Mr Cardmaker is Very Impressed by Picket Fence Studios

Well, this is the last of the projects I have to share for my guest designer spot for Picket Fence Studios. I had a terrific time, and I thank PFS for having my along for this August 2020 release.

They have a new stencil, y'all! It's the Evergreen Stencil, part of this month's release, and it's this sweet, delicate tree line. I was so sure I'd end up manhandling it and balling it all up, but I didn't do that at all! It's very sturdy for its delicacy, and I had lots of fun with it.

I made this--

So, I really love the technique of using a stencil as an embossing tool. It's so easy to get fantastic impressions by running through your diecutting machine with an embossing mat.

Now, this stencil is just four trees, and I knew running a previously embossed panel BACK through your machine lessens the impression, so I had to do a bit of planning to get a foreground and background effect.

What I figured out was to run my background trees through first--that meant placing my stencil at a higher point on my panel and running it through my machine, then shifting t a bit further down, running that through, until I got to where I wanted my foreground trees. Those last ones had the strongest impression, and gave the distinct idea of being a foreground.

Next, I ever-so-gently went over my impressions with a bit of green ink, making sure to aim only for the raised areas on my panel. That done, I went BACK (brave? cocky? stupid? You decide...) in the same way with Versamark ink, and sprinkled the surface with some holographic embossing powder.

I held my breath, and heated it up. I could NOT be happier with the results. The foreground actually looks like a foreground, and the background...well, you get it.

I inked the edges of my panel for a bit of depth. I DO NOT recommend using your best blender brush for this. I had glitter in that thing for days! The things we do for our art...

I heat embossed a gold sentiment from the Good Vibes stamp set (previously released) onto a strip of vellum and wrapped it around my panel. I added some clear sequins, and some glittery Nuvo drops, and this card was finished. I love it!

But there's just one more!

I made this--

The delicacy of this stencil kinda had me a bit intimidated, I have to be honest. I was a bit afraid to use it, because I thought I'd move it and ruin everything.

Well, I was wrong. All I needed was a bit of repositionable spray adhesive. Lots of people are using Pixie Spray these days, but I have a can of something I bought when I was stenciling a wall a while back, and so I am using that until it's gone. It seems to do the job!

Anyway, with rainbows being such a big thing these days, I decided a Christmas rainbow was in order.

I was really happy to see how easily my Distress Oxides blended onto my slimline panel, and my stencil held on like a champ, and came off again clean as a whistle!

I offset the stencil to one side and another as I moved down the panel and changed colors, and I was pleased with the results.

To emphasize the Christmas feel of the card, I replaced the stencil over the green area of my panel (so easy to do) and added a much darker green ink than I started with. I liked it, but it was the addition of red and gold Nuvo drops that really brought the Christmassy feel home for me. 

I gold heat embossed another sentiment from Good Vibes on a pink strip of cardstock, chopped it up, and then backed each piece with a scrap of vellum. I felt that the vellum really visually elevated the little pieces. Those were all foam mounted onto my panel, and were joined by a spray of clear sequins. Christmas is never too shiny!

So, that's it for me! Again, thanks to Picket Fence Studios for the opportunity to experience this collection of beautiful stamps and stencil, and for asking me to share with you how much I enjoyed working with them!  Everything is available now at the website, so stop by.

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your valuable time with me!

All Best-

Richard