Stenciled Flowers Birthday Card

I love Distress Ink. It is a great ink to blend and shade. I thought I would make a card with lots of colorful flowers using the ink and stencils made with flower dies. I didn't want to be too picky with the masking, which can take up a lot of time; I wanted to keep the flowers moving along both in time (i.e. shorter time to make the card) and in presentation. I'll probably use this technique again when I have a larger chunk of time to allow for a more planned arrangement, so some flowers will be purposely in front and others in back.

Making the Card

1. Cut card base from white cardstock, 4 1/4 inches by 11 inches and fold in half.

2. Mask beyond the fold (back of card) with Post-It Tape or other masking material.

3. Create flower masks: cut various masks using the flower dies listed in the Supplies list from Post-It Tape or other masking material. Keep both the positive masks (the flowers) and the negative masks (the outlines of the flowers).

4. Starting from the left and moving right across the card as shown: mask an area with a negative mask, use the blending tool and ink to fill in the mask working from the outside to the inside of the flower. Remove mask to reveal flower. To create the 2nd layer, use another negative mask, offset it from the first, choose a coordinating color and ink it. Hint: use paper or more masking material to cover the rest of the card to prevent mishaps.

5. Put the matching positive masks over the already inked layers and repeat the process until the flowers go all the way across the card.

6. Adhere enamel dots to the flower centers.

7. Cut Happy Birthday sentiment out of red cardstock. Cut a banner out of pink vellum. Adhere enamel dots and sentiment to banner as shown. Adhere to card using dimensional tape hidden behind dots and letters.

Also posted on the Elizabeth Craft Designs Blog (along with another photo).

Supplies

Elizabeth Craft Designs

728 Bunch of Flowers 1 Dies
729 Bunch of Flowers 2 Dies
701 Flower Set 1 Dies
725 Flower Set 3 Dies
717 Happy Birthday Die

Other Supplies

White Cardstock, Red Cardstock
Post-It Tape or other masking material
Pink Vellum
Distress Ink, various bright colors
Ink Blending Tool and Foam
Enamel Dots
Dimensional Tape