4 Cards/1 Stencil

I few months back I watched a YouTube tutorial featuring the Radiating Rays stencil by MY Favorite Things. I ordered the stencil almost immediately… then never used it. Crazy, right? Ha! I’m sure there’s fellow crafters out there who understand how this happened. I finally decided It was time to get it out. Wow! It’s so fun and easy to use. I made 5 backgrounds in under an hour, cleaning the stencil in between each background. Of course I used my favorite inks- Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, and blended on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper.

My first step was the initial setup. I used painters tape to adhere the paper and stencil to my craft mat. I picked out fun colors, and started blending. I did a couple rainbow blends (Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick, Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers, and Rwisted Citron), one Salty Ocean, and one Iced Spruce. Once done, I lifted the stencil and blended some ink onto the white spaces in between the rays. I then sprayed with water and dabbed with a paper towel.

With the backgrounds done, I went through my stamps and dies, and pulled out some sets I’ve been wanting to use. My first card I used Concord & 9th’s Hi There stamp and die set. It has a sentiment that is so fitting for this household right now, since my daughter and I have been fighting a cold all week. This stamp set is so adorable. I used the panda bear and umbrella stamps, knowing the black and white would look great with the blue background. I finished off the card with some clear confetti from Pretty Pink Posh.

My next couple cards I used Sunny Studio Stamps Two Scoops stamp and die set. These stamps are amazing! The layers are so detailed. The soft serve ice cream is three layers, and the scooped ice cream is two layers. I used Altenew inks for the ice cream, and Hero Arts Ink for the cones. For the three scoop card, I splattered watered down Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink onto the background paper, and lightly sprayed with shimmer spritz. I popped the cone up with foam tape and attached to the card. The finishing touches were Wink of Stella brushed onto the ice cream, and Nuvo Crystal Glaze on the chocolate topping and cherry. I also adhered a few pink Carta Bella Enamel Dots. To set the sentiment, I used the large pocket die from Pretty Pink Posh’s Stitched Notes. For the soft-serve ice cream, I again used Wink of Stella on the ice cream, and Pretty Pink Posh clear confetti. (Both sentiments for these cards are from the Two Scoops stamp set.)

And for my last card, I used Honey Bee Stamp’s adorable layered Yippee die. I loved how the word turned out! I used bright colors and gold, and finished the word off with a coat of Crystal Glaze. I stamped and heat-embossed a small sentiment from Sunny Studio Stamp’s Bold Balloons stamp set to finish the off the sentiment. I added Neat and Tangled sequins for some extra shine.