You & Me

(front of card with pop up doors closed)

I don't know about you, but I love trying new techniques to see whether or not I like them.  This is the first time I have ever tried stenciling and embossing paste and I had so much fun with it.  I didn't want to stop.  Putting on the embossing paste is just like icing a cake.  Who knew that 12 1/2 years of being a cake decorating instructor would come in handy when trying to make a card?  It's so easy.

For the front of the card, I stenciled the heart with the basic embossing paste and then fussy cut around the edges.  Next I decided I wanted to add color, so I got out my alcohol inks and went to town.  I liked it, but thought it needed more - so out came some Creative Inspirations paint (Pink Highlights) to give it a bit of sparkle.  Even after all this, the image kept "telling" me to cut out the negative spaces (I had been ignoring this through all the other experimenting).  Finally, that's what I did and loved the results.

(Front of card with pop up doors opened)

(inside of card)

While playing around, I also stenciled and embossed the You and Me multiple times onto red vellum and was going to make a background sheet.  I also added a touch of Metallic FX to the wording by dipping my stipple brush into the powder and using a circular motion to apply.

While deciding how to put together the card, I came across my Lifestyle Crafts pop up door die and knew I wanted to incorporate this too.  After maneuvering the pieces all around, I decided to cut the center out of the inside of the pop up door, place the vellum behind this so it would hint at the image on the inside, which is a rubber stamp from Inkadinkado and is cut out with Spellbinder's eyelet square.  I also painted the ribbon with the Creative Inspirations paint to coordinate with the heart and add some bling to the inside of the card.  I think I might give this to my husband for Valentine's Day, although it would be a good anniversary card too.

If you haven't tried stenciling and embossing paste, you definitely should.  The only negative I saw was that you have to be patient and let it dry. :-).  I think normal drying time is about an hour, but life happened and my experimenting sat on my desk for several weeks.  (At least I knew it was completely dry.)  This is definitely something I want to do more of, so expect to see it again soon.  Next time, I want to try metal leafing or glitter or inks....

I'm entering this card in the following challenges: Dreamweavers (Valentines), Crafty Creations (Valentines), and The Artistic Stamper (vintage).