration and project ideas check out there blog here.
-Heather
