November Joy Clair Challenge: Stencil It!

Hey there stampers!  Today I'm joining my fellow Joy Clair team members in kicking off the November Challenge on the blog with a fun stenciling challenge.  STENCIL IT!  We welcome you to play along and encourage you to post your creation in our inlinkz for your chance at a $25.00 gift certificate to Joy Clair!!!  Come on, Join the fun!

I totally intended on making this card a FALL card but...it just didn't want to be a fall card.  I think it wanted so much to be a snowy scene...so I just followed along for the ride.  

To create my "starlight scene", I made my own stencil using some punches and a piece of cardstock.  I originally started stenciling with the dauber but found that too annoying so I just inked up my finger and dabbed onto the stars and dots.  It worked much better!

Those itty bitty dots didn't stencil as well as I thought they would and just became some pin prick colors.  I think these dots would have worked a bit better in gold on dark cardstock but oh, well...I just had to keep applying the dots so it would look like I meant to have them all there.  HA HA.  

After doing the stenciling (notice my blue finger dabbed in yellow made an oopsie green star),  I started coloring one of the trees from the Happy Camper set.  I colored/painted it with a combination of Tombow #296, and Memento Cottage Ivy (with water) and Rich Cocoa (with water).  I colored the other two tree trunks and gave a little shadow with the Tombow N95.  I then cut out this tree and the other two trees so that I could figure out a nice arrangement on the card.  

 I figured out a nice arrangement, tied some twine, machine stitched some meandering lines, added some pop dots, laid the trees down, then searched for the perfect sentiment...I found it in the Salt and Light set.  Inked it up with Memento Black and stamped her on.

The stamped image was then splattered with some sparkle silk and pop dots were added to make her float on the card base.  FINITO BANDITO!  Love it!

I hope you enjoyed this creation and remember, if you don't have stencils, make your own!  Easy, peasy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Be A Happy Camper!

Hello there inky friends!  I'm here today to share an adorable little scrapbook page I created using some of the newest Joy Clair clear stamp sets available THIS MONTH.  Check them all out in the Joy Clair store!

Here's a little framed 8x8 layout I created featuring the new "Happy Camper" and the Aztec Background clear sets from Joy Clair.  It also has a little peek at the the Butterfly Kisses set.  I had so much fun coloring the images and just had to feature them on a fun layout.  I'll have to hunt through my old camping photos of family to see if I can find the perfect black and white photo to insert into this page. For now, the page is "pictureless"...

Let's take a journey through my process in making this page, shall we?

I first stamped the evergreens, the fire and the fun camper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  After that, I colored each image with Copic markers.  To add a bit of age and to "country-fy" the piece, I rubbed a bit of Pan Pastel (Pan Pastel Burnt Sienna) over each image.  Not only did this help tone down the brightness of the images, it allowed the images to become a bit more aged and fit more perfectly with my theme.  

I painted a bit of Metallic Silver Liquitex ink onto the wings and metal on the camper.  After that was done, I cut the images out and applied some foam squares then set them aside so that I could continue to work on the layout.  

Notice that shiny metallic look??? LOVE IT!

I stamped the Aztec Background stamp onto the cream cardstock using clear embossing ink then rubbed my pan pastel over that.  This allowed the pastel to grab onto the ink and leave a light dusting on the non-inked portion.  I also stamped a few tiny butterflies from the Butterfly Kisses stamp set onto the camper.  I thought it added a bit more whimsy to that fun camper color scheme.

I stamped the whimsical Happy Camper sentiment onto kraft cardstock, cut it in a banner format, stitched it onto the page with my sewing machine then added a bit of twine to finish the project off. Almost all of my work includes some form of fibers, so I thought it only appropriate to add some jute and a wooden button!  

I hope you enjoyed this peek at my newest layout.  This set AND the adorable coordinating set Wild and Free, are perfect for cute little camping related layouts, fun cards and invites!