Hello There!

Thank you for stopping by today.  I have a fun technique on how to use Kat Scrappiness’s Layered Bokeh Hearts Stencils on top of a unique background.

Before I delve into the process, let me first show you the card I will be discussing below.  If you stay to the end, you will see the other two cards I created with the same technique yet each a little different.

To create this card, you will need the following items from Kat Scrappiness:

• Layered Bokeh Hearts Stencils
• Shimmer Paint – Iridescent White
• Pawsome Heart Craft Die
• Simple Sentiments Valentines Edition
• Universal Simple Sentiments Coordinating Die
• Kat’s Crafty Dabbers

You will also need the following products:

• Brayer
• Ink pads (lightest two shades of pink)
• White cardstock
• Pink Cardstock (light and medium shades)
• Black ink (or any color you choose) for the sentiment
• Palette Knife or some type of small scraper
• Liquid Adhesive or adhesive of your choosing

Now that all the supplies are gathered, let’s make the card!

Step 1 – Background Panel

I placed an 8 ½”  x 11” smooth sheet of white cardstock onto my work surface and grabbed two very light shades of pink ink pads.  (Note: You can use more than two but I had two that worked really well together without overpowering the panel, so I kept it to just the two.)  I then used a brayer to randomly roll ink onto the paper in different sections with one ink color, then did the same with the next color, leaving some little spots of white.

I repeated this step with the two inks until I liked how the paper turned out.  Next, I cut the paper into fourths so that I have four A2 sized card panels (4 ¼”  x 5 ½”) to work with.

Now that I have my card panels done, on to the stenciling!

Step 2 – Stenciling

I opted to use the same colored ink pads for the stenciling.  Using  Kat’s Crafty Dabbers, I inked the first layer with the lightest of the two shades and then used the other ink pad to stencil the second layer of the stencil.

For the third stencil layer which is the one with the smaller hearts, I used a small palette knife to spread the Shimmer Paint in Iridescent White onto the stencil and insured that I had an even layer all over the hearts.  (Note: As long as I didn’t pick up any ink on the excess shimmer paint, I scraped the excess back into the bottle.)

I then carefully removed the stencil and set the panel aside to dry.  As it was drying, I cleaned off the palette knife and the stencil with some soap and water.

Step 3 – Foreground – Pawsome Heart Craft Die

I die cut the Pawsome Heart Craft Die in two shades of pink cardstock and twice more using white cardstock.  I glued the white die cut pieces together and then glued the lighter die cut on top.  I snipped the paw from the darker shade and glued that on top of the other paw die cut.

Step 4 – Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used the “Be My Valentine” sentiment from Simple Sentiments Valentines Edition stamp set.  (Note:  the Simple Sentiments Stamp collection are stamps that have multiple sentiments on one big stamp.  The Universal Coordinating Die die cuts all of the sentiments at once.  I keep the extra die cut sentiments in a small container so that I have them ready to go for my next project.  They are great stamps to have in your collection!)

Step 5 – Card Assembly

I used liquid glue to adhere the Pawsome Heart Craft Die to the center of the card panel.  I also used liquid glue to adhere the sentiment overlapping the paw print and the heart to finish off the panel.  (You can add embellishments or leave as is since the Shimmer Paint adds such great shimmer and texture to the panel. I chose to leave it as is.)

And that completes the card panel!  Now I just have to adhere this to an A2 sized card base.  Here is the final card again using all three stencils.

Card #2 – Hugs and Kisses

Additional product:

• Stitched Uppercase Alphabet Craft Dies

I ink splattered the panel using some light red ink from a re-inker for my ink pads before stenciling.  (Note: If you don’t have re-inkers, you can smoosh the ink pad onto a work surface, add some water, then use your paint brush to pick up the ink for the splattering part).

For this card, I only used the third stencil (the smaller hearts).  First, I stenciled it with a pretty pink ink, cleaned the stencil, lined up the stencil again, then applied the Shimmer Paint in Iridescent White.

I die cut the “XOXO” in two shades of pink cardstock, and white cardstock to add dimension.  The “Hugs and Kisses” is also from the Simple Sentiments Valentines Edition and die cut using Universal Simple Sentiments Coordinating Die.

Card #3 -Happy Valentine’s Day

Additional Product:

• Happy Valentine’s Day Shadow Sentiment Craft Die

For this card, I used only two of the three stencils.  I ink blended a medium pink ink and a darker pink ink using Kat’s Crafty Dabbers using the stencil with the medium sized hearts.  The third stencil layer, the smaller hearts stencil, I applied the Shimmer Paint in Iridescent White.

Final notes:

The Shimmer Paint in Iridescent White dries quickly depending on how much you put on.  It creates such sparkle and texture onto your project and the shimmer also doesn’t rub off!

I preferred using Kat’s Crafty Dabbers instead of a blending brush for stenciling on these cards as it gave the hearts a soft, powdery look with no harsh lines or edges.

Although the brayer technique on the background panels are subtle, it adds a bit of interest by adding shades of color across the panel instead of a stark white background or trying to find the right shade of color cardstock.

Here is a look of all three cards together:

Do you have a favorite card out of the three?  Have to tried this brayer technique or used the Shimmer Paint?  Leave a comment, we would love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you again for stopping by and don’t forget to check out What’s New at Kat Scrappiness for even more crafty inspiration!

Happy Crafting!

Crafty Bo

Hello, my crafty friends!

Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to add a little extra sparkle and magic to our crafting, so today I’m sharing a super fun shaker card inspired by everyone’s favorite mouse! This card features a Mickey-shaped shaker filled with fun shaker bits and a background full of hearts—because you can never have too much love (or glitter!) this time of year.

Shaker cards can be done in different ways depending on the look or style you are aiming for.  Today, I’m show you how to make the shaker be on top of the card instead of behind the card panel.

For this card you will need the following products from Kat Scrappiness:

• Magical Heart Shaker Craft Die
• Love Blooms Layered 6”x6” Stencil
• Love You Shadow Sentiment Craft Die
• Heart Sprinkles
• 3mm Mirrored Clear Hallow Hearts
• Kat’s Crafty Dabbers

In addition to the above, you will also need:

• Ink pads: red (light and dark), green (light and dark)
• Red glitter cardstock
• Black cardstock
• White cardstock
• Acetate or old clear packaging
• Double sided foam adhesive and double sided tape
• Liquid adhesive

Step 1:  Stenciled Background Panel

I trimmed down a piece of white cardstock to 6” x 6” and lined up the branches/leaves stencil layer of the Love Blooms Layered 6”x6” Stencil and taped them onto my work surface to eliminate any shifting.

Using one of Kat’s Crafty Dabbers, I began inking up the stencil with the light green color first over the entire stencil.  I then began adding the darker green ink in a few areas of the branches/leaves which adds color variation and shading.  Once I was satisfied with the inking, I removed the stencil and set it aside to start the next layer.

The second layer is done similar to the first layer.  I lined up the second stencil which is the hearts layer, first making sure that the hearts lined up with their branches before taping that down to the worksurface as well.  I repeated the same process as I did with the green ink by starting with a new dabber and the light red ink, followed by the darker red ink until I liked the depth of variation.

Tip:  I used the same dabber for the light green and dark green since they are in the same color family.  I did the same for the red inks as well.  Or, you can keep one dabber for light green, one dabber for dark green, one dabber for light red and one dabber for dark red.  When I go to use each of them for my next project, I would just lightly scrub the dabber onto a towel to remove some of the previous color.

This is what the panel looks like after removing the stencil.  I set that aside to let the ink dry and moved onto the other steps.

Step 2:  The Magical Shaker

Using the Magical Heart Shaker Craft Die, I die cut the top die which is the mouse heart shaped die twice: once with black cardstock and once with red glitter cardstock.  Since I only need one part from each, I saved the extra for a later use.  For the back die which is the open heart craft die, I die cut it with white cardstock and again with the clear plastic packaging that I had saved from previous purchases but you can use acetate instead.

Tip:  To get a good cut using acetate or the clear plastic packaging, use a scrap paper of cardstock on top of the plastic packing/acetate before running them through your die cut machine.  Depending on which machine you are using, you may have to play around with sandwiches or different shims.

To adhere the clear plastic to the back of the red glitter die cut, I used double sided tape but you can use liquid adhesive here as well.  You would just need to let the glue dry for a bit before proceeding.  I added the double sided tape around the edges on the back of the red glitter die cut, removed the backing, and lined up the clear packaging heart die cut.  I used my bone folder to press the two together to make sure they were secured.

Next, I added some double sided foam adhesive around the edges onto the back of the clear packaging.  Tip:  If you prefer not to use double sided foam adhesive, you can die cut the mouse heart die several times with cardstock to get the desired thickness, apply glue on each of them and stack them together.  The goal is to make it thick enough so that the shaker bits can move easily around when shaken.

Before removing the backing of the foam strips, I added my shaker bits into the center.  Once I had enough shaker bits, I removed the backing and added some liquid adhesive onto the foam strips.  I then added the solid white heart onto the foam tape.  I laid a paperweight onto it so the glue can dry completely before I start shaking it so the shaker bits won’t stick to the sides.  Tip:  By adding the additional liquid adhesive, this gives me some wiggle room when I add the white heart to the foam so I can make sure it is aligned.

Step 3:  The Sentiment

I die cut the shadow layer of the Love You Shadow Sentiment Craft Die with white cardstock and the words with black cardstock.  I opted to only die cut the words once but you can die cut them a couple more times if you want more dimension.

Step 4:  The Red Glitter Panel

I cut a piece of red glitter cardstock to 4 ¼” by 5 ½” inches.  Tip:  To save on the red glitter cardstock, I used a smaller rectangle die to die cut the center.  Since no one will see this as it will be covered by the beautiful stenciled layer, I now have a piece of glitter cardstock to use for a later use.

Now that I have everything ready to go, I can now assemble the card.

Step 5:  Assembling the Card

I first trimmed off the excess edges of the stenciled panel that the stencils didn’t cover.  I then trimmed this down to 4” x 5 ¼” which is slightly smaller than the red glitter panel.  Tip:  For some added sparkle to this panel, you can apply a little clear aqua glitter brush or a glitter gel pen onto the little hearts.  It’s a subtle addition, but it adds a little more interest to this card panel.

I then adhered this stencil panel onto the glitter cardstock using liquid adhesive.  I laid a heavy paperweight onto that so the glue can dry completely.

Next, I glued the black die cut letters onto the white shadow die cut, put paperweight on that as well and set it aside to dry.

Now that the stencil and glitter cardstock had some time to dry, I laid the magical shaker piece onto the card and moved it around until I liked the position.  Once I liked the position, I added some liquid adhesive onto the back of that and laid a paperweight onto that so it presses down and adhere together.

For the black mouse die cut, I grabbed some foam tape since I will need that to prop up one side so it’s level with the shaker piece.  I moved the mouse die cut around the shaker until I saw where I wanted to place it.  I noted where I only needed the foam tape and added that to the back.  I removed the backing of the foam tape and added some liquid glue to the other area that will be glued to the shaker piece.  I then adhered that to the panel.

For the sentiment, I repeated the same steps, adding the foam tape and liquid adhesive and adding it to the top of the shaker piece.

And that completed my card panel.  Finally, I adhered the completed card panel onto a top folding white cardbase.

This card was super cute and fun to put together!  I hope you like this project and products. Do you know of someone that loves this little Mouse and would absolutely be thrilled to receive this special card?

I hope you have a wonderful Happy Valentine’s Day and stay tuned for some more inspiration using Kat Scrappiness products!

Also, don’t forget to check out What’s NEW at Kat Scrappiness for even more crafty amazingness!

Crafty Bo