It's the 1st of July which means we're half way through the year and nearer the end rather than the beginning - that means it's only downhill to Thanksgiving, Harvest Festival, Halloween, Bonfire Night (UK) then....... Christmas! Yay!!!!! So, do you think you know what I'm leading up to here.... you'd be wrong! Sorry, no Christmas theme for this month, it's Sue C's turn to choose the theme and she has chosen something you can all join in with.......
'STENCIL IT!'
Yep.... from Passe partout and parchment craft, from rustic painting to urban chic, from card making to altered art, from oil pastels to texture paste, there are hundreds of opportunities for you to get out your stencils (and masks if you're using it as a stencil) and different media to join in!
Our rules are simple but we do insist you abide by them if you want to be in with a chance of winning our fabulous £20 shop voucher donated by our sponsor Country View Crafts. Our winner is chosen at random (random.org) which means everyone has a chance of winning so whether you are a stalwart crafter or just starting out, YOU could be the lucky winner at the end of the month! As well as the voucher, we also award blog badges to the three entries that we think are the best and a special badge, the DT Member's Special Mention, to the entry we think has shown the greatest originality and creativity for our challenge theme. All of our winners are also invited to join us the following month as a guest designer.
So, are you ready? We hope you are because HERE WE GO!
First up is our May winner, Karen B...
"My name is Karen Brierley, and I live in Queensland, Australia. I've been scrapbooking for over 8 years. In the past I have been very fortunate to design for several online Australian scrapbook stores, as well as a number of international challenge blogs. A few years ago I took a sudden and unexpected break from scrapping, and have only just started up again. As a result, I have a huge stash of products that have been untouched for almost 2 years, so you won't see much of the 'latest stuff' on my layouts. I make the most of what I have, and I'm happy with that.
I mostly scrap traditional layouts. My scrapping style is fairly eclectic, but most of my layouts are strong on colour, light on embellishments, with lots of machine stitching and/or doodled borders. I am intrigued by mixed media projects and have been slowly trying out techniques to gain confidence and push my boundaries. I devour tips, tricks and tutorials!
Thank you so much for welcoming me as a guest designer. I'd love you to visit my blog: beingkaren.blogspot.com"
"For this layout, I used a 6x6 Scrap FX stencil to apply texture paste to the base cardstock. When it was dry, I painted over the top with Twinkling H2O's water colour - which was really fun! Not only did I get an unexpected resist effect, but it also has a lovely shine."
"It's no secret, I love stencils ! There's so much you can do with them, they are my number one go to for all of my projects. For my first project I decided to alter the cover of a Finnabair journal. Lots of stencilling, embossing paste and also dabbling with Portfolio pastels."
"Well for my first piece I have made an Artist trading Block with a little stencilled quote book inside. I have played with my Tim Holtz layering stencils using distress paint and lots of yummy distress inks to create this stencilled book and also stencilled box creating lots of stencilled layers. For all the details please see my blog."
"I love using stencils for all sorts of projects. For this one I decided to make a card and envelope set with Dylusion Sprays, Inks and Grunge paste. I used mostly Tim Holtz layering Stencils. Please visit my blog for a full step by step."
"No project from me today, but a masterboard with a stenciling technique using Fresco Finish paints, Grunge Paste and Distress Stains. The process is very simple and great fun, you can make large pieces and then chop them up to use for other things. I have made several of these on greyboard ready to use for journal/notelet covers. I am showing the technique over on my blog."
"Gesso, Treasure Gold and a stencil (a mask actually) form the basis of this star struck tag. You can find the step x step on my blog."
"I've used a couple of different stencils with distress inks along with a stamp from one of my favourite stamp sets. Full details on my blog. Donna xx"
I have used Fresco Paints, stencils and JOFY stamps for this card, I do use stencils to make a lot of my backgrounds now,they are so useful.You can get full details from my blog."
Gabrielle of crafty thoughts
"I love stencils, they are so versatile! For my first piece this month I have made a hanging using two stencils. I love watching my garden come to life as the warmer weather hits my corner of the UK and that was the inspiration for this hanging. The flower and leaves are Grunge Paste so the whole piece has some lovely texture. For a more detailed description and a few step by step photos, pop over and see my blog! Gabrielle x"
"Here I have shown how, when you use just one stencil and two colours with the Gelli plate, there can be interesting results, if you don't have a Gelli plate no worries, hop across to my blog and I can give you some tips how to obtain a similar result."
We hope you like our line up for this challenge. To add to your motivation and, hopefully, your inspiration, we will be posting a new make by one of our DTMs and guests every other day throughout July for you to come and look at!
We want to see what YOU can do so go get those stencils and show us how creatively you can use them - GOOD LUCK!
Chris and the team xxx
