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Sunday, May 31, 2015

Stencil Color Wash Technique {PP247}

Happy Sunday everyone....sorry I am a little late with my card for The Paper Players.  Sometimes life just gets in the way of stampin', right?  We're wrapping up the school year here and there are TONS of activities and events going on!  Anyway, lovely Laurie is hosting a fun Tic-Tac-Toe challenge this week...check it out:
Oh the possibilities!  I used the far right column: sequins, flower, any shade of yellow.  When I thought about making this card I knew two things I wanted to do--try a stencil technique--Color Wash--(don't know the name of it so I made one up!) and use lots of white space. Laurie is the master of making colors pop by using lots of white space and I wanted to try to emulate her style with today's card:

I've been seeing this stencil technique all over blogland--even my Paper Player friend, Sandy used it too! I'm not sure how others do it--sprtizing or sponging--but I found sponging the color gave me the soft look I was going for.  I used the pretty fancy fan stencil from one of the retiring SU kits, Hooray It's Your Day.  I laid it over the Whisper White cardstock and taped the edges to my work surface with painter's tape (easily removable).  The idea with this technique is to provide a soft wash of color that fades at the edges so I swiped across the stencil with my Crushed Curry ink and then went back over the center a few times to darken the middle. Here's a closer look:

With all the white space, I really wanted to use pops of color so each of the other elements--flower, stems and sentiment--is a separate color.  Keeping it to three follows the design principle of three elements to maintain balance.  I used Calypso Coral for the flower, Cucumber Crush (new!) for the leaves and Soft Sky for the sentiment banner.  Oh, and another sneak peek is the Triple Banner Punch I used to quickly flag the end of the sentiment banner!  Yep, with the new catalog we will have a quick and easy way to snips those banners--and it makes three sizes!  

 Lastly, I want to show you a close-up of the stitching.  Stitching the edge adds just a little bit of detail and texture which really makes the center panel stand out from the base layer--even though they are the same color.  If sewing isn't your thing, you could achieve the same look with paper piercing , a border punch or doodling some faux stitches!
 

That's it for me today....since this is late I want to get it posted asap!  Please be sure to check out the rest of the lovely creations from my Paper Players teammates.  We hope you will join in the Tic-Tac-Toe fun before Laurie's challenge ends on Friday, June 5th at Noon (PST).  Thanks for stopping by!


The Paper Players Design Team
 Photobucket

14 comments:

marlene kiley said...

You did a bang-up job on this card. It turned out perfect! Love your technique and colors make this a gorgeous card. Great job.

Marisa said...

Gorgeous!!

laurie said...

What a pretty stenciled background! Perfect for that beautiful bloom. Gorgeous!

Andrea W said...

Lovely card! I love your stitched outline and choice of colors. Very pretty!

Karren said...

This is fabulous! The stitching really adds so much interest and I love your stenciling - a perfect background.

LeAnne said...

Look at you....you are just a technique maven with this card! Stenciling, new In Colors, stitching....you put us all to shame! I need to up my game, LOL! Anyway, you have captured Laurie's style perfectly! Beautiful card!

Debbie Mageed said...

Wonderfully bright colors for a beautiful card! Love the sponged background so much! I have attempted spritzing and think sponging is better in my opinion. I definitely don't sew but will try to do some paper piercing for a nice change. Thanks for the inspiration!

stampwithsandy said...

Absolutely stunning card, Nance! Love the stenciling (yes, great minds think alike), but it's that fabulous stitching that really makes this card stand out. I've never been brave enough to sew on a card. Maybe someday I'll pay you a visit and I can get a lesson!

Maria Rodriguez said...

Hello Nance: I just love this stunning card, particularly the sponged background, looks so soft yet it has a beautiful impact on your design.
The little stitched detail on the side really is awesome, I've never stitched on a card before but I'm always amazed at the way the cards look when you run your sewing machine on the panels.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Maria Rodriguez.

www.swimbikerunandstamp.blogspot.com

Claire Broadwater said...

Nance, I can't tell you what I love most about this beautiful card! I love the stenciling and I am so impressed with the sewing! I want to do that, but just don't seem to ever have the extra time to get out my machine! That big, gorgeous flower is fantastic! XXX

Unknown said...

I love your color wash...it's sooo pretty!And the flower and leaves set it off perfectly! Actually, this card is, well, perfect!! Love it!

Jaydee said...

Nance, I love the bold colors and the layering you achieved with the stencils and over-stamping. I also LOVE the stitching and how it changes. Fabulous card
hugs
jaydee

Nancy said...

Fabulous card Nance, love the gorgeous center-stage flower, but the sponging technique behind it is what makes it look so good.
I too like so many others never manage to do stitching on cards and I love the look especially your little eye-catcher of zig-zaging on the one side it draws your eye right to it.
lovely colors too.
Luv,
Mom

Joanne James - The Crafty Owl said...

Apologies for my late visit Nance - I am playing serious catch up today! This is such a great card and I love the stencilled background; I pinned Sandy's previous one too, as I so want to have a go at this - it's really effective. I love the stitched border too; it always seems such a hassle to get my machine out, but it really adds something to the finished look of the card. Just lovely! Hope Washington was fun!