CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post for May #1

After being sick the past few weeks I'm finally back gardening and it feels great! I'm nearly 100% back to normal health and hopefully since this was my first time getting sick in around 4 years, it will be another 4 years until the germs find me again!!

One of the things that I did while sick was watch lots of crafting videos to keep me in the mood. One particular card maker is Yana Smakula. Apart from having an amazing accent, she also makes incredible cards and even shares her disasters too. I watched this one HERE where she shows you how to use a stencil in five different ways. This inspired the two cards I created for my first CAS-ual Fridays Stamp 'Girl Friday' post for this month:

For my first card I used white pigment ink on the stencil to create the pattern, which is something I've never tried before. 

I started by cutting a panel of navy CS slightly smaller than the card front. I adhered the 'Tin Roof Stencil' over top and used a mini-blending tool to spread Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink over the stencil. I removed it straight away and let it dry and then did the process again to help the ink to be brighter. Once it had dried I put it on the card front with a piece of black foam.

I die-cut the 'friend' from the 'Sweet Friend Fri-dies' 3x from white CS, glued them together with Gina K Connect Glue and then to the card front. The sentiment (from the 'Bushy Tailed' stamp set) was stamped in Hero Arts Shadow Ink 'Navy' on a strip of white CS and put on foam tape, along with some Neat and Tangled sequins.

For this card I tried dry embossing with a stencil for the first time and fell in love with the technique!!

 
Depending on how much pressure you add with your Cuttlebug etc, you can get all sorts of results!

I started by cutting a panel of white CS and putting it through my Cuttlebug with the same 'Tin Roof Stencil'. I then decided to keep the stencil in place and blended Waffle Flower 'New Fish in Pond' ink over-top, so the colour hits the high points. This panel was put on the card front with a piece of white foam.

I die-cut the same 'friend' die twice from white CS and once from turquoise CS, gluing them all together and to the card front. The sentiment (from 'Sassy Smiles') is only part of a sentiment stamp. I used washi tape to cover the rest of the words, pressed over the ink (the same I used on the stencil), removed the washi and stamped on a strip of white CS. This was put on foam tape along with Neat and Tangled sequins.

I really hope you like these cards and that maybe I've inspired you to try out these techniques. If your tempted to purchase any of the products I used today from the CFS Store, don't forget to use my special code to save yourself 15% of your total purchase!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you back here very soon with some more card ideas!!

Take care
Shona