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