Stencil it in!

Corrie Herriman is our hostess this week at Stampotique Designers Challenge Blog. Her challenge is "Use Stencils". Here's what she had to say about this challenge.

"Hello and happy Wednesday. I love using stencils. They add another layer to your backgrounds and lots of interest too. Use them with paint, ink, model paste or even gesso. Show me what you do with stencils.. Have fun."

If you'd like the chance to win your choice of $30 worth of Stampotique stamps, you should play along with this challenge. Visit Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and be sure to read the rules so that you'll have the chance to win that great prize!!

Here's my project with Stampotique's Skull Balloons (Arwen McCullen) and Comfort Zone (France Papillon).

I should mention that this challenge was not a challenging challenge for me as I love stencils and use them often. I used three on this piece and thought about using more!

Skull Balloons was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko) onto Neenah cardstock and onto Eclipse Tape (Judikins). The Eclipse Tape version was fussy-cut and adhered over its counterpart to mask the Skull Balloons. Summer Sky Memento ink (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko) was sponged over a Clouds stencil (Fairy Tale Creations) that I've had forever and a day. I kept moving the stencil down and sponging the blue ink over the stencil until the sky was filled with clouds. After I was done, I wanted to add a pink tinge to the clouds, so Spun Sugar Distress ink (Ranger) was sponged lightly sponged over the cloudy sky.

The mask was lifted and set aside for another day. Skull Balloons was colored with Copic markers. White gel pen (Sakura) was used to add highlights to the Skull Balloons and Black Gelly Glaze pen was used to trace the Skull Balloons' strings to make them stand out a bit more. This panel was set aside while I worked on the rest of the project.

I must admit that this project started out completely differently than I had initially planned. I wanted to use my newish Dylusions stencils. Specifically, I wanted to use the large keyhole from the Shapes 2 Dylusions stencil, the Keyholes Dylusions stencil (didn't get used in this piece), and the Skulls Dylusions stencil. My original idea didn't work, so I did something different.

Two sheets of 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock were painted with the combination of  Media Fluid Acrylic (MFA) paints (DecoArt) that I use to create an aged gold (Carbon Black, Metallic Gold, and Quinacridone Gold MFA paints). The large keyhole from the Shapes 2 Dylusions stencil was traced onto one of the two sheets and  fussy-cut.  This panel (with the keyhole) was run through my Big Kick (Sizzix) and die-cut with one of the dies from the Labels Twenty-Five Nestabilities set (Spellbinders). The edges were sponged with Jet Black StazOn ink (Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko). The Skulls Dylusions stencil was placed over the die-cut and a mixture of Metallic Gold and Interference Gold MFA paints was sponged over the stencil. This piece was set aside for a bit.

The second sheet of aged gold painted cardstock was cut slightly larger than the die-cut, edged with Jet Black StazOn ink, and then Paynes Grey MFA paint was added to my usual aged gold mixture and sponged over the Flourish stencil (Prima Marketing).

The idea of using the keyhole stencil was to create a keyhole in an escutcheon and have a scene visible behind it. So, my next step was to lay the keyholed Skulls-stenciled die-cut atop the Flourish-stenciled rectangle, mark the edges of the keyhole, and cut a hole in the rectangle. The keyholed Skulls-stenciled die-cut was adhered to the rectangle, then dimensional foam tape (3M) was added to reverse of this layered piece. The Skull Balloons-in-the-sky scene was positioned to be visible in the keyhole, then adhered. Tiny black brads were added to the shaped piece and brass domed embellishments were added to the rectangle. The whole thing was then matted with black cardstock.

The Comfort Zone sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of the aged gold painted cardstock with Jet Black StazOn ink.  This was die-cut with a die from a Spellbinders die set (can't recall the name of it), edged with Jet Black StazOn ink, then matted with a piece of matte black cardstock that had been die-cut with the next largest die from that same unnamed set. Black metallic cardstock (Recollections) was die-cut with the flourish from that same set. The sentiment piece was added to the keyhole escutcheon.

A sheet of 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock was painted with Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Transparent Red Oxide, and Carbon Black MFA paints. When the paint dried, the piece was sponged with Media Matte Medium (DecoArt). When that dried, Clear Crackle Glaze (DecoArt) was brushed over the piece and allowed to dry for several hours. Carbon Black Media Antiquing Cream (DecoArt) was sponged over the surface to make the cracks more visible. When I achieved the look I wanted, Media Soft-Touch Varnish was brushed over the piece to seal it. This piece was edged with Jet Black StazOn ink, then matted with black cardstock. The escutcheon was added to the right side (to look doorlike) and I called it done.

If you read this whole thing, kudos to you!

I shall enter this piece into the following challenges.
• We Love To Create Challenges: Anything Goes
• Crafty Cardmakers Challenges: Make Your Own Background 
• Perfectly Rustic Challenges: Use Three of Something - (I've got three layers of gold and three balloons.)
• Haunted Design House Challenges: May We Have a Quick Word?