Guest Designing for Ronda Palazzari

Hey everyone!  I'm so excited to be guest designing for Ronda Palazzari today!  She designs some of my very favorite The Crafter's Workshop stencils.

I have two techniques that I want to share today that will allow you to stretch your stencils.  First, creating your own patterned paper with stencils.



I used the 12" x 12" Spinning Tops stencil to create the patterned paper for this card.  This is the simplest stencil technique possible - inking with a blending tool, but with a twist.  After inking the design, I slid the stencil over slightly and inked again.  I repeated this twice (so three inked images) to create a continuous row of the tops.



Then I slid the stencil down so that it was halfway between two inked rows, changed ink colors, and repeated the process.  Here you can see what the paper looks like after the first inking of the second row.  Note there is no requirement for the images to be perfectly spaced, you will get a wonderful new pattern regardless of spacing.



I added a large sentiment from Neat & Tangled which was stamped in black, then overstamped with Versamark and clear embossed.

It's such an easy technique, I wanted to show you how versatile it can be, change up the colors for a totally different look and feel.





Finally, another technique that is frequently used in stamping, but you might not think to use it for stenciling, paper piecing.

For this card I used the 12" x 12" Picture Perfect stencil, choosing just one of the camera images.  Then I used an extra fine Sharpie marker to color in the outline of the camera, and fussy cut around the image.  This was repeated for each of the major elements.  Here's what the pieces look like all cut out and ready to be assembled:



You could adhere everything directly to create a flat piece, but I love adding some dimension to my projects, so I popped a couple of the layers up.  I wanted to add a little heart to the center of the camera lens, so I free hand cut a heart and added some faux stencil lines around it.



I wanted the focus to be on the camera, so I just layered a few papers, added some stitching and a few sequins and a sentiment, but the camera is definitely the star of this card.

Thanks so much to Ronda for having me again!  I hope you've been inspired to stretch your stencils a bit with these techniques!

Supplies Used
Card 1
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy cardstock; Avery Elle - White Cardstock; PTI - True Black Cardstock
Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - My Favorite
Ink:  Tsukineko - Versafine and Versamark; CTMH - Black; Distress Inks - Iced Spruce
Other:  TCW - Spinning Tops 12x12 Stencil; CTMH - Clear Embossing Powder; American Crafts - Glitter Tape; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; AC - This & That Foam Adhesive
Card 2
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy; Avery Elle - White Cardstock
Stamps:  Winne & Walter - The Big the Bold and the Happy
Ink:  Versafine Smokey Grey; Hero Arts - Soft Pink; Distress Ink - Iced Spruce
Other:  TCW - Spinning Tops 12x12 Stencil; Neat & Tangled - Clear Sequins; Misc Doily; Tombow - Mono and Mono Aqua Adhesive
Card 3
Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - White Cardstock; Fancy Pants - Wonderful Day 6x6 pad
Stamps:  Mama Elephant - Smitten
Ink:  Versafine
Other:  TCW - Picture Perfect 12x12 Stencil; Sharpie - Extra Fine marker; Neat & Tangled - Clear Sequins; Tombow - Mono, Aqua Mono, and Power Tabs