I’m back today with a card featuring some soon-to-be-released stamps from the “Birthday Wishes” set by Pink & Main as well as some tips for creating your own stencils with your Silhouette. There are a ton of different birthday sentiments to choose from in this stamp set and I chose quite a few when making this card!
Apologies for the overexposed picture here…it is exceptionally difficult to photograph transparencies, but I wanted to show you details! (That is my sometimes over-the-top collection of Martha Stewart craft paints you see reflected there. 🙂 ) I liked to use overhead projector sheets for my stencils…they cut beautifully in my CAMEO, are fairly inexpensive, and are just sturdy enough to use several times before having to toss them. You can still find these sheets at office supply stores – here is a link to a case of 50 that is similar to what I use.
I cut my stencils using the standard settings for “Clear Sticker Paper” in the Silhouette Studio software. The thickness and density of your transparencies may differ, but this is a good place to start and you can adjust your blade setting or speed from here if needed. After cutting three different balloon shapes (#73903, #78308, and #78310 in the Design Store), I saved the “masks” so that I could easily trace them to plan where each of my images would go on my card.
I wanted to use the emboss resist technique to create sentiment-covered and confetti-filled balloons. Once my outlines had been quickly sketched out, I stamped the images in Versamark ink onto some 110# Neenah Solar White cardstock and heat-embossed them using white embossing powder.
The balloons were created by blending a rainbow of Distress Inks over my stencil (Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass, and Mermaid Lagoon). I used two colors for each balloon (a light and a dark) to create a shaded effect and add some dimension. I also overlapped them a bit to give the balloons a hint of translucency.
After adding some balloon strings with a gold gel pen, gold glitter enamel bows from My Mind’s Eye, and a final sentiment from the “Birthday Wishes” set by Pink & Main stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink, I popped the whole panel up over some gold-foiled kraft cardstock from Bazzill.
I hoped you enjoyed this project and I would love to hear your questions or comments below…thanks so much for stopping by!